eaped from their scabbards;
gleaming, razor-edged weapons they were, but for the instant rendered
futile by the terrific speed of the charging beast.

Two of the spears entering his body but served to further enrage
him as, with demoniacal roars, he sprang upon the hapless man he
had singled out for his prey. Scarcely pausing in his charge he
seized the fellow by the shoulder and, turning quickly at right
angles, leaped into the concealing foliage that flanked the trail,
and was gone, bearing his victim with him.

So quickly had the whole occurrence transpired that the formation
of the little party was scarcely altered. There had been no
opportunity for flight, even if it had been contemplated; and now
that the lion was gone with his prey the men made no move to pursue
him. They paused only long enough to recall the two or three of
their lions that had scattered and then resumed the march along
the trail.

"Might be an everyday occurrence from all the effect it has on
them," remarked Smith-Oldwick to the girl.

"Yes," she said. "They seem to be neither surprised nor disconcerted,
and evidently they are quite sure that the lion, having got what
he came for, will not molest them further."

"I had thought," said the Englishman, "that the lions of the Wamabo
country were about the most ferocious in existence, but they are
regular tabby cats by comparison with these big black fellows.
Did you ever see anything more utterly fearless or more terribly
irresistible than that charge?"

For a while, as they walked side by side, their thoughts and
conversation centered upon this latest experience, until the trail
emerging from the forest opened to their view a walled city and an
area of cultivated land. Neither could suppress an exclamation of
surprise.

"Why, that wall is a regular engineering job," exclaimed Smith-Oldwick

"And look at the domes and minarets of the city beyond," cried the
girl. "There must be a civilized people beyond that wall. Possibly
we are fortunate to have fallen into their hands."

Smith-Oldwick shrugged his shoulders. "I hope so," he said, "though
I am not at all sure about people who travel about with lions and
are afraid of parrots. There must be something wrong with them."

The party followed the trail across the field to an arched gateway
which opened at the summons of one of their captors, who beat upon
the heavy wooden panels with his spear. Beyond, the gate opened
into a narrow stree