felt a great deal more respect for the
prowess and daring of lions than he did half an hour before.

The stillness, broken only by his brother's recurring cry, repeated with
such regularity, seemed awful, and the deep low sigh uttered by Breezy
sounded quite startling; but there was nothing else--no sound of the
powerful cats coming cautiously round, winding in and out among the
rocks and bushes, and not a twig was stirred.

"Here--here--here," kept coming, and Dyke sat gripping the saddle
tightly with his knees, feeling a curious quiver pass into him from the
horse's excited nerves, as the swift little beast stood gazing before it
at the ragged shrubs, ready to spring away on the slightest sign of
danger. The rein lay upon its neck, and its ears were cocked right
forward, while Dyke's double barrel was held ready to fire to right or
left of those warning ears at the first chance.

There was the clump on the boy's left, the open ground of the veldt on
his right, and the sun glancing down and making the leaves of the trees
hot; but still there was nothing but the regular "Here--here--here,"
uttered in Emson's deep bass.

"They're gone," said Dyke to himself, with a peculiar sense of relief,
which made his breath come more freely. "They would have been here by
now. I'll shout to Joe."

But he did not. For at that moment there was the faintest of faint
rustles about a dozen yards in front. One of the thin bushes grew
gradually darker, and Dyke had a glimpse of a patch of rough hair raised
above the leaves. Then Breezy started violently, and in an instant two
lions started up.

"_How_!--_Haugh_!" was roared out. The maneless lion bounded out of the
bushes, and went away over the sand in a series of tremendous leaps,
while the companion, a huge beast with darkly-tipped mane, leaped as if
to follow, but stopped and faced the boy, with head erect and tail
lashing from side to side, while the horse stood paralysed with fear,
its legs far apart, as if to bear the coming charge, and every nerve and
muscle on the quiver.

Dyke sat motionless during those brief moments, knowing that he ought to
fire, but feeling as if he were suffering from nightmare, till the
majestic beast before him gave vent to a tremendous roar, turned, and
bounded away.

Then Dyke's power of action came back. Quick as a flash, his piece was
to his shoulder, and he fired; but the lion bounded onward, hidden for
the time by the smoke; yet as