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the ape-man saw that which gave him instant pause--four full-grown lions

trailing the lioness.

To have goaded Numa then into active resistance might have brought the whole

herd down upon him and so Tarzan waited to learn first what their attitude would

be. He had no idea of relinquishing his lion without a battle; but knowing lions as

he did, he knew that there was no assurance as to just what the newcomers

would do.

The lioness was young and sleek, and the four males were in their prime--as

handsome lions as he ever had seen. Three of the males were scantily maned but

one, the foremost, carried a splendid, black mane that rippled in the breeze as he

trotted majestically forward. The lioness halted a hundred feet from Tarzan, while

the lions came on past her and stopped a few feet nearer. Their ears were

upstanding and their eyes filled with curiosity. Tarzan could not even guess what

they might do. The lion at his side faced them fully, standing silent now and

watchful.

Suddenly the lioness gave vent to another little whine, at which Tarzan's lion

voiced a terrific roar and leaped forward straight toward the beast of the black

mane. The sight of this awesome creature with the strange face was too much for

the lion toward which he leaped, dragging Tarzan after him, and with a growl the

lion turned and fled, followed by his companions and the she.

Numa attempted to follow them; Tarzan held him in leash and when he turned

upon him in rage, beat him unmercifully across the head with his spear. Shaking

his head and growling, the lion at last moved off again in the direction they had

been traveling; but it was an hour before he ceased to sulk. He was very hungry--

half famished in fact--and consequently of an ugly temper, yet so thoroughly

subdued by Tarzan's heroic methods of lion taming that he was presently pacing

along at the ape-man's side like some huge St. Bernard.

It was dark when the two approached the British right, after a slight delay farther

back because of a German patrol it had been necessary to elude. A short distance

from the British line of out-guard sentinels Tarzan tied Numa to a tree and

continued on alone. He evaded a sentinel, passed the out-guard and support, and

by devious ways came again to Colonel Capell's headquarters, where he appeared

before the officers gathered there as a disembodied spirit materializing out of thin

air.

When they saw who it was that came thus unannounced they smiled and the

colonel scratched his head in perplexity.

Tarzan the Untamed