long sigh, and looked confusedly round her.

"Where am I?" she exclaimed feebly. Then, as her glance lighted on the
face of Ernest bending anxiously over her, and the figure of the dead
lion, lying at the distance of a few yards, the whole occurrence seemed
to come back to her memory.

"Oh, Ernest," she exclaimed, "the lion! You saved me, then. Are you
not hurt yourself?"

"I have escaped with only a bruise or so," said Warley; "and it is you
who have saved me, not I you. Are you sure the fall from the horse has
not injured you?"

"No, that was nothing," returned Ella, colouring under the earnestness
of his gaze. "I threw myself from his back as he fell, and he did not
touch me. I don't think he is hurt either. If we can catch the horses,
we had better rejoin the party. The skins of the giraffe and lion will
be a valuable prize."

Warley soon caught Ella's horse, and then went in search of his own,
which he found grazing quietly at the distance of two or three hundred
yards. They mounted and galloped off in quest of Wilmore and Gilbert,
encountering them and the Basutos in attendance in about half an hour,
and finding them greatly vexed at their ill success. The giraffes had
galloped up the side of a long slope of hill, which gave them so great
an advantage, that when the horsemen reached the summit of the range,
the herd were quite out of sight, and after several ineffectual attempts
to regain the scent, they were obliged to abandon the pursuit. They
heard of Ella's and Ernest's success with equal surprise and
satisfaction, and hurrying off in the direction indicated, were soon
engaged in flaying the hides off both animals, as well as in selecting
the choicest morsels of the camelopard's flesh to supply the Queen's
table.

Late in the evening the party returned to the kraal, where they were
welcomed by the Queen and De Walden, who questioned them as to what had
taken place during the hunt. But neither Ella nor Warley seemed
inclined to say more than they could help on the subject. The truth
was, that a feeling of mutual liking had been growing up between the two
since the first day of their meeting; when the princess had owed her
life to Warley's promptitude. The attachment was little to be wondered
at under the circumstances. Warley was now in his one-and-twentieth
year--a fine well-grown young man, with a face of rare intelligence. He
was the first Englishman who had come under Ella's notice; a