Numa, the lion, growled futilely in baffled rage as heslipped back to the ground at the foot of the wall afterhis unsuccessful attempt to drag down the fleeing ape-man. He poised to make a second effort to follow his escapingquarry when his nose picked up a hitherto unnoticed qualityin the scent spoor of his intended prey. Sniffing at the groundthat Tarzan's feet had barely touched, Numa's growl changedto a low whine, for he had recognized the scent spoor of theman-thing that had rescued him from the pit of the Wama-bos.

What thoughts passed through that massive head? Whomay say? But now there was no indication of baffled rage asthe great lion turned and moved majestically eastward alongthe wall. At the eastern end of the city he turned toward thesouth, continuing his way to the south side of the wall alongwhich were the pens and corrals where the herbivorous flockswere fattened for the herds of domesticated lions within thecity. The great black lions of the forest fed with almost equalimpartiality upon the flesh of the grass-eaters and man. LikeNuma of the pit they occasionally made excursions across thedesert to the fertile valley of the Wamabos, but principallythey took their toll of meat from the herds of the walled cityof Herog, the mad king, or seized upon some of his lucklesssubjects.

Numa of the pit was in some respect an exception to therule which guided his fellows of the forest in that as a cub hehad been trapped and carried into the city, where he was keptfor breeding purposes, only to escape in his second year. Theyhad tried to teach him in the city of maniacs that he must noteat the flesh of man, and the result of their schooling was thatonly when aroused to anger or upon that one occasion thathe had been impelled by the pangs of hunger, did he ever at-tack man.

The animal corrals of the maniacs are protected by an outerwall or palisade of upright logs, the lower ends of which areimbedded in the ground, the logs themselves being placed asclose together as possible and further reinforced and boundtogether by withes. At intervals there are gates through whichthe flocks are turned on to the grazing land south of the cityduring the daytime. It is at such times that the black lionsof the forest take their greatest toll from the herds, and it isinfrequent that a lion attempts to enter the corrals at night.But Numa of the pit, having scented the spoor of his bene-factor, was minded again to pass into the walled city, and withthat idea in his cunning brain he crept stealthily along theouter side of the palisade, testing each gateway with a paddedfoot until at last he discovered one which seemed insecurelyfastened. Lowering his great head he pressed against the gate,surging forward with all the weight of his huge body and thestrength of his giant sinews -- one mighty effort and Numa waswithin the corral.

The enclosure contained a herd of goats which immediatelyupon the advent of the carnivore started a mad stampede tothe opposite end of the corral which was bounded by the southwall of the city. Numa had been within such a corral as thisbefore, so that he knew that somewhere in the wall was a smalldoor through which the goatherd might pass from the cityto his flock; toward this door he made his way, whether byplan or accident it is difficult to say, though in the light ofensuing events it seems possible that the former was the case.

To reach the gate he must pass directly through the herdwhich had huddled affrightedly close to the opening so thatonce again there was a furious rush of hoofs as Numa strodequickly to the side of the portal. If Numa had planned, hehad planned well, for scarcely had he reached his positionwhen the door opened and a herder's head was projectedinto the enclosure, the fellow evidently seeking an explana-tion of the disturbance among his flock. Possibly he discov-ered the cause of the commotion, but it is doubtful, for it wasdark and the great, taloned paw that reached up and struckdownward a mighty blow that almost severed his head fromhis body, moved so quickly and silently that the man was deadwithin a fraction of a second from the moment that he openedthe door, and then Numa, knowing now his way, passedthrough the wall into the dimly lighted streets of the city be-yond.

Smith-Oldwick's first thought when he was accosted by thefigure in the yellow tunic of a soldier was to shoot the mandead and trust to his legs and the dimly lighted, winding streetsto permit his escape, for he knew that to be accosted wasequivalent to recapture since no inhabitant of this weird citybut would recognize him as an alien. It would be a simplething to shoot the man from the pocket where the pistol laywithout drawing the weapon, and with this purpose in mindthe Englishman slipped his hands into the side pocket of hisblouse, but simultaneously with this action his wrist was seizedin a powerful grasp and a low voice whispered in English:"Lieutenant, it is I, Tarzan of the Apes."

