seemed before that he experienced a sharp feeling of
resentment that he was unable to do so now, for the quick movements
of the lion prevented him, and presently, to his dismay, as the
lion leaped and threw him about, the ape-man realized that he was
swinging inevitably beneath those frightful talons.

With a final effort he threw himself from Numa's back and sought,
by his quickness, to elude the frenzied beast for the fraction of
an instant that would permit him to regain his feet and meet the
animal again upon a more even footing. But this time Numa was too
quick for him and he was but partially up when a great paw struck
him on the side of the head and bowled him over.

As he fell he saw a black streak shoot above him and another lion
close upon his antagonist. Rolling from beneath the two battling lions
Tarzan regained his feet, though he was half dazed and staggering
from the impact of the terrible blow he had received. Behind him
he saw a lifeless lion lying torn and bleeding upon the sand, and
before him Numa of the pit was savagely mauling the second lion.

He of the black coat tremendously outclassed his adversary in
point of size and strength as well as in ferocity. The battling
beasts made a few feints and passes at each other before the larger
succeeded in fastening his fangs in the other's throat, and then,
as a cat shakes a mouse, the larger lion shook the lesser, and when
his dying foe sought to roll beneath and rake his conqueror with
his hind claws, the other met him halfway at his own game, and as
the great talons buried themselves in the lower part of the other's
chest and then were raked downward with all the terrific strength
of the mighty hind legs, the battle was ended.

As Numa rose from his second victim and shook himself, Tarzan could
not but again note the wondrous proportions and symmetry of the
beast. The lions they had bested were splendid specimens themselves
and in their coats Tarzan noted a suggestion of the black which
was such a strongly marked characteristic of Numa of the pit. Their
manes were just a trifle darker than an ordinary black-maned lion
but the tawny shade on the balance of their coats predominated.
However, the ape-man realized that they were a distinct species
from any he had seen as though they had sprung originally from a
cross between the forest lion of his acquaintance and a breed of
which Numa of the pit might be typical.

The immediate obstruction in his wa