The Lion's Cave

Tarzan the Untamed

by Edgar R. Burroughs

THE LION'S CAVE, TARZAN THE UNTAMED by Edgar R. Burroughs
An eText from LiteratureClassics.com.

Please see the eText readme for important copyright information (available from the options menu above if you are browsing online or as a separate file in the archive if you are browsing offline.)



The rain lasted for twenty-four hours and much of the time
it fell in torrents so that when it ceased, the trail he had
been following was entirely obliterated. Cold and uncom-
fortable -- it was a savage Tarzan who threaded the mazes of
the soggy jungle. Manu, the monkey, shivering and chatter-
ing in the dank trees, scolded and fled at his approach. Even
the panthers and the lions let the growling Tarmangani pass
unmolested.

When the sun shone again upon the second day and a wide,
open plain let the full heat of Kudu flood the chilled, brown
body, Tarzan's spirits rose; but it was still a sullen, surly
brute
that moved steadily onward into the south where he hoped
again to pick up the trail of the Germans. He was now in
German East Africa and it was his intention to skirt the moun-
tains west of Kilimanjaro, whose rugged peaks he was quite
willing to give a wide berth, and then swing eastward along
the south side of the range to the railway that led to Tanga,
for his experience among men suggested that it was toward
this railroad that German troops would be likely to converge.

Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, he
heard the boom of cannon far away to the east. The after-
noon had been dull and cloudy and now as he was passing
through a narrow gorge a few great drops of rain began to
splatter upon his naked shoulders. Tarzan shook his head
and growled his disapproval; then he cast his eyes about for
shelter, for he had had quite enough of the cold and drenching.
He wanted to hasten on in the direction of the booming noise,
for he knew that there would be Germans fighting against the
English. For an instant his bosom swelled with pride at the
thought that he was English and then he shook his head
again viciously. "No!" he muttered, "Tarzan of the Apes is
not English, for the English are men and Tarzan is Tarman-
gani;" but he could not hide even from his sorrow or from his
sullen hatred of mankind in general that his heart warmed
at the thought it was Englishmen who fought the Germans.
His regret was that the English were human and not great
white apes as he again considered himself.

"Tomorrow," he thought, "I will travel that way and find
the Germans," and then he set himself to the immediate task
of discovering some shelter from the storm. Presently he
espied the low and narrow entrance to what appeared to be
a cave at the base of the cliffs which formed the northern side
of the gorge. With drawn knife he approached the spot
warily, for he knew that if it were a cave it was doubtless the
lair of some other beast. Before the entrance lay many large
fragments of rock of different sizes, similar to others scattered
along the entire base of the cliff, and it was in Tarzan's mind
that if he found the cave unoccupied he would barricade the
door and insure himself a quiet and peaceful night's repose
within the sheltered interior. Let the storm rage without --
Tarzan would remain within until it ceased, comfortable and
dry. A tiny rivulet of cold water trickled outward from the
opening.

Close to the cave Tarzan kneeled and sniffed the ground.
A low growl escaped him and his upper lip curved to expose
his fighting fangs. "Numa!" he muttered; but he did not
stop. Numa might not be at home -- he would investigate.
The entrance was so low that the ape-man was compelled to
drop to all fours before he could poke his head within the
aperture; but first he looked, listened, and sniffed in each
direction at his rear -- he would not be taken by surprise from
that quarter.

His first glance within the cave revealed a narrow tunnel
with daylight at its farther end. The interior of the tunnel
was not so dark but that the ape-man could readily see that
it was untenanted at present. Advancing cautiously he
crawled toward the opposite end imbued with a full realiza-
tion of what it would mean if Numa should suddenly enter
the tunnel in front of him; but Numa did not appear and the
ape-man emerged at length into the open and stood erect,
finding himself in a rocky cleft whose precipitous walls rose
almost sheer on every hand, the tunnel from the gorge passing
through the cliff and forming a passageway from the outer
world into a large pocket or gulch entirely inclosed by steep
walls of rock. Except for the small passageway from the
gorge, there was no other entrance to the gulch which was
some hundred feet in length and about fifty in width and
appeared to have been worn from the rocky cliff by the falling
of water during long ages. A tiny stream from Kilimanjaro's
eternal snow cap still trickled over the edge of the rocky wall
at the upper end of the gulch, forming a little pool at the
bottom of the cliff from which a small rivulet wound down-
ward to the tunnel through which it passed to the gorge
beyond. A single great tree flourished near the center of the
gulch, while tufts of wiry grass were scattered here and there
among the rocks of the gravelly floor.

