The ape-man realized that the beast was leading him to food, and so
he followed and as he followed his keen eyes and sensitive nostrils
sought for some indication of the direction taken by the man and
the girl. Presently out of the mass of lion tracks, Tarzan picked
up those of many sandaled feet and the scent spoor of the members
of the strange race such as had been with the lions the night
before, and then faintly he caught the scent spoor of the girl and
a little later that of Smith-Oldwick. Presently the tracks thinned
and here those of the girl and the Englishman became well marked.
They had been walking side by side and there had been men and
lions to the right and left of them, and men and lions in front and
behind. The ape-man was puzzled by the possibilities suggested by
the tracks, but in the light of any previous experience he could
not explain satisfactorily to himself what his perceptions indicated.
There was little change in the formation of the gorge; it still
wound its erratic course between precipitous cliffs. In places it
widened out and again it became very narrow and always deeper the
further south they traveled. Presently the bottom of the gorge began
to slope more rapidly. Here and there were indications of ancient
rapids and waterfalls. The trail became more difficult but was well
marked and showed indications of great antiquity, and, in places,
the handiwork of man.
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