CHAPTER XVII
THE WALLED CITY
DROPPING to the ground once more he picked up the trail of the girl and her captors which he followed easily along what appeared to be a well-beaten trail. It was not long before he came to a small stream where he quenched his thirst, and thereafter he saw that the trail followed in the general direction of the stream which ran southwesterly. Here and there were cross trails and others which joined the main avenue, and always upon each of them were the tracks and scent of the great cats, of Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the panther.
With the exception of a few small rodents there appeared to be no other wild life on the surface of the valley. There was no indication of Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or of Gorgo, the buffalo, Buto, Tantor, or Duro. Histah, the snake, was there. He saw him in the trees in greater numbers than he ever had seen Histah before; and once beside a reedy pool he caught a scent that could have belonged to none other than Gimla, the crocodile, but upon none of these did the Tarmangani care to feed.
And so, as he craved meat, he turned his attention to the birds above him. His assailants of the night
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