The bones of many large animals lay about and among them
were several human skulls. Tarzan raised his eyebrows. "A
man-eater," he murmured, "and from appearances he has held
sway here for a long time. Tonight Tarzan will take the lair
of the man-eater and Numa may roar and grumble upon the
outside."

The ape-man had advanced well into the gulch as he in-
vestigated his surroundings and now as he stood near the
tree, satisfied that the tunnel would prove a dry and quiet
retreat for the night, he turned to retrace his way to the outer
end of the entrance that he might block it with bowlders
against Numa's return, but even with the thought there came
something to his sensitive ears that froze him into statuesque
immobility with eyes glued upon the tunnel's mouth. A
moment later the head of a huge lion framed in a great black
mane appeared in the opening. The yellow-green eyes glared,
round and unblinking, straight at the trespassing Tarmangani,
a low growl rumbled from the deep chest, and lips curled
back to expose the mighty fangs.

"Brother of Dango!" shouted Tarzan, angered that Numa's
return should have been so timed as to frustrate his plans for
a comfortable night's repose. "I am Tarzan of the Apes, Lord
of the Jungle. Tonight I lair here -- go!"

But Numa did not go. Instead he rumbled forth a menac-
ing roar and took a few steps in Tarzan's direction. The ape-
man picked up a rock and hurled it at the snarling face. One
can never be sure of a lion. This one might turn tail and run
at the first intimation of attack -- Tarzan had bluffed many in
his time -- but not now. The missile struck Numa full upon
the snout -- a tender part of a cat's anatomy -- and instead of
causing him to flee it transformed him into an infuriated
engine of wrath and destruction.

Up went his tail, stiff and erect, and with a series of fright-
ful roars he bore down upon the Tarmangani at the speed of
an express train. Not an instant too soon did Tarzan reach
the tree and swing himself into its branches and there he
squatted, hurling insults at the king of beasts while Numa
paced a circle beneath him, growling and roaring in rage.

It was raining now in earnest adding to the ape-man's dis-
comfort and disappointment. He was very angry; but as only
direct necessity had ever led him to close in mortal combat
with a lion, knowing as he did that he had only luck and
agility to pit against the frightful odds of muscle, weight,
fangs, and talons, he did not now even consider descending
and engaging in so unequal and useless a duel for the mere
reward of a little added creature comfort. And so he sat
perched in the tree while the rain fell steadily and the lion
padded round and round beneath, casting a baleful eye up-
ward after every few steps.

Tarzan scanned the precipitous walls for an avenue of es-
cape. They would have baffled an ordinary man; but the
ape-man, accustomed to climbing, saw several places where
he might gain a foothold, precarious possibly; but enough to
give him reasonable assurance of escape if Numa would but
betake himself to the far end of the gulch for a moment.
Numa, however, notwithstanding the rain, gave no evidence
of quitting his post so that at last Tarzan really began to
consider seriously if it might not be as well to take the chance
of a battle with him rather than remain longer cold and wet
and humiliated in the tree.

But even as he turned the matter over in his mind Numa
turned suddenly and walked majestically toward the tunnel
without even a backward glance. The instant that he disap-
peared, Tarzan dropped lightly to the ground upon the far
side of the tree and was away at top speed for the cliff. The
lion had no sooner entered the tunnel than he backed im-
mediately out again and, pivoting like a flash, was off across
the gulch in full charge after the flying ape-man; but Tarzan's
lead was too great -- if he could find finger or foothold upon
the sheer wall he would be safe; but should he slip from the
wet rocks his doom was already sealed as he would fall
directly into Numa's clutches where even the Great Tarman-
gani would be helpless.

With the agility of a cat Tarzan ran up the cliff for thirty
feet before he paused, and there finding a secure foothold,
he stopped and looked down upon Numa who was leaping
upward in a wild and futile attempt to scale the rocky wall
to his prey. Fifteen or twenty feet from the ground the lion
would scramble only to fall backward again defeated. Tarzan
eyed him for a moment and then commenced a slow and
cautious ascent toward the summit. Several times he had
difficulty in finding holds but at last he drew himself over the
edge, rose, picked up a bit of loose rock, hurled it at Numa
and strode away.

