aside. Numa, intercepted before the completion of his charge, had not yet reared to seize his intended victim. Now, surprised and thwarted by this new enemy, while the other was almost within his grasp, he was momentarily confused; and in that brief moment the strange man-thing leaped upon his back. A giant arm encircled his throat, legs of steel locked around his shrunken waist, and a stout blade was driven into his side.
Spellbound, Smith and Patrick and their men stood staring incredulously at the sight before them. They saw Numa turn quickly to seize his tormentor. They saw him leap and bound and throw himself to the ground in an effort to dislodge his opponent. They saw the free hand of the man repeatedly drive home the point of his knife in the tawny side of the raging lion.
From the tangled mass of man and lion there issued frightful snarls and growls, the most terrifying element of which came to the two travellers with the discovery that these bestial sounds issued not alone frem the savage throat of the lion but from that of the man as well.
The battle was brief, for the already sorely wounded animal had received the spear thrust directly through its heart, only its remarkable tenacity of life having permitted it to live for the few seconds that intervened between the death blow and the collapse.
As Numa slumped suddenly to his side, the man leaped clear. For a moment he stood looking down upon the death throes of his vanquished foe, while Smith and Patrick remained in awestruck contemplation of the savage, primordial scene; and then he stepped closer; and, placing one foot upon the carcass of his kill, he raised his face to the heavens and gave tongue to a cry so hideous that the negroes dropped to the ground in terror while the two whites felt the hair rise upon their scalps.
Once again upon the jungle fell the silence and the paralysis of momentary terror. Then faintly, from the far distance, came an answering challenge. Somewhere out there in the black void of night a bull ape, awakened, had answered the victory cry of his fellow. More faintly, and from a greater distance, came the rumbling roar of a lion.
The stranger stooped and seized the haft of his spear. He placed a foot against Numa's shoulder and withdrew the weapon from the carcass. Then he turned toward the two white men. It was the first intimation he had given that he had been aware of their presence.
'Geeze!' exclaimed 'Gunner' Patrick, beyond which his vocabulary failed to meet the situation.
The stranger surveyed them coolly. 'Who are you?' he asked. 'What are you doing here?'
That he spoke English was both a surprise and a relief to Lafayette Smith. Suddenly he seemed less terrifying. 'I am a geologist,' he explained. 'My name is Smith—Lafayette Smith—and my companion is Mr. Patrick. I am here to conduct some field research work—purely a scientific expedition.'
The stranger pointed to the machine gun. 'Is that part of the regular field equipment of a geologist?' he asked.
'No,' replied Smith, 'and I'm sure I don't know why Mr. Patrick insisted on bringing it along.'
'I wasn't takin' no chances in a country full of strange characters,' said the 'Gunner.'
'Say, a broad I meets on the boat tells me some of these guys eats people.'
'It would come in handy, perhaps, for hunting,' suggested the stranger. 'A herd of antelope would make an excellent target for a weapon of that sort.'
'Geeze!' exclaimed the 'Gunner,' 'wot do you think I am, Mister, a butcher? I packs this for insurance only. It sure wasn't worth the premium this time though,' he added disgustedly; 'jammed on me right when I needed it the most. But say, you were there all right. I gotta hand it to you. You're regular, Mister, and if I can ever return the favor—' He made an expansive gesture that completed the sentence and promised all that the most exacting might demand of a reciprocatory nature.
The giant nodded. 'Don't use it for hunting,' he said, and then, turning to Smith, 'Where are you going to conduct your research?'
Suddenly a comprehending light shone in the eyes of the 'Gunner,' and a pained expression settled definitely upon his face. 'Geeze!' he exclaimed disgustedly to Smith. 'I might have known it was too good to be true.'
'What?' asked Lafayette .
'What I said about there not bein' no cops here.'
'Where are you going?' asked the stranger, again.
'We are going to the Ghenzi Mountains now,' replied Smith.
'Say, who the hell are you, anyhow?' demanded the 'Gunner,' 'and what business is it of yours where we go?'
The stranger ignored him and turned again toward Smith. 'Be very careful in the Ghenzi country,' he said. 'There is a band of slave raiders working there at present, I understand. If your men learn of it they may desert you.'
'Thanks,' replied Smith. 'It is very kind of you to warn us. I should like to know to whom we are indebted,' but the stranger was gone.
As mysteriously and silently as he had appeared, he swung again into the tree above and disappeared. The two whites looked at one another in amazement.
'Geeze,' said Danny.
'I fully indorse your statement,' said Smith.
'Say, Ogonyo,' demanded the 'Gunner,' 'who was that bozo? You or any of your men know?'
'Yes, bwana,' replied the headman, 'that was Tarzan of the Apes.'
Chapter 6
The Waters of Chinnereth
Lady Barbara Collis walked slowly along the dusty path leading from the Midian village down to the lake that lay in the bottom of the ancient crater which formed the valley of the Land of Midian . At her right walked Abraham, the son of Abraham, and at her left the golden haired Jezebel. Behind them came the apostles, surrounding a young girl whose sullen countenance was enlivened occasionally by the fearful glances she cast upon the old men who formed her escort or her guard. Following the apostles marched the remainder of the villagers, headed by the elders. Other than these general divisions of the cortege, loosely observed, there was no attempt to maintain a semblance of orderly formation. They moved like sheep, now huddled together, now spewing beyond the limits of the narrow path to spread out on either side, some forging ahead for a few yards only to drop back again.
Lady Barbara was apprehensive. She had learned many things in the long weeks of her virtual captivity among this strange religious sect. Among other things she had learned their language, and the mastery of it had opened to her inquiring mind many avenues of information previously closed. And now she was learning, or she believed she was, that Abraham, the son of Abraham, was nursing in his bosom a growing skepticism of her divinity.
Her first night in Midian had witnessed her introduction to the cruel customs and rites of this degenerate descendant of the earliest Christian Church, and as she acquired a working knowledge of the language of the land and gained an appreciation of the exalted origin the leaders of the people attributed to her, and her position of spokesman for their god, she had used her influence to discourage, and even to prohibit, the more terrible and degrading practices of their religion.
While recollection of the supernatural aspects of her descent from the clouds remained clear in the weak mind of Abraham, the son of Abraham, Lady Barbara had been successful in her campaign against brutality; but daily association with this celestial visitor had tended to dissipate the awe that had at first overwhelmed the prophet of Paul, the son of Jehovah. The interdictions of his heavenly guest were all contrary to the desires of Abraham, the son of Abraham, and to the word of Jehovah as it had been interpreted by the prophets beyond the memory of man. Such were the foundations of the prophet's increasing skepticism, nor was the changing attitude of the old man toward her unrecognized by the English girl.
Today he had ignored her and was even forcing her to accompany them and witness the proof of his apostasy. What would come next? She had had not only ocular proof of the fanatical blood frenzy of the terrible old man, but she had listened for hours to detailed descriptions of orgies of frightfulness from the lips of Jezebel. Yes, Lady Barbara Collis was apprehensive, and not without reason; but she determined to make a last effort to reassert
