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03 - Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Tarzan Twins

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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, Numa the Lion hunted through the jungle primeval.
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  Speaker 1: He was not ravenously hungry, as only the night before
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  Speaker 1: he had finished devouring the kill he had made two
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  Speaker 1: days ago. However, it would do no harm to rove
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  Speaker 1: the jungle for a few hours and mark down a
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  Speaker 1: new prey, even before the pangs of hunger became sharp.
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  Speaker 1: As he moved majestically along the familiar game trail, he
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  Speaker 1: made no effort to hide his presence, for was he
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  Speaker 1: not the king of beasts? Who was there to dispute
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  Speaker 1: his supreme power? Of whom need he be afraid? Perhaps
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  Speaker 1: these very thoughts were in the mind of Numa. When
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  Speaker 1: borne upon the air that moved down the tunnel like trail,
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  Speaker 1: A scent filled his nostrils that brought him to a
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  Speaker 1: sudden stop. It was the scent that ever aroused hatred
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  Speaker 1: in the heart of Numa. It was the scent of man.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps it aroused hatred because of the fact that it
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  Speaker 1: engendered a little fear as well, though fear was something
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  Speaker 1: that the king could not admit. But there was something strange,
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  Speaker 1: something a little different in this scent than in anything
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  Speaker 1: he had ever noticed. In the scent spoor of the Gomangani.
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  Speaker 1: It differed from the scent spore of the Negro quite
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  Speaker 1: as much as their scent differed from that of the
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  Speaker 1: Mangani or great apes. He was sure then that it
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  Speaker 1: was neither Gomangani the black man, or great black Ape
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  Speaker 1: or Mangani whose odor was wafted down to him. But
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  Speaker 1: of one thing, Numa was certain. The odor was that
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  Speaker 1: of man. And so he moved along the trail, but
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  Speaker 1: more carefully now, his great padded feet making no sound. Once,
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  Speaker 1: in the freshness of his first anger, he had roared
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  Speaker 1: forth his challenge. Now he was silent. When he came
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  Speaker 1: to the spot where the boys had stopped before they
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  Speaker 1: turned back. He paused and sniffed the air, his tail
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  Speaker 1: moving nervously from side to side. Then he started at
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  Speaker 1: a trot along their trail, head flattened and every alert,
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  Speaker 1: the great muscles moving in supple waves beneath his tawny hide,
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  Speaker 1: his tufted tail held just above the ground, his black
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  Speaker 1: mane rippling in the gentle breeze. Numa the lion followed
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  Speaker 1: the scent spore of his prey. Dick and Doc were
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  Speaker 1: used to long cross country runs for many were the
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  Speaker 1: paper chases in which they had taken part and now
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  Speaker 1: they were glad that they had developed their muscles and
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  Speaker 1: their lungs and clean outdoor exercise. For though they had
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  Speaker 1: run now for long distance, they were neither tired nor
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  Speaker 1: out of breath. However, they slowed down to a walk,
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  Speaker 1: as each was already troubled with the same doubt. It
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  Speaker 1: was Doc who first voiced it. I didn't think we'd
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  Speaker 1: come this far, he said. Do you suppose we passed
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  Speaker 1: the little path leading to the railway without seeing it.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, replied Dick, but it certainly seems as
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  Speaker 1: though we had come back a whole lot further than
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  Speaker 1: we went in. But then, of course you said it
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  Speaker 1: would be great to spend the night in here, he added, Well,
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  Speaker 1: it would, insisted Doc, But it wouldn't be very nice
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  Speaker 1: to have the train go off and leave us here forever.
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  Speaker 1: And that's just what it may do if we don't
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  Speaker 1: get back to it pretty soon. Let's go on a
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  Speaker 1: little way. Then if we don't find the path, we'll
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  Speaker 1: turn around and go back and try the other fork
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  Speaker 1: of the trail. What do you suppose made that noise,
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  Speaker 1: asked Dick presently, as they walked along, peering anxiously into
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  Speaker 1: the dense wall of jungle for the opening that they
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  Speaker 1: hoped would lead them back to the train. It was
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  Speaker 1: the first time that neither of them had mentioned the
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  Speaker 1: cause of their fright, partly because they had been too
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  Speaker 1: busy running, and partly because each of them was a
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  Speaker 1: little ashamed of his headlong flight sounded like a lion,
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  Speaker 1: said Doc, that's what I thought, said Dick. Why didn't
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  Speaker 1: you wait and see? Then, demanded his cousin on the train.