The relief from the nervous strain under which he hadbeen laboring for so long, left Smith-Oldwick suddenly asweak as a babe, so that he was forced to grasp the ape-man'sarm for support -- and when he found his voice all he coulddo was to repeat: "You? You? I thought you were dead!"

"No, not dead," replied Tarzan, "and I see that you are noteither. But how about the girl?"

"I haven't seen her," replied the Englishman, "since wewere brought here. We were taken into a building on theplaza close by and there we were separated. She was led awayby guards and I was put into a den of lions. I haven't seenher since."

"How did you escape?" asked the ape-man.

"The lions didn't seem to pay much attention to me and Iclimbed out of the place by way of a tree and through a win-dow into a room on the second floor. Had a little scrimmagethere with a fellow and was hidden by one of their womenin a hole in the wall. The loony thing then betrayed me toanother bounder who happened in, but I found a way outand up onto the roof where I have been for quite some timenow waiting for a chance to get down into the street withoutbeing seen. That's all I know, but I haven't the slightest ideain the world where to look for Miss Kircher."

"Where were you going now?" asked Tarzan.

Smith-Oldwick hesitated. "I -- well, I couldn't do anythinghere alone and I was going to try to get out of the city andin some way reach the British forces east and bring help."

"You couldn't do it," said Tarzan. "Even if you got throughthe forest alive you could never cross the desert country with-out food or water."

"What shall we do, then?" asked the Englishman.

"We will see if we can find the girl," replied the ape-man,and then, as though he had forgotten the presence of the Eng-lishman and was arguing to convince himself, "She may be aGerman and a spy, but she is a woman -- a white woman -- Ican't leave her here."

"But how are we going to find her?" asked the Englishman.

"I have followed her this far," replied Tarzan, "and unlessI am greatly mistaken I can follow her still farther."

"But I cannot accompany you in these clothes without ex-posing us both to detection and arrest," argued Smith-Oldwick.

"We will get you other clothes, then," said Tarzan.

"How?" asked the Englishman.

"Go back to the roof beside the city wall where I entered,"replied the ape-man with a grim smile, "and ask the nakeddead man there how I got my disguise."

Smith-Oldwick looked quickly up at his companion. "I haveit," he exclaimed. "I know where there is a fellow who doesn'tneed his clothes anymore, and if we can get back on this roofI think we can find him and get his apparel without muchresistance. Only a girl and a young fellow whom we couldeasily surprise and overcome."

"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. "How do you knowthat the man doesn't need his clothes any more."

"I know he doesn't need them," replied the Englishman,"because I killed him."

"Oh!" exclaimed the ape-man, "I see. I guess it might beeasier that way than to tackle one of these fellows in the streetwhere there is more chance of our being interrupted."

"But how are we going to reach the roof again, after all?"queried Smith-Oldwick.

"The same way you came down," replied Tarzan. "Thisroof is low and there is a little ledge formed by the capitalof each column; I noticed that when you descended. Some ofthe buildings wouldn't have been so easy to negotiate."

Smith-Oldwick looked up toward the eaves of the low roof."It's not very high," he said, "but I am afraid I can't make it.I'll try -- I've been pretty weak since a lion mauled me andthe guards beat me up, and too, I haven't eaten since yester-day."

Tarzan thought a moment. "You've got to go with me," hesaid at last. "I can't leave you here. The only chance you haveof escape is through me and I can't go with you now untilwe have found the girl."

"I want to go with you," replied Smith-Oldwick. "I'm notmuch good now but at that two of us may be better thanone."

"All right," said Tarzan, "come on," and before the Eng-lishman realized what the other contemplated Tarzan hadpicked him up and thrown him across his shoulder. "Now,hang on," whispered the ape-man, and with a short run heclambered apelike up the front of the low arcade. So quicklyand easily was it done that the Englishman scarcely had timeto realize what was happening before he was deposited safelyupon the roof.

"There," remarked Tarzan. "Now, lead me to the placeyou speak of."

