He will go away presently I am
sure and the chances are that we shall not see him again."
At Tarzan's suggestion Smith-Oldwick removed the remaining water
and provisions from the plane and, distributing the burden among
them, they set off toward the south. Numa did not follow them, but
stood by the plane watching until they finally disappeared from
view around a bend in the gorge.
Tarzan had picked up Numa's trail with the intention of following
it southward in the belief that it would lead to water. In the sand
that floored the bottom of the gorge tracks were plain and easily
followed. At first only the fresh tracks of Numa were visible, but
later in the day the ape-man discovered the older tracks of other
lions and just before dark he stopped suddenly in evident surprise.
His two companions looked at him questioningly, and in answer to
their implied interrogations he pointed at the ground directly in
front of him.
"Look at those," he exclaimed.
At first neither Smith-Oldwick nor the girl saw anything but a
confusion of intermingled prints of padded feet in the sand, but
presently the girl discovered what Tarzan had seen, and an exclamation
of surprise broke from her lips.
"The imprint of human feet!" she cried.
Tarzan nodded.
"But there are no toes," the girl pointed out.
"The feet were shod with a soft sandal," explained Tarzan.
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