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  Speaker 1: This you said you'd like to see a real lion.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't see you waiting, Dick shot back. I guess
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  Speaker 1: you were afraid, all right. I never saw anyone run
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  Speaker 1: so fast in my life. I had to to keep
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  Speaker 1: up with you, replied Doc. Anyhow, I hadn't lost a lion.
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  Speaker 1: Who wants an old lion anyway? I guess you don't.
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  Speaker 1: Freddy Cat, Freddy Cat, nothing, replied Doc. I'm not afraid
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  Speaker 1: of any old lion. All you gotta do is look
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  Speaker 1: em right in the eye, and what and they put
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  Speaker 1: their tail between their legs and beat it. An umbrella
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  Speaker 1: is a good thing to frighten a lion with, offered Dick.
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  Speaker 1: Say look at that big rock, exclaimed Doc, pointing to
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  Speaker 1: a vine covered rocky outcropping around which the trail disappeared
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  Speaker 1: just ahead. We didn't pass anything like that when we
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  Speaker 1: came in, no, admitted Dick. We didn't. That means that
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  Speaker 1: we are sure enough on the wrong trail. Let's turn
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  Speaker 1: around and go back to the other four. Together, they
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  Speaker 1: turned to retrace their steps before them. The trail ran
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  Speaker 1: quite straight for almost a hundred yards, and there, just
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  Speaker 1: at the end of it, a great, black, maned lion
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  Speaker 1: emerged into full view. Dick and Doc stood frozen in
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  Speaker 1: their tracks, and the lion stopped too and surveyed them.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed a very long time to the boys that
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  Speaker 1: they stood there, but it really could have been only
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  Speaker 1: a moment. Then the lion opened his mouth in the
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  Speaker 1: most terrific roar those boys had ever heard in all
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  Speaker 1: their lives, and still roaring, moved toward them quick the trees,
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  Speaker 1: whispered Dick, as though fearful that the lion would overhear him.
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  Speaker 1: As the boys sprang for the nearest tree, Numa broke
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  Speaker 1: into a trot. It was then that Doc caught his
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  Speaker 1: toe beneath a root and fell headlong to the ground.
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  Speaker 1: The lion seemed very near, yet Dick turned back and seizing,
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  Speaker 1: Doc helped him to his feet. An instant later, as
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  Speaker 1: the lion charged in real earnest at a terrific speed.
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  Speaker 1: The boys were clambering swiftly into the lower branches of
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  Speaker 1: a great tree that overspread the trail. Roaring angrily, Numa
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  Speaker 1: sprang into the air, his mighty talons unsheathed, to seize
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  Speaker 1: and drag them down. He missed them, but by a
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  Speaker 1: margin so narrow that one of his claws touched the
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  Speaker 1: heel of Dick's shoe. With an agility far beyond their
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  Speaker 1: own dreams, Dick and Doc climbed high above the menace
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  Speaker 1: of the angry beast of prey, finally seating themselves upon
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  Speaker 1: a limb that projected above the trail. Beneath them, the
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  Speaker 1: lion stood, glaring up with round, yellow, green blazing eyes.
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  Speaker 1: He was growling angrily, exposing yellow fangs that made them shudder.
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  Speaker 1: Why didn't you look him in the eye, demanded Dick.
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  Speaker 1: I was goin too, but he wouldn't stand still, replied Doc,
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  Speaker 1: why didn't you bring an umbrella? Numa, nervous, irritable, did
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  Speaker 1: not relish the idea of losing his supper now that
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  Speaker 1: he had discovered a quarry of two young and tender Tarmangani.
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  Speaker 1: For if there is anything that Numa relishes, even before
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  Speaker 1: old age has reduced him to a diet of human flesh,
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  Speaker 1: it is the young of the Man tribe. Therefore, as
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  Speaker 1: long as they were in sight, he did not give
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  Speaker 1: up hope. Seldom did Numa the Lion have reason to
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  Speaker 1: envy his cousin, Sita the panther, But this was most
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  Speaker 1: certainly such an occasion. For could he have climbed with
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  Speaker 1: the agility of Shechitah, the prey would soon have been his.
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  Speaker 1: Not being able to climb into the tree after his supper,
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  Speaker 1: he did the next best thing, which was to lie
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  Speaker 1: down and wait for it to descend. Of course, if
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  Speaker 1: Numa had had the brains of a man, he would
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  Speaker 1: have known that the boys would not come down while
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  Speaker 1: he lay there waiting for them. Perhaps he hoped that
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  Speaker 1: they would fall asleep and tumble out of the tree.
