His efforts had been for naught. With an angry toss of his head,
the ape-man turned upon the two lions who had continued to pace
back and forth a few yards from him. Numa of the lion pit turned a
friendly glance in Tarzan's direction, rubbed his head against the
ape-man's side, and then directed his snarling countenance toward
the two hunters.
"I think," said Tarzan to Numa, "that you and I together can make
these beasts very unhappy." He spoke in English, which, of course,
Numa did not understand at all, but there must have been something
reassuring in the tone, for Numa whined pleadingly and moved
impatiently to and fro parallel with their antagonists.
"Come," said Tarzan suddenly and grasping the lion's mane with his
left hand he moved toward the other lions, his companion pacing
at his side. As the two advanced the others drew slowly back and,
finally separating, moved off to either side. Tarzan and Numa
passed between them but neither the great black-maned lion nor the
man failed to keep an eye upon the beast nearer him so that they
were not caught unawares when, as though at some preconcerted
signal, the two cats charged simultaneously from opposite directions.
The ape-man met the charge of his antagonist after the same fashion
of fighting that he had been accustomed to employing in previous
encounters with Numa and Sheeta.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301