d then Tarzan hurled the dying man in the face
of his final adversary.

Smith-Oldwick, hard pressed and now utterly defenseless, had given
up all hope in the instant that he realized his weapon was empty,
when, from his left, a living bolt of black-maned ferocity shot
past him to the breast of his opponent. Down went the Xujan, his
face bitten away by one snap of the powerful jaws of Numa of the
pit.

In the few seconds that had been required for the consummation
of these rapidly ensuing events, Otobu had dragged Bertha Kircher
to the gate which he had unbarred and thrown open, and with the
vanquishing of the last of the active guardsmen, the party passed
out of the maniac city of Xuja into the outer darkness beyond. At
the same moment a half dozen lions rounded the last turn in the
road leading back toward the plaza, and at sight of them Numa of
the pit wheeled and charged. For a moment the lions of the city
stood their ground, but only for a moment, and then before the
black beast was upon them, they turned and fled, while Tarzan and
his party moved rapidly toward the blackness of the forest beyond
the garden.

"Will they follow us out of the city?" Tarzan asked Otobu.

"Not at night," replied the black. "I have been a slave here for
five years but never have I known these people to leave the city
by night. If they go beyond the forest in the daytime they usually
wait until the dawn of another day before they return, as they fear
to pass through the country of the black lions after dark. No, I
think, Master, that they will not follow us tonight, but tomorrow
they will come, and, O Bwana, then will they surely get us, or
those that are left of us, for at least one among us must be the
toll of the black lions as we pass through their forest."

As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick refilled the magazine
of his pistol and inserted a cartridge in the chamber. The girl
moved silently at Tarzan's left, between him and the aviator. Suddenly
the ape-man stopped and turned toward the city, his mighty frame,
clothed in the yellow tunic of Herog's soldiery, plainly visible
to the others beneath the light of the stars. They saw him raise
his head and they heard break from his lips the plaintive note of
a lion calling to his fellows. Smith-Oldwick felt a distinct shudder
pass through his frame, while Otobu, rolling the whites of his eyes
in terrified surprise, sank tremblingly to his knees. But the girl
thrilled and s