n whom she knew to
be wandering in the abysmal depths of the savage jungle, from which she
now heard issuing the almost incessant shrieks and roars, barkings and
growlings of its terrifying and fearsome denizens as they sought their
prey.

And now there came the sound of a heavy body brushing against the side
of the cabin. She could hear the great padded paws upon the ground
outside. For an instant, all was silence; even the bedlam of the
forest died to a faint murmur. Then she distinctly heard the beast
outside sniffing at the door, not two feet from where she crouched.
Instinctively the girl shuddered, and shrank closer to the black woman.

"Hush!" she whispered. "Hush, Esmeralda," for the woman's sobs and
groans seemed to have attracted the thing that stalked there just
beyond the thin wall.

A gentle scratching sound was heard on the door. The brute tried to
force an entrance; but presently this ceased, and again she heard the
great pads creeping stealthily around the cabin. Again they
stopped--beneath the window on which the terrified eyes of the girl now
glued themselves.

"God!" she murmured, for now, silhouetted against the moonlit sky
beyond, she saw framed in the tiny square of the latticed window the
head of a huge lioness. The gleaming eyes were fixed upon her in
intent ferocity.

"Look, Esmeralda!" she whispered. "For God's sake, what shall we do?
Look! Quick! The window!"

Esmeralda, cowering still closer to her mistress, took one frightened
glance toward the little square of moonlight, just as the lioness
emitted a low, savage snarl.

The sight that met the poor woman's eyes was too much for the already
overstrung nerves.

"Oh, Gaberelle!" she shrieked, and slid to the floor an inert and
senseless mass.

For what seemed an eternity the great brute stood with its forepaws
upon the sill, glaring into the little room. Presently it tried the
strength of the lattice with its great talons.

The girl had almost ceased to breathe, when, to her relief, the head
disappeared and she heard the brute's footsteps leaving the window.
But now they came to the door again, and once more the scratching
commenced; this time with increasing force until the great beast was
tearing at the massive panels in a perfect frenzy of eagerness to seize
its defenseless victims.

Could Jane have known the immense strength of that door, built piece by
piece, she would have felt less fear of the lioness reaching