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kind in the tree, they rushed forward until a dozen warriors stood about him with

ready spears. At first they thought that the falling had killed him, but upon closer

examination they discovered that the man was only stunned. One of the warriors

was for thrusting a spear through his heart, but Numabo, the chief, would not

permit it.

"Bind him," he said. "We will feed well tonight."

And so they bound his hands and feet with thongs of gut and carried him into the

hut where Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick awaited his fate. The

Englishman had also been bound hand and foot by this time for fear that at the

last moment he might escape and rob them of their feast. A great crowd of natives

were gathered about the hut attempting to get a glimpse of the new prisoner, but

Numabo doubled the guard before the entrance for fear that some of his people,

in the exuberance of their savage joy, might rob the others of the pleasures of the

death dance which would precede the killing of the victims.

The young Englishman had heard the sound of Tarzan's body crashing through

the tree to the ground and the commotion in the village which immediately

followed, and now, as he stood with his back against the wall of the hut, he

looked upon the fellow-prisoner that the blacks carried in and laid upon the floor

with mixed feelings of surprise and compassion. He realized that he never had

seen a more perfect specimen of manhood than that of the unconscious figure

before him, and he wondered to what sad circumstances the man owed his

capture. It was evident that the new prisoner was himself as much a savage as

his captors if apparel and weapons were any criterion by which to judge; yet it

was also equally evident that he was a white man and from his well-shaped head

and clean-cut features that he was not one of those unhappy halfwits who so

often revert to savagery even in the heart of civilized communities.

As he watched the man, he presently noticed that his eyelids were moving. Slowly

they opened and a pair of gray eyes looked blankly about. With returning

consciousness the eyes assumed their natural expression of keen intelligence,

and a moment later, with an effort, the prisoner rolled over upon his side and

drew himself to a sitting position. He was facing the Englishman, and as his eyes

took in the bound ankles and the arms drawn tightly behind the other's back, a

slow smile lighted his features.

They will fill their bellies tonight," he said.

The Englishman grinned. "From the fuss they made," he said, "the beggars must

be awfully hungry. They like to have eaten me alive when they brought me in.

How did they get you?"

102

Tarzan the Untamed