doing that," replied Danvers, indicating the silent form
of the Rhodesian, as he stood motionless as a statue, with his rifle
ready for instant use.

"Hear anything, MacGregor?" enquired Spofforth.

The man shook his head.

"Thought I did," he replied, "but I must have been mistaken."

Giving the cub into the care of Bela Moshi, Wilmshurst followed his
companions as they tramped in single file along the narrow bush track,
the Haussas tailing on to the end of the procession.

The edge of the bush was almost reached when Laxdale, with a splendid
shot at a hundred and twenty yards, brought down a large panther. A
halt was made while the blacks skinned the dead beast, for in
practically waterless districts panther-skin is a valuable aid to the
efficiency of a Maxim gun. Soaked in water, wrapped round the jacket
of the weapon, the evaporation keeps the gun cooler for a longer time
than if the water within the jacket alone were used.

Upon coming within sight of the camp the white men were able to walk
side by side in comparatively open country.

MacGregor, Laxdale, and Danvers were on ahead, Spofforth and Wilmshurst
about fifty paces behind, Bela Moshi with the cub was close on Dudley's
heels, while the Haussas with the dead panther were some distance in
the rear, the blacks carrying the officers' rifles since the hunters
were clear of the bush.

"I'll take the cub," said Wilmshurst, noticing that the native sergeant
was stumbling frequently as he carefully nursed the somewhat fretful
animal.

"Berry good, sah," replied Bela Moshi, handing the cub to the
subaltern. "I tink, sah, dat----"

A chorus of yells and warning shouts from the Haussas made the officers
turn pretty sharply. What they saw was something that they had badly
wanted to see but at the present moment had not the faintest desire to
meet.

Leaping with prodigious bounds across the flat ground was an enormous
lioness. The devoted beast had followed her cub for miles, her
instinct telling her that when the men halted her opportunity would
come to recover the little animal. A lioness bereft of her cubs has
been known to follow hunters for days in order either to recover or
revenge her offspring. The sight of the large camp, however, must have
incited the gigantic feline to premature action.

Of the five white men only MacGregor retained his rifle. Laxdale and
Danvers took to their heels, making for a large baobab that stood about
fifty yard