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and so, being a wise lion who was learning rapidly, he decided to keep on going
and at the end of the tunnel, emerging into the outer world, he sensed freedom,
raised his head and tail and started off at a run.
Tarzan, still on his hands and knees just inside the entrance, was taken unaware
with the result that he was sprawled forward upon his face and dragged a
hundred yards across the rocky ground before Numa was brought to a stand. It
was a scratched and angry Tarzan who scrambled to his feet. At first he was
tempted to chastise Numa; but, as the ape-man seldom permitted his temper to
guide him in any direction not countenanced by reason, he quickly abandoned
the idea.
Having taught Numa the rudiments of being driven, he now urged him forward
and there commenced as strange a journey as the unrecorded history of the
jungle contains. The balance of that day was eventful both for Tarzan and for
Numa. From open rebellion at first the lion passed through stages of stubborn
resistance and grudging obedience to final surrender. He was a very tired,
hungry, and thirsty lion when night overtook them; but there was to be no food
for him that day or the next--Tarzan did not dare risk removing the head bag,
though he did cut another hole which permitted Numa to quench his thirst
shortly after dark. Then he tied him to a tree, sought food for himself, and
stretched out among the branches above his captive for a few hours' sleep.
Early the following morning they resumed their journey, winding over the low
foothills south of Kilimanjaro, toward the east. The beasts of the jungle who saw
them took one look and fled. The scent spoor of Numa, alone, might have been
enough to have provoked flight in many of the lesser animals, but the sight of this
strange apparition that smelled like a lion, but looked like nothing they ever had
seen before, being led through the jungles by a giant Tarmangani was too much
for even the more formidable denizens of the wild.
Sabor, the lioness, recognizing from a distance the scent of her lord and master
intermingled with that of a Tarmangani and the hide of Horta, the boar, trotted
through the aisles of the forest to investigate. Tarzan and Numa heard her
coming, for she voiced a plaintive and questioning whine as the baffling mixture
of odors aroused her curiosity and her fears, for lions, however terrible they may
appear, are often timid animals and Sabor, being of the gentler sex, was,
naturally, habitually inquisitive as well.
Tarzan un-slung his spear for he knew that he might now easily have to fight to
retain his prize. Numa halted and turned his outraged head in the direction of the
coming she. He voiced a throaty growl that was almost a purr. Tarzan was upon
the point of prodding him on again when Sabor broke into view, and behind her
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