the bones of the animals the _vogels_ will be
hovering around this spot. A Matabili would naturally come to see what
was dead here, and might find our spoor; so, instead of one, I wish
there were twenty lions ready to feast on our horses. I have no fear of
lions when I get to those hills, for I will soon make a place there
suitable for our safety. So we had better save our powder and bullets
for even more cruel enemies than a lion."

"That is true," exclaimed Hans' two companions: "so we will not seek to
kill him. Let us look at the spot where he struck down the Matabili."

The three hunters walked cautiously in the direction in which the lion
might be yet concealed, and examined every bush and patch of grass
around them. The footprints of the Matabili could be easily traced by
these expert spoorers, and they soon found the spot on which the man had
been killed. The lion had apparently followed the man from the
direction of the hunters, and had struck him down at once, the assagies
of the savage being found in a cluster, as though dropped from the
helpless hand of the stricken man; the body had then been dragged away
about forty yards to some long grass, where the lion had commenced his
feast, which had been finished by hyenas and jackalls; so that except a
few bones, nothing remained to indicate that a human being had been,
sacrificed to the fury of a wild beast. "This might have been the fate
of one of us," said Hans, as he pointed to the few remains before him.
"It is the will of God to have spared us, and to have destroyed our
enemy. We will trust that our fate may not be like his. We had better
return now and make our arrangements at once. We will conceal the
saddles and bridles, and then they may be of use if you bring spare
horses. So now for work, men, and you, Bernhard, had better ride on.
You will not mistake your way, will you?"

"No. I shall find the line easy, and my only fear is whether the horse
will carry me. I will bring you help, and that very shortly, or my life
will be lost in the attempt--trust me, Hans;" and with a hearty farewell
to the party, Bernhard rode off, on an expedition fraught with no little
danger, for he had pathless plains to traverse, rivers to cross,
mountain-ranges to find a pass through, and all this with the constant
possibility of enemies around him, who would follow him till a chance
occurred of taking him at a disadvantage.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

PREPARATIONS