His way
took him along the gorge close to the gulch in which he had left
Schneider, and, yielding to a natural curiosity, he scaled the cliffs
and made his way to the edge of the gulch. The tree was empty, nor
was there sign of Numa, the lion. Picking up a rock he hurled it
into the gulch, where it rolled to the very entrance to the cave.
Instantly the lion appeared in the aperture; but such a different-looking
lion from the great sleek brute that Tarzan had trapped there two
weeks before. Now he was gaunt and emaciated, and when he walked
he staggered.
"Where is the German?" shouted Tarzan. "Was he good eating, or only
a bag of bones when he slipped and fell from the tree?"
Numa growled. "You look hungry, Numa," continued the ape-man. "You
must have been very hungry to eat all the grass from your lair and
even the bark from the tree as far up as you can reach. Would you
like another German?" and smiling he turned away.
A few minutes later he came suddenly upon Bara, the deer, asleep
beneath a tree, and as Tarzan was hungry he made a quick kill,
and squatting beside his prey proceeded to eat his fill. As he
was gnawing the last morsel from a bone his quick ears caught the
padding of stealthy feet behind him, and turning he confronted
Dango, the hyena, sneaking upon him. With a growl the ape-man
picked up a fallen branch and hurled it at the skulking brute.
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