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The torture of the slow death as the circling warriors cut him to bits with the

fiendish skill, that mutilated without bringing unconsciousness, had no terrors

for him. He was inured to suffering and to the sight of blood and to cruel death;

but the desire to live was no less strong within him, and until the last spark of life

should flicker and go out, his whole being would remain quick with hope and

determination. Let them relax their watchfulness but for an instant, he knew

that his cunning mind and giant muscles would find a way to escape--escape and

revenge.

As he lay, thinking furiously on every possibility of self-salvation, there came to

his sensitive nostrils a faint and a familiar scent. Instantly every faculty of his

mind was upon the alert. Presently his trained ears caught the sound of the

soundless presence without--behind the hut wherein he lay. His lips moved, and

though no sound came forth that might have been appreciable to a human ear

beyond the walls of his prison, yet he realized that the one beyond would hear.

Already he knew who that one was, for his nostrils had told him as plainly as

your eyes or mine tell us of the identity of an old friend whom we come upon in

broad daylight.

An instant later he heard the soft sound of a fur-clad body and padded feet

scaling the outer wall behind the hut and then a tearing at the poles which

formed the wall. Presently through the hole thus made slunk a great beast,

pressing its cold muzzle close to his neck.

It was Sheeta, the panther.

The beast snuffed round the prostrate man, whining a little. There was a limit to

the interchange of ideas which could take place between these two, and so Tarzan

could not be sure that Sheeta understood all that he attempted to communicate

to him. That the man was tied and helpless Sheeta could, of course, see; but that

to the mind of the panther this would carry any suggestion of harm in so far as

his master was concerned, Tarzan could not guess.

What had brought the beast to him? The fact that he had come augured well for

what he might accomplish; but when Tarzan tried to get Sheeta to gnaw his

bonds asunder the great animal could not seem to understand what was expected

of him, and, instead, but licked the wrists and arms of the prisoner.

Presently there came an interruption. Some one was approaching the hut.

Sheeta gave a low growl and slunk into the blackness of a far corner. Evidently

the visitor did not hear the warning sound, for almost immediately he entered the

hut--a tall, naked, savage warrior.

The Beasts of Tarzan