Finding an easy descent to the gorge, he was about to pursue
his journey in the direction of the still-booming guns when
a sudden thought caused him to halt and a half-smile to play
about his lips. Turning, he trotted quickly back to the outer
opening of Numa's tunnel. Close beside it he listened for a
moment and then rapidly began to gather large rocks and
pile them within the entrance. He had almost closed the
aperture when the lion appeared upon the inside -- a very
ferocious and angry lion that pawed and clawed at the rocks
and uttered mighty roars that caused the earth to tremble;
but roars did not frighten Tarzan of the Apes. At Kala's
shaggy breast he had closed his infant eyes in sleep upon
countless nights in years gone by to the savage chorus of
similar roars. Scarcely a day or night of his jungle life -- and
practically all his life had been spent in the jungle -- had
he not heard the roaring of hungry lions, or angry lions,
or love-sick lions. Such sounds affected Tarzan as the tooting
of an automobile horn may affect you -- if you are in front of
the automobile it warns you out of the way, if you are not in
front of it you scarcely notice it. Figuratively Tarzan was
not in front of the automobile -- Numa could not reach him
and Tarzan knew it, so he continued deliberately to choke the
entrance until there was no possibility of Numa's getting out
again. When he was quite through he made a grimace at the
hidden lion beyond the barrier and resumed his way toward
the east. "A man-eater who will eat no more men," he solilo-
quized.

That night Tarzan lay up under an overhanging shelf of
rock. The next morning he resumed his journey, stopping
only long enough to make a kill and satisfy his hunger. The
other beasts of the wild eat and lie up; but Tarzan never let
his belly interfere with his plans. In this lay one of the great-
est differences between the ape-man and his fellows of the
jungles and forests. The firing ahead rose and fell during
the day. He had noticed that it was highest at dawn and
immediately after dusk and that during the night it almost
ceased. In the middle of the afternoon of the second day he
came upon troops moving up toward the front. They ap-
peared to be raiding parties, for they drove goats and cows
along with them and there were native porters laden with
grain and other foodstuffs. He saw that these natives were
all secured by neck chains and he also saw that the troops
were composed of native soldiers in German uniforms. The
officers were white men. No one saw Tarzan, yet he was here
and there about and among them for two hours. He inspected
the insignia upon their uniforms and saw that they were not
the same as that which he had taken from one of the dead
soldiers at the bungalow and then he passed on ahead of
them, unseen in the dense bush. He had come upon Germans
and had not killed them; but it was because the killing of
Germans at large was not yet the prime motive of his existence
-- now it was to discover the individual who slew his mate.

After he had accounted for him he would take up the little
matter of slaying ALL Germans who crossed his path, and he
meant that many should cross it, for he would hunt them
precisely as professional hunters hunt the man-eaters.

As he neared the front lines the troops became more numer-
ous. There were motor trucks and ox teams and all the
impedimenta of a small army and always there were wounded
men walking or being carried toward the rear. He had
crossed the railroad some distance back and judged that the
wounded were being taken to it for transportation to a base
hospital and possibly as far away as Tanga on the coast.

It was dusk when he reached a large camp hidden in the
foothills of the Pare Mountains. As he was approaching from
the rear he found it but lightly guarded and what sentinels
there were, were not upon the alert, and so it was an easy
thing for him to enter after darkness had fallen and prowl
about listening at the backs of tents, searching for some clew
to the slayer of his mate.

As he paused at the side of a tent before which sat a num-
ber of native soldiers he caught a few words spoken in native
dialect that riveted his attention instantly: "The Waziri fought
like devils; but we are greater fighters and we killed them all.
When we were through the captain came and killed the
woman. He stayed outside and yelled in a very loud voice
until all the men were killed. Underlieutenant von Goss is
braver -- he came in and stood beside the door shouting at us,
also in a very loud voice, and bade us nail one of the Waziri
who was wounded to the wall, and then he laughed loudly
because the man suffered. We all laughed. It was very
funny."

