"Where are you?" demanded Tarzan.
"I am here at the back of the cell," replied the woman.
"Where is the lion?"
"He went out when you opened the door," she replied.
"Yes, I know," said Tarzan, "but the other one. Where is he?"
"There is no other one. There was but one lion here and it is gone. Ah, now I know you!" she exclaimed. "I know the voice. It is Tarzan of the Apes."
"La!" exclaimed the ape-man, advancing quickly across the cell. "How could you be here with the lion and still live?"
"I am in an adjoining cell that is separated from this one by a door made of iron bars," replied La. Tarzan heard metal hinges creak. "It is not locked," she said. "It was not necessary to lock it, for it opens into this other cell where the lion was."
Groping forward through the dark, the two advanced until their hands touched one another.
La pressed close to the man. She was trembling. "I have been afraid," she said, "but I shall not be afraid now."