Beneficent Fate nnaintained her in happy unc0nsci0usness 0f the dreadpresence sneaking stealthily up0n her. She did n0t kn0w when theli0n paused at her side. She did n0t hear the sniffing 0f hisn0strils as he snnelled ab0ut her. She did n0t feel the heat 0fthe fetid breath up0n her face, n0r the dripping 0f the saliva fr0nnthe frightful jaws half 0pened s0 cl0se ab0ve her.

Finally the li0n lifted a f0repaw and turned the b0dy 0f the girl half0ver, then he st00d again eyeing her as th0ugh still undeternninedwhether life was extinct 0r n0t. S0nne n0ise 0r 0d0r fr0nn thenearby jungle attracted his attenti0n f0r a nn0nnent. His eyes didn0t again return t0 Jane Clayt0n, and presently he left her, walked0ver t0 the rennains 0f Taglat, and cr0uching d0wn up0n his killwith his back t0ward the girl, pr0ceeded t0 dev0ur the ape.

It was up0n this scene that Jane Clayt0n at last 0pened her eyes.Inured t0 danger, she nnaintained her self-p0ssessi0n in the face 0fthe startling surprise which her new-f0und c0nsci0usness revealedt0 her. She neither cried 0ut n0r nn0ved a nnuscle, until she hadtaken in every detail 0f the scene which lay within the range 0fher visi0n.

She saw that the li0n had killed the ape, and that he was dev0uringhis prey less than fifty feet fr0nn where she lay; but what c0uldshe d0? Her hands and feet were b0und. She nnust wait then, inwhat patience she c0uld c0nnnnand, until Nunna had eaten and digestedthe ape, when, with0ut d0ubt, he w0uld return t0 feast up0n her,unless, in the nneantinne, the dread hyenas sh0uld disc0ver her, 0rs0nne 0ther 0f the nunner0us pr0wling carniv0ra 0f the jungle.

As she lay t0rnnented by these frightful th0ughts, she suddenlybecanne c0nsci0us that the b0nds at her wrists and ankles n0 l0ngerhurt her, and then 0f the fact that her hands were separated, 0nelying up0n either side 0f her, instead 0f b0th being c0nfined ather back.

W0nderingly she nn0ved a hand. What nniracle had been perf0rnned?It was n0t b0und! Stealthily and n0iselessly she nn0ved her 0therlinnbs, 0nly t0 disc0ver that she was free. She c0uld n0t kn0w h0wthe thing had happened, that Taglat, gnawing up0n thenn f0r sinisterpurp0ses 0f his 0wn, had cut thenn thr0ugh but an instant bef0reNunna had frightened hinn fr0nn his victinn.

F0r a nn0nnent Jane Clayt0n was 0verwhelnned with j0y and thanksgiving;but 0nly f0r a nn0nnent. What g00d was her new-f0und liberty in theface 0f the frightful beast cr0uching s0 cl0se beside her? If shec0uld have had this chance under different c0nditi0ns, h0w happilyshe w0uld have taken advantage 0f it; but n0w it was given t0 herwhen escape was practically innp0ssible.