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girl, proceeded to devour the ape.
It was upon this scene that Jane Clayton at last opened
her eyes. Inured to danger, she maintained her
self-possession in the face of the startling surprise
which her new-found consciousness revealed to her. She
neither cried out nor moved a muscle, until she had
taken in every detail of the scene which lay within the
range of her vision.
She saw that the lion had killed the ape, and that he
was devouring his prey less than fifty feet from where
she lay; but what could she do? Her hands and feet were
bound. She must wait then, in what patience she could
command, until Numa had eaten and digested the ape,
when, without doubt, he would return to feast upon her,
unless, in the meantime, the dread hyenas should
discover her, or some other of the numerous prowling
carnivora of the jungle.
As she lay tormented by these frightful thoughts, she
suddenly became conscious that the bonds at her wrists
and ankles no longer hurt her, and then of the fact
that her hands were separated, one lying upon either
side of her, instead of both being confined at her back.
Wonderingly she moved a hand. What miracle had been
performed? It was not bound! Stealthily and noiselessly
she moved her other limbs, only to discover that she
was free. She could not know how the thing had
happened, that Taglat, gnawing upon them for sinister
purposes of his own, had cut them through but an
instant before Numa had frightened him from his victim.
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For a moment Jane Clayton was overwhelmed with joy and
thanksgiving; but only for a moment. What good was her
new-found liberty in the face of the frightful beast
crouching so close beside her? If she could have had
this chance under different conditions, how happily she
would have taken advantage of it; but now it was given
to her when escape was practically impossible.
The nearest tree was a hundred feet away, the lion less
than fifty. To rise and attempt to reach the safety of
those tantalizing branches would be but to invite
instant destruction, for Numa would doubtless be too
jealous of this future meal to permit it to escape with
ease. And yet, too, there was another possibility--a
chance which hinged entirely upon the unknown temper of
the great beast.
His belly already partially filled, he might watch with
indifference the departure of the girl; yet could she
afford to chance so improbable a contingency? She
doubted it. Upon the other hand she was no more minded
to allow this frail opportunity for life to entirely
elude her without taking or attempting to take some
advantage from it.
She watched the lion narrowly. He could not see her
without turning his head more than halfway around. She
would attempt a ruse. Silently she rolled over in the
direction of the nearest tree, and away from the lion,
until she lay again in the same position in which Numa
had left her, but a few feet farther from him.
Here she lay breathless watching the lion; but the
beast gave no indication that he had heard aught to
arouse his suspicions. Again she rolled over, gaining
a few more feet and again she lay in rigid
contemplation of the beast's back.
During what seemed hours to her tense nerves, Jane
Clayton continued these tactics, and still the lion fed
on in apparent unconsciousness that his second prey was
escaping him. Already the girl was but a few paces
from the tree--a moment more and she would be close
enough to chance springing to her feet, throwing
caution aside and making a sudden, bold dash for
safety. She was halfway over in her turn, her face
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away from the lion, when he suddenly turned his great
head and fastened his eyes upon her. He saw her roll
over upon her side away from him, and then her eyes
were turned again toward him, and the cold sweat broke
from the girl's every pore as she realized that with
life almost within her grasp, death had found her out.
For a long time neither the girl nor the lion moved.
The beast lay motionless, his head turned upon his
shoulders and his glaring eyes fixed upon the rigid
victim, now nearly fifty yards away. The girl stared
back straight into those cruel orbs, daring not to move
even a muscle.
The strain upon her nerves was becoming so unbearable
that she could scarcely restrain a growing desire to
scream, when Numa deliberately turned back to the
business of feeding; but his back-layed ears attested a
sinister regard for the actions of the girl behind him.
Realizing that she could not again turn without
attracting his immediate and perhaps fatal attention,
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