t night. It is open enough to permit us to ride."

The Hon. Morison hesitated. He shrank from revealing his fear in the
presence of the girl. A braver man, sure of his own position, would
have had the courage to have refused uselessly to expose the girl to
danger. He would not have thought of himself at all; but the egotism
of the Hon. Morison required that he think always of self first. He
had planned the ride to get Meriem away from the bungalow. He wanted
to talk to her alone and far enough away so should she take offense at
his purposed suggestion he would have time in which to attempt to right
himself in her eyes before they reached home. He had little doubt, of
course, but that he should succeed; but it is to his credit that he did
have some slight doubts.

"You needn't be afraid of the lion," said Meriem, noting his slight
hesitancy. "There hasn't been a man eater around here for two years,
Bwana says, and the game is so plentiful that there is no necessity to
drive Numa to human flesh. Then, he has been so often hunted that he
rather keeps out of man's way."

"Oh, I'm not afraid of lions," replied the Hon. Morison. "I was just
thinking what a beastly uncomfortable place a forest is to ride in.
What with the underbrush and the low branches and all that, you know,
it's not exactly cut out for pleasure riding."

"Let's go a-foot then," suggested Meriem, and started to dismount.

"Oh, no," cried the Hon. Morison, aghast at this suggestion. "Let's
ride," and he reined his pony into the dark shadows of the wood.
Behind him came Meriem and in front, prowling ahead waiting a favorable
opportunity, skulked Numa, the lion.

Out upon the plain a lone horseman muttered a low curse as he saw the
two disappear from sight. It was Hanson. He had followed them from
the bungalow. Their way led in the direction of his camp, so he had a
ready and plausible excuse should they discover him; but they had not
seen him for they had not turned their eyes behind.

Now he turned directly toward the spot at which they had entered the
jungle. He no longer cared whether he was observed or not. There were
two reasons for his indifference. The first was that he saw in Baynes'
act a counterpart of his own planned abduction of the girl. In some
way he might turn the thing to his own purposes. At least he would
keep in touch with them and make sure that Baynes did not get her. His
other reason was based on his knowledge