dangers
of the jungle.

Possibly, too, he thought, the professor and Philander might have
returned to camp. Yes, that was more than likely. At least he would
return and see, before he continued what seemed to be a most fruitless
quest. And so he started, stumbling back through the thick and matted
underbrush in the direction that he thought the cabin lay.

To Tarzan's surprise the young man was heading further into the jungle
in the general direction of Mbonga's village, and the shrewd young
ape-man was convinced that he was lost.

To Tarzan this was scarcely incomprehensible; his judgment told him
that no man would venture toward the village of the cruel blacks armed
only with a spear which, from the awkward way in which he carried it,
was evidently an unaccustomed weapon to this white man. Nor was he
following the trail of the old men. That, they had crossed and left
long since, though it had been fresh and plain before Tarzan's eyes.

Tarzan was perplexed. The fierce jungle would make easy prey of this
unprotected stranger in a very short time if he were not guided quickly
to the beach.

Yes, there was Numa, the lion, even now, stalking the white man a dozen
paces to the right.

Clayton heard the great body paralleling his course, and now there rose
upon the evening air the beast's thunderous roar. The man stopped with
upraised spear and faced the brush from which issued the awful sound.
The shadows were deepening, darkness was settling in.

God! To die here alone, beneath the fangs of wild beasts; to be torn
and rended; to feel the hot breath of the brute on his face as the
great paw crushed down up his breast!

For a moment all was still. Clayton stood rigid, with raised spear.
Presently a faint rustling of the bush apprised him of the stealthy
creeping of the thing behind. It was gathering for the spring. At
last he saw it, not twenty feet away--the long, lithe, muscular body
and tawny head of a huge black-maned lion.

The beast was upon its belly, moving forward very slowly. As its eyes
met Clayton's it stopped, and deliberately, cautiously gathered its
hind quarters behind it.

In agony the man watched, fearful to launch his spear, powerless to fly.

He heard a noise in the tree above him. Some new danger, he thought,
but he dared not take his eyes from the yellow green orbs before him.
There was a sharp twang as of a broken banjo-string, and at the same
instant an arrow appeared in th