For an hour the little party rested and then Tarzan suddenly
rose and, motioning the others to silence, listened. For a minute
he stood motionless, his keen ears acutely receptive to sounds so
faint and distant that none of the other three could detect the
slightest break in the utter and deathlike quiet of the gorge.
Finally the ape-man relaxed and turned toward them. "What is it?"
asked the girl.
"They are coming," he replied. "They are yet some distance away,
though not far, for the sandaled feet of the men and the pads of
the lions make little noise upon the soft sands."
"What shall we do--try to go on?" asked Smith-Oldwick. "I believe
I could make a go of it now for a short way. I am much rested. How
about you Miss Kircher?"
"Oh, yes," she said, "I am much stronger. Yes, surely I can go on."
Tarzan knew that neither of them quite spoke the truth, that people
do not recover so quickly from utter exhaustion, but he saw no
other way and there was always the hope that just beyond the next
turn would be a way out of the gorge.
"You help the lieutenant, Otobu," he said, turning to the black,
"and I will carry Miss Kircher," and though the girl objected,
saying that he must not waste his strength, he lifted her lightly
in his arms and moved off up the canyon, followed by Otobu and
the Englishman.
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