"Shall we light a fire, Ned? It might frighten the deer."

"No, I think it will attract them," Ned said. "They are most
inquisitive creatures, and are always attracted by anything
strange."

A fire was soon lighted and, after it got quite dark, they piled up
dry wood upon it, recrossed the river, and took their places in the
bushes. An hour passed, and then they heard a deep sound. In a
minute or two the leading ranks of a great herd of deer appeared on
the rise, and stood looking wonderingly at the fire. For some
little time they halted; and then, pushed forward by those behind,
and urged by their own curiosity, they advanced step by step, with
their eyes fixed on the strange sight. So crowded were they that as
they advanced they seemed a compact mass, those outside coming
along close to the bushes in which the boys lay.

Silently these raised their bows, bent them to the full strain, and
each launched an arrow. The deer were not five feet from them, and
two stags fell, pierced through and through. They leaped to their
feet again, but the boys had dashed out with their swords in hand,
and in an instant had cut them down.

There was a wild rush on the part of the herd, a sound of feet
almost like thunder, and then the boys stood alone, by the side of
the two deer they had killed. They were small, the two together not
weighing more than a good-sized sheep.

The boys lifted them on their shoulders, rejoicing, and waded
across the stream. One they hung up to the branch of a tree. The
other they skinned and cut up, and were soon busy roasting pieces
of its flesh over the fire.

They had just finished an abundant meal when they heard a roar at a
short distance, which brought them to their feet in a moment. Ned
seized his pike, and faced the direction from which the sound had
come.

"Throw on fresh sticks, Tom. All animals fear fire."

A bright blaze soon lit up the wood.

"Now, Tom, do you climb the tree. I will give you the pieces of
meat up, and then do you lift the other stag to a higher branch. I
don't suppose the brute can climb, but he may be able to do so. At
any rate, we will sleep in the tree, and keep watch and ward."

As soon as Tom had followed these instructions, Ned handed him up
the bows and arrows and spears, and then clambered up beside him.
As the fire again burned low, an animal was seen to approach,
cautiously.

"A lion!" whispered Tom.

"I don't think that he is as big as a lion," Ne