The beast was coming slowly down the street in
Tarzan's direction.
A woman crossed the way directly in front of it and the lion paid
no attention to her, nor she to the lion. An instant later a little
child ran after the woman and so close did he run before the lion
that the beast was forced to turn out of its way a step to avoid
colliding with the little one. The ape-man grinned and crossed
quickly to the opposite side of the street, for his delicate senses
indicated that at this point the breeze stirring through the city
streets and deflected by the opposite wall would now blow from the
lion toward him as the beast passed, whereas if he remained upon
the side of the street upon which he had been walking when he
discovered the carnivore, his scent would have been borne to the
nostrils of the animal, and Tarzan was sufficiently jungle-wise
to realize that while he might deceive the eyes of man and beast
he could not so easily disguise from the nostrils of one of the
great cats that he was a creature of a different species from the
inhabitants of the city, the only human beings, possibly, that Numa
was familiar with. In him the cat would recognize a stranger, and,
therefore, an enemy, and Tarzan had no desire to be delayed by an
encounter with a savage lion. His ruse worked successfully, the
lion passing him with not more than a side glance in his direction.
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