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A grim smile lay upon the ape-man's lips, for he knew that he had taken his life
in his hands to free this savage jungle fellow; nor would it have surprised him
had the cat sprung upon him the instant that it had been released.
But it did not do so. Instead, it stood a few paces from the tree watching the ape-
man clamber out of the maze of fallen branches.
Once outside, Tarzan was not three paces from the panther. He might have
taken to the higher branches of the trees upon the opposite side, for Sheeta
cannot climb to the heights to which the ape-man can go; but something, a spirit
of bravado perhaps, prompted him to approach the panther as though to discover
if any feeling of gratitude would prompt the beast to friendliness.
As he approached the mighty cat the creature stepped warily to one side, and the
ape-man brushed past him within a foot of the dripping jaws, and as he
continued on through the forest the panther followed on behind him, as a hound
follows at heel.
For a long time Tarzan could not tell whether the beast was following out of
friendly feelings or merely stalking him against the time he should be hungry; but
finally he was forced to believe that the former incentive it was that prompted the
animal's action.
Later in the day the scent of a deer sent Tarzan into the trees, and when he had
dropped his noose about the animal's neck he called to Sheeta, using a purr
similar to that which he had utilized to pacify the brute's suspicions earlier in the
day, but a trifle louder and more shrill.
It was similar to that which he had heard panthers use after a kill when they had
been hunting in pairs.
Almost immediately there was a crashing of the underbrush close at hand, and
the long, lithe body of his strange companion broke into view.
At sight of the body of Bara and the smell of blood the panther gave forth a shrill
scream, and a moment later two beasts were feeding side by side upon the tender
meat of the deer.
For several days this strangely assorted pair roamed the jungle together.
When one made a kill he called the other, and thus they fed well and often.
On one occasion as they were dining upon the carcass of a boar that Sheeta had
dispatched, Numa, the lion, grim and terrible, broke through the tangled grasses
close beside them.
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