k let fall the hatchet and grasping the upper
end of the tail with both hands, whirled it, like a flail round his
head. At the same moment the moon again broke out, and he perceived
that his new companion was a large lioness, whose fierce growls were
evidently the preliminary to a still fiercer assault. Nick gave himself
up for dead; and if the attention of the animal had in the first
instance been directed to him, there would indeed have been but small
hope of escape for him. But the lioness had scented the dead body, and
she proceeded to examine it all over, sniffing the tainted air, and
uttering every now and then a low howl, like a mourning cry. Nick would
have retreated to the cover of the cavern, but a feeling of fascination
held him to the spot; and he continued to swing the tail right and left,
apparently hardly conscious of what he was doing. Presently, the mood
of the lioness seemed to change, and the notion to occur to her of
taking vengeance for the ruthless slaughter of her mate. She glared
fiercely at Nick, and gave vent to a low roar. She would, in fact, have
instantly sprung upon him, but that the whirl of the tail immediately in
front of her nose, dazed and bewildered her for the moment, and kept her
at bay. This could not, however, have lasted, and Nick's career would
soon have been run, if rescue had not been at hand. But at this moment
the crack of the doctor's rifle was heard, and the brute, shot through
the heart, rolled over in the death struggle.

"Bravo, Nick," exclaimed Lavie, as he leaped down from the rock.
"Hercules himself never wielded his club more valiantly, than you did
the lion's tail. I was sorry to keep you so long in suspense, but the
beast persistently kept her back towards me, till just the moment when I
fired. If I had only wounded her, she would have sprung on you all the
same."

"All right, doctor," said Nick; "you couldn't do more than bring me off
with a whole skin. And it's more than I deserve, too, for I didn't obey
orders."

"Well, now I suppose we may go back to bed?" suggested Frank. "It's not
much past midnight, and I feel as if I wanted plenty more sleep before
morning. I don't fancy we shall have many more visitors to-night."

"No," said the doctor, "we may sleep soundly now. Animals don't often
go near a fountain where they have seen lions drinking. Indeed, the
shots which have been fired would probably be enough to keep them away.
Let us turn in