Like a beast of prey, grim and terrible, Tarzan crouched in
the shadows beside the tent. What thoughts passed through
that savage mind? Who may say? No outward sign of
passion was revealed by the expression of the handsome face;
the cold, gray eyes denoted only intense watchfulness. Pres-
ently the soldier Tarzan had heard first rose and with a parting
word turned away. He passed within ten feet of the ape-man
and continued on toward the rear of the camp. Tarzan fol-
lowed and in the shadows of a clump of bushes overtook his
quarry. There was no sound as the man beast sprang upon
the back of his prey and bore it to the ground for steel fingers
closed simultaneously upon the soldier's throat, effectually
stifling any outcry. By the neck Tarzan dragged his victim
well into the concealment of the bushes.

"Make no sound," he cautioned in the man's own tribal
dialect as he released his hold upon the other's throat.

The fellow gasped for breath, rolling frightened eyes up-
ward to see what manner of creature it might be in whose
power he was. In the darkness he saw only a naked brown
body bending above him; but he still remembered the terrific
strength of the mighty muscles that had closed upon his wind
and dragged him into the bushes as though he had been but
a little child. If any thought of resistance had crossed his mind
he must have discarded it at once, as he made no move to
escape.

"What is the name of the officer who killed the woman
at the bungalow where you fought with the Waziri?" asked
Tarzan.

"Hauptmann Schneider," replied the black when he could
again command his voice.

"Where is he?" demanded the ape-man.

"He is here. It may be that he is at headquarters. Many
of the officers go there in the evening to receive orders."

"Lead me there," commanded Tarzan, "and if I am dis-
covered I will kill you immediately. Get up!"

The black rose and led the way by a roundabout route
back through the camp. Several times they were forced to
hide while soldiers passed; but at last they reached a great
pile of baled hay from about the corner of which the black
pointed out a two-story building in the distance.

"Headquarters," he said. "You can go no farther unseen.
There are many soldiers about."

Tarzan realized that he could not proceed farther in com-
pany with the black. He turned and looked at the fellow for
a moment as though pondering what disposition to make of
him.

"You helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri," he accused
in a low yet none the less terrible tone.

The black trembled, his knees giving beneath him. "He
ordered us to do it," he plead.

"Who ordered it done?" demanded Tarzan.

"Underlieutenant von Goss," replied the soldier. "He, too,
is here."

"I shall find him," returned Tarzan, grimly. "You helped to
crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, and, while he suffered, you
laughed."

The fellow reeled. It was as though in the accusation he
read also his death sentence. With no other word Tarzan
seized the man again by the neck. As before there was no
outcry. The giant muscles tensed. The arms swung quickly
upward and with them the body of the black soldier who
had helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, described a
circle in the air -- once, twice, three times, and then it was
flung aside and the ape-man turned in the direction of General
Kraut's headquarters.

A single sentinel in the rear of the building barred the way.
Tarzan crawled, belly to the ground, toward him, taking ad-
vantage of cover as only the jungle-bred beast of prey can
do. When the sentinel's eyes were toward him, Tarzan hugged
the ground, motionless as stone; when they were turned away,
he moved swiftly forward. Presently he was within charging
distance. He waited until the man had turned his back once
more and then he rose and sped noiselessly down upon him.
Again there was no sound as he carried the dead body with
him toward the building.

The lower floor was lighted, the upper dark. Through the
windows Tarzan saw a large front room and a smaller room
in rear of it. In the former were many officers. Some moved
about talking to one another, others sat at field tables writing.
The windows were open and Tarzan could hear much of the
conversation; but nothing that interested him. It was mostly
about the German successes in Africa and conjectures as to
when the German army in Europe would reach Paris. Some
said the Kaiser was doubtlessly already there, and there was a
great deal of damning Belgium.

In the smaller back room a large, red-faced man sat be-
hind a table. Some other officers were also sitting a little in
rear of him, while two stood at attention before the general,
who was questioning them. As he talked, the general toyed
with an oil lamp that stood upon the table before him. Pres-
ently there came a knock upon the door and an aide entered
the room. He saluted and reported: "Fraulein Kircher has
arrived, sir."

"Bid her enter," commanded the general, and then nodded
to the two officers before him in sign of dismissal.

The Fraulein, entering, passed them at the door. The
officers in the little room rose and saluted, the Fraulein
acknowledging the courtesy with a bow and a slight smile.
She was a very pretty girl. Even the rough, soiled riding habit
and the caked dust upon her face could not conceal the fact,
and she was young. She could not have been over nineteen.

She advanced to the table behind which the general stood
and, taking a folded paper from an inside pocket of her coat,
handed it to him.

