Benita cooked some of it in
the one pot that they had brought with them, and they ate a good meal of
fresh meat.

Riding on again, towards sundown they came to another of their old
camping-places, also a bush-covered kopje. Here the spring of water
was more than halfway up the hill, so there they off-saddled in a green
bower of a place that because of its ferns and mosses looked like a rock
garden. Now, although they had enough cold meat for food, they thought
themselves quite safe in lighting a fire. Indeed, this it seemed
necessary to do, since they had struck the fresh spoor of lions, and
even caught sight of one galloping away in the tall reeds on the marshy
land at the foot of the hill.

That evening they fared sumptuously upon venison, and as on the previous
day lay down to rest in a little "boma" or fence made of boughs. But
they were not allowed to sleep well this night, for scarcely had they
shut their eyes when a hyena began to howl about them. They shouted
and the brute went away, but an hour or two later, they heard ominous
grunting sounds, followed presently by a loud roar, which was answered
by another roar, whereat the horses began to whinny in a frightened
fashion.

"Lions!" said Mr. Clifford, jumping up and throwing dead wood on the
fire till it burnt to a bright blaze.

After that all sleep became impossible, for although the lions did not
attack them, having once winded the horses they would not go away, but
continued wandering round the kopje, grunting and growling. This went
on till abut three o'clock in the morning, when at last the beasts took
their departure, for they heard them roaring in the distance. Now that
they seemed safe, having first made up the fire, they tried to get some
rest.

When, as it appeared to her, Benita had been asleep but a little while,
she was awakened by a new noise. It was still dark, but the starlight
showed her that the horses were quite quiet; indeed, one of them was
lying down, and the other eating some green leaves from the branches
of the tree to which it was tethered. Therefore that noise had not come
from any wild animal of which they were afraid. She listened intently,
and presently heard it again; it was a murmur like to that of people
talking somewhere at the bottom of the hill. Then she woke her father
and told him, but although once or twice they thought they heard the
sound of footsteps, nothing else could be distinguished. Still they
rose, and havi