enemy; and thus when Victor and Bernhard, awakened by the noise made by Hans' fall, inquired what was the matter, he was able to whisper in reply, 'A single Matabili has tried to becroup us as we slept.'

'Where is he?' said Victor: 'has he escaped?'

Before Hans could reply, a sound struck upon the ears of the three men which caused them to grasp their rifles with firmness, whilst the two girls started up with a shriek of terror. This noise was the savage roar of a lion, followed by the agonized yell of a human being in fear and suffering, a momentary struggle, the cracking of some brittle substance, and then the deep, guttural, satisfied grunts of a monster which has captured its prey.

'The Matabili is killed by a man-eater,' whispered Hans; and perhaps he has saved one of us. I believed I smelt a lion some two hours ago, and perhaps he has been crouching near us, watching for one of us.'

'Katie, dear,' exclaimed Hans, ' don't be afraid. There is no danger: keep quiet, and lie and rest, and, if you can, sleep. We need not start for two hours yet.'

'What was that fearful noise, Hans? I dreamed you were killed.'

'No, Katie, I am well, thank God, and ready to do good service yet it was only some wild animal made a

:

noise; but trust us three to keep you safe.

Don't talk,

dear, but try and sleep, at least keep quiet; for a human voice in this place is so unusual, that even the bats will come and look at us if they hear it. Sleep again, Katie, all is safe.'

'We must all keep awake now,' Hans whispered to his companions: 'that lion may attract others. Let us sit back to back, and let no man speak without a cause, and then let it be in the lowest whisper : our lives and those of the poor girls depend now upon such apparent trifles as these.'

The three men sat back to back, and thus each had onethird of the horizon to examine, so that no enemy could approach from any direction where a pair of eyes were not on watch. The night was a still and clear one, and sounds were audible from a considerable distance; near them, however, were noises which kept these hardy hunters in a state of excitement. The lion having captured its prey, had dragged it but a few yards, and had then commenced feasting on it. The sound of the powerful brute's jaws was distinctly heard as it crunched the bones of its victim, and when at length it had satisfied its hunger, and seemed to have retired a short distance to sleep, other and smaller carnivora squabbled over the remains of the monarch's feast, and with even more noise fought for their supper.

The poor half-starved horses were carefully hobbled and made fast to each other and to the bushes near, and thus could not escape. Their snorting and uneasiness showed that they were well aware of the presence of their formidable enemy; but the feeble state to which they were reduced caused them to seem almost indifferent to dangers which at other times would have rendered them almost frantic,

The Lion a Friend.

103

After a long silence and most intent listening had convinced the hunters that no immediate danger threatened them, Hans, speaking in a whisper, said,—

'That lion must have been stalking our horses when the Matabili came in his way. I wonder was there another man with this one? they often venture alone on these risky journeys. This man, however, will never hunt again in these fields.'

'It is strange that he should have been thus trapped by a lion whilst trying to stalk us,' whispered Victor: 'it is the first time I ever found a lion to be my friend, but he has saved us powder and shot. Tell us, Hans, how the man approached us.'

Hans gave a brief description of the manner in which he had heard the man approaching, and of his precautions to prevent an accident, and explained all details until the roar of the lion announced the unexpected termination of the Matabili's expedition.

'The morning will soon break now,' said Hans; 'the Eastern sky is getting lighter; it will be an anxious moment to see how the horses are, for on them mainly depends our safety. How far, think you, are we from our people ?'

'We shall take three days' riding at least to reach them, I think,' said Bernhard.

'Yes, quite that,' said Victor, and more too, if there are enemies in the way, for then we may have to ride round.'

'There is light enough now to look about us; so let

us examine the horses, and allow them to feed if they will,' said Hans; 'we shall want all their strength.'

The three men arose, and stretching themselves after their somewhat cramped positions, examined their horses, which were standing quietly near. To the experienced eyes of the hunters, these animals presented a very pitiable condition. Out of the five horses one only seemed lively, and inclined to eat; the remaining four, with hanging heads, lustreless eyes, and drooping ears, seemed indifferent to all around them. A look of despair was exchanged by the three men, as this fact was presented to them.

'In a few hours we shall have but one horse,' exclaimed Hans; 'strong as Katie is, her sister is weak, and they' can never walk to our people. If the Matabili follow us, we must die. Can you see a remedy, men?'

'We can sell our lives dearly,' exclaimed Bernhard 'that we can at least do. I have thirty bullets at least in my pouch, and in my horn thirty charges of powder. We may beat off a large party of the enemy.'

'The Matabili are not easily beaten off,' remarked Hans: they rush on in a body, and though you may kill some, the others are upon you before you can have time to load. If we could have some of those many-barrelled guns that I have heard of which fire off several times one after the other, we could do nothing but kill more before we were killed; but with our roers only, we can do but little.'

Whilst the men were thus talking in the twilight, Katie

;

and her sister, fully awake, joined them before their presence was known; and hearing this last remark, the quick-witted girl at once suspected that the horses were unfit to continue their journey.

'We can walk, Hans,' said Katrine, as she touched his shoulder, we can walk, though, perhaps, not so fast as you can; but we can walk ever so far.'

'If it were walking only, Katie, it would not be much; but it may be we should have to run, and that at a greater speed than a Matabili could follow; that is why I fear.'

'Well, leave us here, and you go on, and bring us back help. The "Mensch" will soon come to us, and we could stop here till they arrive.'

'We live or die together, Katie; I will never leave you here,' exclaimed Hans. 'But there is something to be thought of, though. Victor and Bernhard, let me tell you my plan.'

The two men turned from the horses, whose pitiable condition they had been contemplating, to Hans, and waited for his words. After a moment's thought, Hans exclaimed, 'It is our best chance, and it will succeed. This is the plan:-The black horse is as yet well. You Bernhard, or you Victor, as you may choose, upsaddle at once, and ride for our läger. As soon as you reach it, tell Maritz, or any one who is our friend, of our being left in the desert. have horses among the people, and there are those who will help us. Come back with help and with horses, and we will get safe again among our people.'

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