once became ashen.

"Wobo!" he shouted.

The children now approached the carcass, already growing rigid. Up to
that time Stas did not have an accurate idea as to what kind of beast
of prey had fallen from his shot. At the first glance of the eye it
seemed to the boy that it was an exceptionally large serval;
nevertheless, after closer examination he saw that it was not, for the
slain beast exceeded the dimensions of even a leopard. His tawny skin
was strewn with chestnut-hued spots, but his head was narrower than
that of a leopard, which made him resemble somewhat a wolf; his legs
were higher, paws wider, and his eyes were enormous. One of them was
driven to the surface by a bullet, the other still stared at the
children, fathomless, motionless, and awful. Stas came to the
conclusion that this was a species of panther unknown to zoology, just
as Lake Bassa-Narok was unknown to geography.

Kali gazed continually with great terror at the beast stretched upon
the ground, repeating in a low voice, as if he feared to awaken it:

"Wobo! The great master killed a wobo!"

But Stas turned to the little maid, placed his hand on her head, as
though he desired definitely to assure himself that the wobo had not
carried her away, and then said:

"You see, Nell. You see that even if you are full-grown, you cannot
walk alone through the jungle."

"True, Stas," answered Nell with a penitent mien, "but I can go with
you or the King."

"Tell me how it was? Did you hear him draw near?"

"No-- Only a golden fly flew out of those flowers. So I turned around
after it and saw how he crept out of the ravine."

"And what then?"

"He stood still and began to look at me."

"Did he look long?"

"Long, Stas. Only when I dropped the flowers and guarded myself from
him with my hands did he creep towards me."

It occurred to Stas that if Nell were a negress she would have been
pounced upon at once, and that in part she owed her preservation to the
astonishment of the beast, which seeing before it for the first time a
being unknown to it, for a while was uncertain what to do.

A chill passed through the boy's bones.

"Thank God! Thank God that I returned!"

After which he asked further:

"What were you thinking of at that moment?"

"I wanted to call you, and--I could not--but--"

"But what?"

"But I thought that you would protect me--I myself do not know--"

Saying this she again threw her little arms around his neck, and h