"Be seated, Fraulein," he said, and another officer brought
her a chair. No one spoke while the general read the con-
tents of the paper.

Tarzan appraised the various people in the room. He
wondered if one might not be Hauptmann Schneider, for two
of them were captains. The girl he judged to be of the intel-
ligence department -- a spy. Her beauty held no appeal for
him -- without a glimmer of compunction he could have wrung
that fair, young neck. She was German and that was enough;
but he had other and more important work before him. He
wanted Hauptmann Schneider.

Finally the general looked up from the paper.

"Good," he said to the girl, and then to one of his aides,
"Send for Major Schneider."

Major Schneider! Tarzan felt the short hairs at the back
of his neck rise. Already they had promoted the beast who
had murdered his mate -- doubtless they had promoted him
for that very crime.

The aide left the room and the others fell into a general
conversation from which it became apparent to Tarzan that
the German East African forces greatly outnumbered the
British and that the latter were suffering heavily. The ape-
man stood so concealed in a clump of bushes that he could
watch the interior of the room without being seen from within,
while he was at the same time hidden from the view of any-
one who might chance to pass along the post of the sentinel
he had slain. Momentarily he was expecting a patrol or a
relief to appear and discover that the sentinel was missing,
when he knew an immediate and thorough search would be
made.

Impatiently he awaited the coming of the man he sought
and at last he was rewarded by the reappearance of the aide
who had been dispatched to fetch him accompanied by an
officer of medium size with fierce, upstanding mustaches. The
newcomer strode to the table, halted and saluted, reporting.
The general acknowledged the salute and turned toward the
girl.

"Fraulein Kircher," he said, "allow me to present Major
Schneider --"

Tarzan waited to hear no more. Placing a palm upon the
sill of the window he vaulted into the room into the midst of
an astounded company of the Kaiser's officers. With a stride
he was at the table and with a sweep of his hand sent the
lamp crashing into the fat belly of the general who, in his
mad effort to escape cremation, fell over backward, chair and
all, upon the floor. Two of the aides sprang for the ape-man
who picked up the first and flung him in the face of the other.
The girl had leaped from her chair and stood flattened against
the wall. The other officers were calling aloud for the guard
and for help. Tarzan's purpose centered upon but a single
individual and him he never lost sight of. Freed from attack
for an instant he seized Major Schneider, threw him over his
shoulder and was out of the window so quickly that the
astonished assemblage could scarce realize what had occurred.

A single glance showed him that the sentinel's post was
still vacant and a moment later he and his burden were in
the shadows of the hay dump. Major Schneider had made
no outcry for the very excellent reason that his wind was shut
off. Now Tarzan released his grasp enough to permit the man
to breathe.

"If you make a sound you will be choked again," he said.

Cautiously and after infinite patience Tarzan passed the final
outpost. Forcing his captive to walk before him he pushed
on toward the west until, late into the night, he recrossed the
railway where he felt reasonably safe from discovery. The
German had cursed and grumbled and threatened and asked
questions; but his only reply was another prod from Tarzan's
sharp war spear. The ape-man herded him along as he would
have driven a hog with the difference that he would have had
more respect and therefore more consideration for a hog.

Until now Tarzan had given little thought to the details of
revenge. Now he pondered what form the punishment should
take. Of only one thing was he certain -- it must end in death.
Like all brave men and courageous beasts Tarzan had little
natural inclination to torture -- none, in fact; but this case
was
unique in his experience. An inherent sense of justice called
for an eye for an eye and his recent oath demanded even
more. Yes, the creature must suffer even as he had caused
Jane Clayton to suffer. Tarzan could not hope to make the
man suffer as he had suffered, since physical pain may never
approach the exquisiteness of mental torture.

All through the long night the ape-man goaded on the
exhausted and now terrified Hun. The awful silence of his
captor wrought upon the German's nerves. If he would only
speak! Again and again Schneider tried to force or coax a
word from him; but always the result was the same -- con-
tinued silence and a vicious and painful prod from the spear
point. Schneider was bleeding and sore. He was so ex-
hausted that he staggered at every step, and often he fell only
to be prodded to his feet again by that terrifying and re-
morseless spear.

