procession, would answer admirably for Tarzan's further
quest. And, besides, the ape-man was tired and would sleep.

A tree afforded him the safety, seclusion and comforts of a
well-appointed bedchamber, and to the chorus of the hunters and the
hunted of the wild river bank he soon dropped off into deep slumber.

Morning found him both hungry and thirsty again, and dropping from his
tree he made his way to the drinking place at the river's edge. There
he found Numa, the lion, ahead of him. The big fellow was lapping the
water greedily, and at the approach of Tarzan along the trail in his
rear, he raised his head, and turning his gaze backward across his
maned shoulders glared at the intruder. A low growl of warning rumbled
from his throat; but Tarzan, guessing that the beast had but just
quitted his kill and was well filled, merely made a slight detour and
continued to the river, where he stopped a few yards above the tawny
cat, and dropping upon his hands and knees plunged his face into the
cool water. For a moment the lion continued to eye the man; then he
resumed his drinking, and man and beast quenched their thirst side by
side each apparently oblivious of the other's presence.

Numa was the first to finish. Raising his head, he gazed across the
river for a few minutes with that stony fixity of attention which is a
characteristic of his kind. But for the ruffling of his black mane to
the touch of the passing breeze he might have been wrought from golden
bronze, so motionless, so statuesque his pose.

A deep sigh from the cavernous lungs dispelled the illusion. The
mighty head swung slowly around until the yellow eyes rested upon the
man. The bristled lip curved upward, exposing yellow fangs. Another
warning growl vibrated the heavy jowls, and the king of beasts turned
majestically about and paced slowly up the trail into the dense reeds.

Tarzan of the Apes drank on, but from the corners of his gray eyes he
watched the great brute's every move until he had disappeared from
view, and, after, his keen ears marked the movements of the carnivore.

A plunge in the river was followed by a scant breakfast of eggs which
chance discovered to him, and then he set off up river toward the ruins
of the bungalow where the golden ingots had marked the center of
yesterday's battle.

And when he came upon the spot, great was his surprise and
consternation, for the yellow metal had disappeared. The earth,
trampled b