"Why should I kill him?" demanded Tarzan. "He cannot harm me, and I kill only in self-defense or for food; but I do not eat human flesh, so why should I kill him?"
Phobeg, bruised, battered, and helpless, arose weakly to his feet and stood reeling drunkenly. He heard the voice of the pitiless mob screaming for his death. He saw his antagonist standing a few paces away in front of the ramp, paying no attention to him, and dimly and as though from a great distance he had heard him refuse to kill him. He had heard, but he did not comprehend. He expected to be killed, for such was the custom and the law of the arena. He had sought to kill this man; he would have shown him no mercy; so he could not understand the mercy of Tarzan's indifference that had been extended to him.
Phobeg's bloodshot eyes wandered helplessly about the arena, seeking nothing or no one in particular; sympathy was not to be found there, nor mercy, nor any friend; such were not for the vanquished. The frenzied blood-lust of the mob fascinated him. A few minutes ago it had been acclaiming him; now it condemned him to death. His gaze reached the royal loge as Erot leaned far out and shouted to Tarzan standing below.
"Kill him, fellow!" he cried. "It is the Queen's command."
Phobeg's eyes dropped to the figure of the ape-man, and he braced himself for a final effort to delay the inevitable. He knew that he had met one mightier than himself and that he must die when the other wished; but the law of self-preservation compelled him to defend himself, however hopelessly.
The ape-man glanced up at the Queen's favorite. "Tarzan kills only whom it pleases him to kill." He spoke in a low voice that yet carried to the royal loge. "I shall not kill Phobeg."
"You fool," cried Erot, "do you not understand that it is the Queen's wish, that it is the Queen's command, which no one may disobey and live, that you kill the fellow?"
"If the Queen wants him killed, why doesn't she send you down to do it? She is your Queen, not mine." There was neither awe nor respect in the voice of the ape-man.
Erot looked horrified. He glanced at the Queen. "Shall I order the guard to destroy the impudent savage?" he asked.
Nemone shook her head. Her countenance remained inscrutable, but a strange light burned in her eyes. "We give them both their lives," she said. "Set Phobeg free, and bring the other to me in the palace;" then she rose as a sign that the games were over.