It was not until morning that Tarzan reached a decision
and it came to him then like an inspiration from above. A
slow smile touched his lips and he immediately sought a
place to lie up and rest -- he wished his prisoner to be fit now
for what lay in store for him. Ahead was a stream which
Tarzan had crossed the day before. He knew the ford for a
drinking place and a likely spot to make an easy kill. Cau-
tioning the German to utter silence with a gesture the two
approached the stream quietly. Down the game trail Tarzan
saw some deer about to leave the water. He shoved Schneider
into the brush at one side and, squatting next him, waited.
The German watched the silent giant with puzzled, frightened
eyes. In the new dawn he, for the first time, was able to ob-
tain a good look at his captor, and, if he had been puzzled
and frightened before, those sensations were nothing to what
he experienced now.

Who and what could this almost naked, white savage be?
He had heard him speak but once -- when he had cautioned
him to silence -- and then in excellent German and the well-
modulated tones of culture. He watched him now as the
fascinated toad watches the snake that is about to devour it.
He saw the graceful limbs and symmetrical body motionless
as a marble statue as the creature crouched in the conceal-
ment of the leafy foliage. Not a muscle, not a nerve moved.
He saw the deer coming slowly along the trail, down wind
and unsuspecting. He saw a buck pass -- an old buck -- and
then a young and plump one came opposite the giant in am-
bush, and Schneider's eyes went wide and a scream of terror
almost broke from his lips as he saw the agile beast at his side
spring straight for the throat of the young buck and heard
from those human lips the hunting roar of a wild beast. Down
went the buck and Tarzan and his captive had meat. The
ape-man ate his raw, but he permitted the German to build
a fire and cook his portion.

The two lay up until late in the afternoon and then took up
the journey once again -- a journey that was so frightful to
Schneider because of his ignorance of its destination that he at
times groveled at Tarzan's feet begging for an explanation
and for mercy; but on and on in silence the ape-man went,
prodding the failing Hun whenever the latter faltered.

It was noon of the third day before they reached their
destination. After a steep climb and a short walk they halted
at the edge of a precipitous cliff and Schneider looked down
into a narrow gulch where a single tree grew beside a tiny
rivulet and sparse grass broke from a rock-strewn soil. Tarzan
motioned him over the edge; but the German drew back in
terror. The Ape-man seized him and pushed him roughly
toward the brink. "Descend," he said. It was the second
time he had spoken in three days and perhaps his very silence,
ominous in itself, had done more to arouse terror in the breast
of the Boche than even the spear point, ever ready as it al-
ways was.

Schneider looked fearfully over the edge; but was about
to essay the attempt when Tarzan halted him. "I am Lord
Greystoke," he said. "It was my wife you murdered in the
Waziri country. You will understand now why I came for you.
Descend."

The German fell upon his knees. "I did not murder your
wife," he cried. "Have mercy! I did not murder your wife.
I do not know anything about --"

"Descend!" snapped Tarzan, raising the point of his spear.
He knew that the man lied and was not surprised that he did.
A man who would murder for no cause would lie for less.
Schneider still hesitated and pled. The ape-man jabbed him
with the spear and Schneider slid fearfully over the top and
began the perilous descent. Tarzan accompanied and assisted
him over the worst places until at last they were within a few
feet of the bottom.

"Be quiet now," cautioned the ape-man. He pointed at the
entrance to what appeared to be a cave at the far end of the
gulch. "There is a hungry lion in there. If you can reach
that tree before he discovers you, you will have several days
longer in which to enjoy life and then -- when you are too weak
to cling longer to the branches of the tree Numa, the man-
eater, will feed again for the last time." He pushed Schneider
from his foothold to the ground below. "Now run," he said.

The German trembling in terror started for the tree. He
had almost reached it when a horrid roar broke from the
mouth of the cave and almost simultaneously a gaunt, hunger-
mad lion leaped into the daylight of the gulch. Schneider
had but a few yards to cover; but the lion flew over the ground
to circumvent him while Tarzan watched the race with a
slight smile upon his lips.

Schneider won by a slender margin, and as Tarzan scaled
the cliff to the summit, he heard behind him mingled with the
roaring of the baffled cat, the gibbering of a human voice that
was at the same time more bestial than the beast's.

Upon the brink of the cliff the ape-man turned and looked
back into the gulch. High in the tree the German clung
frantically to a branch across which his body lay. Beneath
him was Numa -- waiting.

The ape-man raised his face to Kudu, the sun, and from
his mighty chest rose the savage victory cry of the bull ape.