Smith-Oldwick had no difficulty in locating the trap in theroof through which he had escaped. Removing the cover theape-man bent low, listening and sniffing. "Come," he saidafter a moment's investigation and lowered himself to thefloor beneath. Smith-Oldwick followed him, and together thetwo crept through the darkness toward the door in the backwall of the niche in which the Englishman had been hiddenby the girl. They found the door ajar and opening it Tarzansaw a streak of light showing through the hangings that sep-arated it from the alcove.

Placing his eye close to the aperture he saw the girl andthe young man of which the Englishman had spoken seatedon opposite sides of a low table upon which food was spread.Serving them was a giant Negro and it was he whom the ape-man watched most closely. Familiar with the tribal idiosyn-crasies of a great number of African tribes over a considerableproportion of the Dark Continent, the Tarmangani at last feltreasonably assured that he knew from what part of Africa thisslave had come, and the dialect of his people. There was, how-ever, the chance that the fellow had been captured in child-hood and that through long years of non-use his native lan-guage had become lost to him, but then there always had beenan element of chance connected with nearly every event ofTarzan's life, so he waited patiently until in the performanceof his duties the black man approached a little table whichstood near the niche in which Tarzan and the Englishman hid.

As the slave bent over some dish which stood upon the tablehis ear was not far from the aperture through which Tarzanlooked. Apparently from a solid wall, for the Negro had noknowledge of the existence of the niche, came to him in thetongue of his own people, the whispered words: "If you wouldreturn to the land of the Wamabo say nothing, but do as Ibid you."

The black rolled terrified eyes toward the hangings at hisside. The ape-man could see him tremble and for a momentwas fearful that in his terror he would betray them. "Fearnot," he whispered, "we are your friends."

At last the Negro spoke in a low whisper, scarcely audibleeven to the keen ears of the ape-man. "What," he asked, "canpoor Otobu do for the god who speaks to him out of the solidwall?"

"This," replied Tarzan. "Two of us are coming into thisroom. Help us prevent this man and woman from escapingor raising an outcry that will bring others to their aid."

"I will help you," replied the Negro, "to keep them withinthis room, but do not fear that their outcries will bring others.These walls are built so that no sound may pass through, andeven if it did what difference would it make in this villagewhich is constantly filled with the screams of its mad people.Do not fear their cries. No one will notice them. I go to doyour bidding."

Tarzan saw the black cross the room to the table upon whichhe placed another dish of food before the feasters. Then hestepped to a place behind the man and as he did so raised hiseyes to the point in the wall from which the ape-man's voicehad come to him, as much as to say, "Master, I am ready."

Without more delay Tarzan threw aside the hangings andstepped into the room. As he did so the young man rose fromthe table to be instantly seized from behind by the black slave.The girl, whose back was toward the ape-man and his com-panion, was not at first aware of their presence but saw onlythe attack of the slave upon her lover, and with a loud screamshe leaped forward to assist the latter. Tarzan sprang to herside and laid a heavy hand upon her arm before she couldinterfere with Otobu's attentions to the young man. At first,as she turned toward the ape-man, her face reflected only madrage, but almost instantly this changed into the vapid smilewith which Smith-Oldwick was already familiar and her slimfingers commenced their soft appraisement of the newcomer.

Almost immediately she discovered Smith-Oldwick but therewas neither surprise nor anger upon her countenance. Evi-dently the poor mad creature knew but two principal moods,from one to the other of which she changed with lightning-like rapidity.

"Watch her a moment," said Tarzan to the Englishman,"while I disarm that fellow," and stepping to the side of theyoung man whom Otobu was having difficulty in subduingTarzan relieved him of his saber. "Tell them," he said to theNegro, "if you speak their language, that we will not harmthem if they leave us alone and let us depart in peace."

The black had been looking at Tarzan with wide eyes, evi-dently not comprehending how this god could appear in somaterial a form, and with the voice of a white bwana and theuniform of a warrior of this city to which he quite evidentlydid not belong. But nevertheless his first confidence in thevoicethat offered him freedom was not lessened and he did asTarzan bid him.

"They want to know what you want," said Otobu, after hehad spoken to the man and the girl.

