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you and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick need the rest, and when you are stronger we
will go on again."
"But the Xujans--?" she asked, "may they not follow us here?"
"
Yes," he said, "they probably will. But we need not be concerned with them until
they come."
"
I wish," said the girl, "that I possessed your philosophy but I am afraid it is
beyond me."
"You were not born and reared in the jungle by wild beasts and among wild
beasts, or you would possess, as I do, the fatalism of the jungle."
And so they moved to the side of the gorge beneath the shade of an overhanging
rock and lay down in the hot sand to rest. Numa wandered restlessly to and fro
and finally, after sprawling for a moment close beside the ape-man, rose and
moved off up the gorge to be lost to view a moment later beyond the nearest turn.
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. They had gone no great distance when the others
of the party became aware of the sounds of pursuit, for now the lions were
whining as though the fresh scent spoor of their quarry had reached their
nostrils.
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