g his attention to the original prey?
Werper shuddered and half rose. At the same instant the lion sprang
from his place of concealment, full upon the mounted man. The horse,
with a shrill neigh of terror, shrank sideways almost upon the Belgian,
the lion dragged the helpless Arab from his saddle, and the horse
leaped back into the trail and fled away toward the west.

But he did not flee alone. As the frightened beast had pressed in upon
him, Werper had not been slow to note the quickly emptied saddle and
the opportunity it presented. Scarcely had the lion dragged the Arab
down from one side, than the Belgian, seizing the pommel of the saddle
and the horse's mane, leaped upon the horse's back from the other.

A half hour later a naked giant, swinging easily through the lower
branches of the trees, paused, and with raised head, and dilating
nostrils sniffed the morning air. The smell of blood fell strong upon
his senses, and mingled with it was the scent of Numa, the lion. The
giant cocked his head upon one side and listened.

From a short distance up the trail came the unmistakable noises of the
greedy feeding of a lion. The crunching of bones, the gulping of great
pieces, the contented growling, all attested the nearness of the king
at table.

Tarzan approached the spot, still keeping to the branches of the trees.
He made no effort to conceal his approach, and presently he had
evidence that Numa had heard him, from the ominous, rumbling warning
that broke from a thicket beside the trail.

Halting upon a low branch just above the lion Tarzan looked down upon
the grisly scene. Could this unrecognizable thing be the man he had
been trailing? The ape-man wondered. From time to time he had
descended to the trail and verified his judgment by the evidence of his
scent that the Belgian had followed this game trail toward the east.

Now he proceeded beyond the lion and his feast, again descended and
examined the ground with his nose. There was no scent spoor here of
the man he had been trailing. Tarzan returned to the tree. With keen
eyes he searched the ground about the mutilated corpse for a sign of
the missing pouch of pretty pebbles; but naught could he see of it.

He scolded Numa and tried to drive the great beast away; but only angry
growls rewarded his efforts. He tore small branches from a nearby limb
and hurled them at his ancient enemy. Numa looked up with bared fangs,
grinning hideously, but he d