"Tell them that we want food for one thing," said Tarzan,"and something else that we know where to find in this room.Take the man's spear, Otobu; I see it leaning against the wallin the corner of the room. And you, Lieutenant, take hissaber," and then again to Otobu, "I will watch the man whileyou go and bring forth that which is beneath the couch overagainst this wall," and Tarzan indicated the location of thepiece of furniture.

Otobu, trained to obey, did as he was bid. The eyes of theman and the girl followed him, and as he drew back the hang-ings and dragged forth the corpse of the man Smith-Oldwickhad slain, the girl's lover voiced a loud scream and attemptedto leap forward to the side of the corpse. Tarzan, however,seized him and then the fellow turned upon him with teethand nails. It was with no little difficulty that Tarzan finallysub-dued the man, and while Otobu was removing the outer cloth-ing from the corpse, Tarzan asked the black to question theyoung man as to his evident excitement at the sight of the body.

"I can tell you Bwana," replied Otobu. "This man was hisfather."

"What is he saying to the girl?" asked Tarzan.

"He is asking her if she knew that the body of his father wasunder the couch. And she is saying that she did not know it."

Tarzan repeated the conversation to Smith-Oldwick, whosmiled. "If the chap could have seen her removing all evi-dence of the crime and arranging the hangings of the couchso that the body was concealed after she had helped me dragit across the room, he wouldn't have very much doubt as to herknowledge of the affair. The rug you see draped over thebench in the corner was arranged to hide the blood stain -- insome ways they are not so loony after all."

The black man had now removed the outer garments fromthe dead man, and Smith-Oldwick was hastily drawing themon over his own clothing. "And now," said Tarzan, "we willsit down and eat. One accomplishes little on an empty stom-ach." As they ate the ape-man attempted to carry on a conver-sation with the two natives through Otobu. He learned thatthey were in the palace which had belonged to the dead manlying upon the floor beside them. He had held an official posi-tion of some nature, and he and his family were of the rulingclass but were not members of the court.

When Tarzan questioned them about Bertha Kircher, theyoung man said that she had been taken to the king's palace;and when asked why replied: "For the king, of course."

During the conversation both the man and the girl appearedquite rational, even asking some questions as to the countryfrom which their uninvited guests had come, and evidencingmuch surprise when informed that there was anything butwaterless wastes beyond their own valley.

When Otobu asked the man, at Tarzan's suggestion, if hewas familiar with the interior of the king's palace, he repliedthat he was; that he was a friend of Prince Metak, one of theking's sons, and that he often visited the palace and that Metakalso came here to his father's palace frequently. As Tarzanate he racked his brain for some plan whereby he might utilizethe knowledge of the young man to gain entrance to thepalace, but he had arrived at nothing which he consideredfeasible when there came a loud knocking upon the door ofthe outer room.

For a moment no one spoke and then the young man raisedhis voice and cried aloud to those without. ImmediatelyOtobu sprang for the fellow and attempted to smother hiswords by clapping a palm over his mouth.

"What is he saying?" asked Tarzan.

"He is telling them to break down the door and rescue himand the girl from two strangers who entered and made themprisoners. If they enter they will kill us all."

"Tell him," said Tarzan, "to hold his peace or I will slayhim."

Otobu did as he was instructed and the young maniac lapsedinto scowling silence. Tarzan crossed the alcove and enteredthe outer room to note the effect of the assaults upon the door.Smith-Oldwick followed him a few steps, leaving Otobu toguard the two prionsers. The ape-man saw that the door couldnot long withstand the heavy blows being dealt the panelsfrom without. "I wanted to use that fellow in the other room,"he said to Smith-Oldwick, "but I am afraid we will have to getout of here the way we came. We can't accomplish anythingby waiting here and meeting these fellows. From the noise outthere there must be a dozen of them. Come," he said, "you gofirst and I will follow."

As the two turned back from the alcove they witnessed anentirely different scene from that upon which they had turnedtheir backs but a moment or two before. Stretched on thefloor and apparently lifeless lay the body of the black slave,while the two prisoners had vanished completely.