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second later, that of Smith-Oldwick. He had been forced to accomplish it,

however, by bending very low at each street intersection in repeated attention to

his sandal wrappings, bringing his nostrils as close to the pavement as possible.

As he advanced along the street through which the two had been conducted

earlier in the day he noted, as had they, the change in the type of buildings as he

passed from a residence district into that portion occupied by shops and bazaars.

Here the number of flares was increased so that they appeared not only at street

intersections but midway between as well, and there were many more people

abroad. The shops were open and lighted, for with the setting of the sun the

intense heat of the day had given place to a pleasant coolness. Here also the

number of lions, roaming loose through the thoroughfares, increased, and also

for the first time Tarzan noted the idiosyncrasies of the people.

Once he was nearly upset by a naked man running rapidly through the street

screaming at the top of his voice. And again he nearly stumbled over a woman

who was making her way in the shadows of one of the arcades upon all fours. At

first the ape-man thought she was hunting for something she had dropped, but

as he drew to one side to watch her, he saw that she was doing nothing of the

kind--that she had merely elected to walk upon her hands and knees rather than

erect upon her feet. In another block he saw two creatures struggling upon the

roof of an adjacent building until finally one of them, wrenching himself free from

the grasp of the other, gave his adversary a mighty push which hurled him to the

pavement below, where he lay motionless upon the dusty road. For an instant a

wild shriek re-echoed through the city from the lungs of the victor and then,

without an instant's hesitation, the fellow leaped headfirst to the street beside the

body of his victim. A lion moved out from the dense shadows of a doorway and

approached the two bloody and lifeless things before him. Tarzan wondered what

effect the odor of blood would have upon the beast and was surprised to see that

the animal only sniffed at the corpses and the hot red blood and then lay down

beside the two dead men.

He had passed the lion but a short distance when his attention was called to the

figure of a man lowering himself laboriously from the roof of a building upon the

east side of the thoroughfare. Tarzan's curiosity was aroused.

205

Tarzan the Untamed