he world attains the speed of
a charging lion. For the short distance that the great cat can
maintain it, it resembles nothing more closely than the onrushing of a
giant locomotive under full speed, and so, though the distance that
Jane Clayton must cover was relatively small, the terrific speed of the
lion rendered her hopes of escape almost negligible.

Yet fear can work wonders, and though the upward spring of the lion as
he neared the tree into which she was scrambling brought his talons in
contact with her boots she eluded his raking grasp, and as he hurtled
against the bole of her sanctuary, the girl drew herself into the
safety of the branches above his reach.

For some time the lion paced, growling and moaning, beneath the tree in
which Jane Clayton crouched, panting and trembling. The girl was a
prey to the nervous reaction from the frightful ordeal through which
she had so recently passed, and in her overwrought state it seemed that
never again should she dare descend to the ground among the fearsome
dangers which infested the broad stretch of jungle that she knew must
lie between herself and the nearest village of her faithful Waziri.

It was almost dark before the lion finally quit the clearing, and even
had his place beside the remnants of the mangled ape not been
immediately usurped by a pack of hyenas, Jane Clayton would scarcely
have dared venture from her refuge in the face of impending night, and
so she composed herself as best she could for the long and tiresome
wait, until daylight might offer some means of escape from the dread
vicinity in which she had witnessed such terrifying adventures.

Tired nature at last overcame even her fears, and she dropped into a
deep slumber, cradled in a comparatively safe, though rather
uncomfortable, position against the bole of the tree, and supported by
two large branches which grew outward, almost horizontally, but a few
inches apart.

The sun was high in the heavens when she at last awoke, and beneath her
was no sign either of Numa or the hyenas. Only the clean-picked bones
of the ape, scattered about the ground, attested the fact of what had
transpired in this seemingly peaceful spot but a few hours before.

Both hunger and thirst assailed her now, and realizing that she must
descend or die of starvation, she at last summoned courage to undertake
the ordeal of continuing her journey through the jungle.

Descending from the tree, she set out in a south