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  Speaker 1: And it may be that after a while he really
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  Speaker 1: did reason the thing out, almost as a man would
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  Speaker 1: have reasoned it. For after half an hour of waiting
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  Speaker 1: he arose and strode majestically back along the trail in
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  Speaker 1: the direction from which he had come, But just around
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  Speaker 1: the first turn he halted, wheeled about, and lay down,
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  Speaker 1: just out of sight of his intended victims. I believe
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  Speaker 1: he's gone, whispered Dick. Let's wait a few minutes and
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  Speaker 1: then climb down and see if we can find the path.
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  Speaker 1: It can't be so very far from here. If we
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  Speaker 1: wait very long, it will be dark, said Doc. Do
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  Speaker 1: you suppose they could hear us if we yelled, asked Dick.
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  Speaker 1: If they did hear us and came in, the lion
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  Speaker 1: might get them. I never thought of that. No, we
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  Speaker 1: mustn't yell. Dick scratched his head and thought there must
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  Speaker 1: be some way out of this. He continued. We can't
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  Speaker 1: stay here forever, even if you do think it would
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  Speaker 1: be nice to spend the night in the jungle. If
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  Speaker 1: we climbed down, we may run right into that old lion.
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  Speaker 1: And we haven't got an umbrella or anything, said Doc, grinning.
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  Speaker 1: I've got it, cried Dick. I've got it. Why didn't
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  Speaker 1: we think of it before? Think of what? Why? Swinging
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  Speaker 1: through the trees like Tarzan, he didn't come down to
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  Speaker 1: the ground when a lion was after him. If he
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  Speaker 1: didn't want to, he just swung through the trees. Why
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  Speaker 1: can't we swing through the trees right back to the train, gee,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Doc. That's a great idea. I'll bet they'll be
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  Speaker 1: surprised when we come swinging through the trees and drop
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  Speaker 1: right down in front of em. And I guess their
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  Speaker 1: eyes won't stick out like two peeled onions or anything
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  Speaker 1: when we tell them we were chased by a lion,
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  Speaker 1: added Dick. Come on, then, which way is the train?
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  Speaker 1: This way? And Dick led off at right angles to
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  Speaker 1: the trail, working his way carefully along the limb of
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  Speaker 1: the tree, seeking carefully foothold below and henhold above. I
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  Speaker 1: don't call that swinging, said Doc. Well, smarty, let's see
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  Speaker 1: you swing. You're Tarzan's cousin. If you can't do it,
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  Speaker 1: how do you expect me to, well, explained Dick. I've
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  Speaker 1: got to practice a little bit, haven't I. You don't
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  Speaker 1: expect a fellow to do it the first thing off
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  Speaker 1: without a little practice, do you. But at the moment
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  Speaker 1: Doc was too busy worming his way gingerly after Dick
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  Speaker 1: to think up a suitable reply. From one tree to another.
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  Speaker 1: They made their way, and as they progressed, they soon
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  Speaker 1: became more sure of themselves, and their pace increased Accordingly.
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  Speaker 1: By chance, Dick had started in the right direction. The
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  Speaker 1: train laid directly ahead of them, though further away than
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  Speaker 1: either would have imagined. But following a straight line through
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  Speaker 1: the trees of a dense forest, where there are no
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  Speaker 1: landmarks to guide one, and where the sun is not
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  Speaker 1: visible as a beacon of safety, is a thing not
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  Speaker 1: easily done. It was not at all strange, therefore, that
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  Speaker 1: within the first hundred yards Dick had so altered his
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  Speaker 1: original course that the boys were moving at a right
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  Speaker 1: angle to the proper direction, and within the next hundred
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  Speaker 1: had turned almost completely back and were swinging directly away
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  Speaker 1: from the railway. A few minutes later, they crossed the
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  Speaker 1: wide game trail they had so recently left, but so
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  Speaker 1: thick was the foliage beneath them that they did not
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  Speaker 1: see the trail at all, and they were still bravely
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  Speaker 1: traveling their perilous path when the sudden tropical night shut
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  Speaker 1: down upon the jungle, engulfing them in its black folds.
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  Speaker 1: Below them, a lion roared out of the black void.
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  Speaker 1: Rose the weird scream of a panther. Something moved in
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  Speaker 1: the trees above them. The night life of the jungle
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  Speaker 1: was awakening, with its sounds of stealthily moving bodies, with
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  Speaker 1: its terrifying noises, with its awful silences. End of Chapter two,