iven them off. But their spoor was quite fresh. They
were near at hand, and would be certain to return again upon the
following night.

Von Bloom felt a strong desire to be revenged upon the hideous brutes;
and, under other circumstances, would have remained to get a shot at
them. But just then that would have been both imprudent and
unprofitable work. It would be as much as their horses could
accomplish, to get back to camp that night; so, without even entering
the old house, they watered their animals, refilled their calabashes at
the spring, and with heavy hearts once more rode away from the kraal.

CHAPTER NINE.

A LION "COUCHANT."

They had not proceeded an hundred steps when an object appeared before
them that caused all three to draw bridle suddenly and simultaneously.
That object was a lion!

He was couched upon the plain directly in the path they intended to
take--the very same path by which they had come!

How was it they had not seen him before? He was under the lee of a low
bush; but, thanks to the locusts, this bush was leafless, and its thin
naked twigs formed no concealment for so large a creature as a lion.
His tawny hide shone conspicuously through them.

The truth is, he had not been there when the horsemen passed towards the
kraal. He had just fled from among the carcasses, on seeing them
approach; and had skulked around the walls, and then run to their rear.
He had executed this manoeuvre to avoid an encounter--for a lion reasons
as a man does, though not to the same extent. Seeing the horsemen come
that way, his reasoning powers were strong enough to tell him that they
were not likely to return by the same path. It was more natural they
should continue on. A man, ignorant of all the preceding events
connected with their journey would have reasoned much in the same way.
If you have been at all observant, you have seen other animals--such as
dogs, deer, hares, or even birds--act just as the lion did on this
occasion.

Beyond a doubt the intellectual process described passed through the
mind of this lion; and he had skulked round to shun an encounter with
the three travellers.

Now a lion will not always act so--though he will in five cases out of
six, or oftener. Hence very erroneous views are held in relation to the
courage of this animal. Some naturalists, led away by what appears to
be a feeling of envy or anger, accuse the lion of downright _cowardice_,
denying him a sin