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involuntarily the whine of a hungry beast. Immediately Numa of the pit pricked
up his ears and, regarding the ape-man steadily for a moment, he answered the
call of hunger and started briskly off toward the south, stopping occasionally to
see if Tarzan was following.
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. They had proceeded for a half or three-quarters of a mile when, at a
turning of the gorge, Tarzan saw before him a narrow valley cut deep into the
living rock of the earth's crust, with lofty mountain ranges bounding it upon the
south. How far it extended east and west he could not see, but apparently it was
no more than three or four miles across from north to south.
That it was a well-watered valley was indicated by the wealth of vegetation that
carpeted its floor from the rocky cliffs upon the north to the mountains on the
south.
Over the edge of the cliffs from which the ape-man viewed the valley a trail had
been hewn that led downward to the base. Preceded by the lion Tarzan descended
into the valley, which, at this point, was forested with large trees. Before him the
trail wound onward toward the center of the valley. Raucous-voiced birds of
brilliant plumage screamed among the branches while innumerable monkeys
chattered and scolded above him.
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