at was beyond his powers, and he desisted from the
attempt.

But he had no intention of leaving the ground. On the contrary, we saw
that he was determined to make us stand siege, for, to our great
chagrin, we observed him trot a few paces from the trunk of the tree and
crouch down in the grass--evidently with the intention of remaining
there till we should be compelled to come down.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

Of course my companion and I kept our places in the top of the tree; we
could not do otherwise. Had we attempted to come down it would only
have been to fling ourselves right into the jaws of the lion--who lay at
just such a distance from the trunk that he could have reached us by a
single bound, the moment we set foot upon the earth. There he lay or
rather squatted, like a cat; though at intervals he rose and stretched
his body into a crouching attitude, and lashed his sides with his tufted
tail, and showed his teeth, and roared angrily. Then for some moments
he would lie down again and lick his wounded paw--still growling while
he did so, as though he was vowing revenge for the injury!

When he saw that he had ceased to attempt climbing the tree, we were in
hopes he would get tired of the attack and go off altogether. But those
hopes gradually forsook us, as we observed the pertinacity with which he
still continued to watch us. If either of us made a motion among the
branches, he would instantly spring to his feet--as though he fancied we
were about to descend and was determined to intercept us. This, of
itself, proved that he had not the slightest intention of moving off
from the ground, and convinced us that the siege was not to be raised
with the consent of the besieger.

We began to grow exceedingly apprehensive about our situation. Hitherto
we had been terrified by the sudden attack of the lion, but these
moments of terror were short-lived, and, on account of the excitement
which accompanied them, we had neither time to reflect nor suffer; we
had not time to feel despair, and in fact had not despaired of safety,
even while the lion was using all his efforts to reach us, for we had
the belief that he could not get up.

Now, however, a new danger threatened us. Though we felt quite secure
in our "roost" we could not remain there long. It was by no means
comfortable, straddling the naked branch of a tree; but the comfort was
a small consideration. We were both used to riding such a stock-horse