rom a window above, until the sun went down
with almost the suddenness of gas turned off, and in a moment we could
scarcely see one another's faces.

Then came the proprietor to the door, with his best ex-missionary air
of knowledge of all earth's ways, their reason and their trend.

"All in!" he called. "All inside at once! No guest is allowed after
dark on the veranda! All inside! Supper presently!"

"Pah!" remarked Lady Saffren Waldon, rising. "What is it about some
men that makes one's blood boil? I suppose we must go in."

She came nearer until she stood between the three of us, so close that
I could see her diamond-hard eyes and hear the suppressed breathing
that I suspected betrayed excitement.

"I must speak with you three men! Listen! I know this place. The
rooms are unspeakable--not a bedroom that isn't a megaphone, magnifying
every whisper! There is only one suitable place--the main dining-room.
The proprietor leaves the oil-lamp burning in there all night. People
go to bed early; they prefer to drink in their bedrooms because it
costs less than treating a crowd! I shall provide a light supper, and
my maid shall lay the table after everybody else is gone up-stairs.
Then come down and talk with me. Its important! Be sure and come!"

She did not wait for an answer but led the way into the hotel. There
was no hall. The door led straight into the dining-room, and the noisy
crowd within, dragging chairs and choosing places at the two long
tables, made further word with her impossible, even if she had not
hurried up-stairs to her room. "What do you make of it--of her? Isn't
she the limit?"

The words were scarcely out of Will's mouth when a roar that made the
dishes rattle broke and echoed and rumbled in the street outside. The
instant it died down another followed it--then three or four--then a
dozen all at once. There came the pattering of heavy feet, like the
sound of cattle coming homeward. Yet no cattle--no buffaloes ever
roared that way.

"Now you know why I ordered you all inside," grinned the ex-missionary
owner of the place. I divined on the instant that this was his habit,
to stand by the door before supper and say just those words to the last
arrivals. I had a vision of him standing by his mission door
aforetime, repeating one jest, or more likely one stale euphuism night
after night.

"Lions?" I asked, hating to take the bait, yet curious beyond power to
resist.

"Cer