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The silence following so closely the previous tumult carried a sinister impression

to the ape-man, which still further aroused his anger. Picking the bird from

where it had fallen he withdrew his arrow from the body and returned it to his

quiver. Then with his knife he quickly and deftly removed the skin and feathers

together. He ate angrily, growling as though actually menaced by a near-by foe,

and perhaps, too, his growls were partially induced by the fact that he did not

care for the flesh of birds. Better this, however, than nothing and from what his

senses had told him there was no flesh in the vicinity such as he was accustomed

to and cared most for. How he would have enjoyed a juicy haunch from Pacco,

the zebra, or a steak from the loin of Gorgo, the buffalo! The very thought made

his mouth water and increased his resentment against this unnatural forest that

harbored no such delicious quarry.

He had but partially consumed his kill when he suddenly became aware of a

movement in the brush at no great distance from him and downwind, and a

moment later his nostrils picked up the scent of Numa from the opposite

direction, and then upon either side he caught the fall of padded feet and the

brushing of bodies against leafy branches. The ape-man smiled. What stupid

creature did they think him, to be surprised by such clumsy stalkers? Gradually

the sounds and scents indicated that lions were moving upon him from all

directions, that he was in the center of a steadily converging circle of beasts.

Evidently they were so sure of their prey that they were making no effort toward

stealth, for he heard twigs crack beneath their feet, and the brushing of their

bodies against the vegetation through which they forced their way.

He wondered what could have brought them. It seemed unreasonable to believe

that the cries of the birds and the monkeys should have summoned them, and

yet, if not, it was indeed a remarkable coincidence. His judgment told him that

the death of a single bird in this forest which teemed with birds could scarce be of

sufficient moment to warrant that which followed. Yet even in the face of reason

and past experience he found that the whole affair perplexed him.

He stood in the center of the trail awaiting the coming of the lions and wondering

what would be the method of their attack or if they would indeed attack.

Presently a maned lion came into view along the trail below him. At sight of him

the lion halted. The beast was similar to those that had attacked him earlier in

the day, a trifle larger and a trifle darker than the lions of his native jungles, but

neither so large nor so black as Numa of the pit.

Presently he distinguished the outlines of other lions in the surrounding brush

and among the trees. Each of them halted as it came within sight of the ape-man

and there they stood regarding him in silence. Tarzan wondered how long it

166

Tarzan the Untamed