Part 3 (2/2)

The boy, on obtaining permission to accompany his new friends, iround, at a pace hich they found it somewhat difficult at times to keep up The trail, or as the Dutch call it, the spoor, when an ani tracked, must have been remarkably clear to the eyes of the little fellow; for he did not hesitate a h the white men, with all their experience as hunters, were unable to distinguish any of the uided Several ani

Now a buffalo would dash out of a thicket, and go rushi+ng at a rapid rate across their path Now a herd of peeere caught sight of,draught

Presently a flock of Guinea foould rise fro the air with their discordant notes

Then suddenly a white rhinoceros would appear strolling along, until, seeing the strangers, he would break into a gallop si his heavy body, showing a splendid action, with his head well up, andat a pace few horses could rival But these occurrences did not for a moment draw off the boy's attention The heat as the sun rose beca doith a force which only those accustomed to the wilds of Africa could have borne without co a considerable distance the boy stopped and exaround What was the horror of Hendricks and Maloney to see the grass stained with blood! It was too probably that of Denis

”The poor boy must have been struck down by a lion, and has been carried off into the thicket,” exclaimed his father

”I am not so sure of that,” answered Hendricks ”What is it, Unozingli?”

”The white boy shot a pallah, which galloped off away out there, and he followed,” answered the little fellow, pointing to the north ”We shall find hiet another shot, but he had little chance of that”

Scarcely had he spoken when a roar was heard co from the direction towards which he pointed He looked anxious; it was the voice, undoubtedly, of a lion

”Come on!” he said; ”but be ready to fire”

Presently another roar was heard, but this time there were the voices of two lions--the sound, however, came from a considerable distance The hunters pressed on They were too well accustomed to encounter the monarch of the wilds under ordinary circu of alarm for themselves, but they became intensely anxious about Denis; still it was not likely that the lions would be roaring had they seized hih they had several times to turn aside to avoid the thorny thickets in their path, through which even their young guide did not atterew louder and louder They were approaching the spot where the lions would be discovered For their own safety it was necessary to be cautious Their great hope was that Denis had turned aside, and that the beasts were roaring over the body of the wounded pallah which they had brought down Still Lionel, though he slackened his pace, did not hesitate, but went on, his eyes peering about in every direction He seemed to place perfect reliance on the power of his co ceased Could the brutes have gone off, or were they watching the approach of the strangers? Suddenly three lion cubs burst out from a thicket Maloney was instinctively about to fire, but Hendricks stopped him ”Take care! the old ones are not far off Those little brutes were sent out by the lion and lioness to watch us”

As he said this, the cubs, turning round, galloped off to the left up the hill Cautiously the hunters advanced It ell they did so, for scarcely had they gone fifty paces more when a lion and lioness suddenly bounded out with rapid strides, their heads and tails up

”You take the lioness, I'll take the lion,” said Hendricks calns of fear, stepped behind his friends All at once the lion stopped, then gazing a alloped off after the cubs, but the lioness still ca his trigger Maloney fired, the ball struck the savage ani on she came towards him, and in another instant would probably have laid hiround with a blow from her powerful paw It was fortunate that Hendricks had not thrown his shot away He stood as fir his rifle aimed at the lioness's chest She made one bound into the air, and fell close to his feet She was still not dead, and he, grasping the boy by the ar to a distance on one side while Maloney leapt to the other Shefor soround, but in vain atteles, she fell over on her side dead

”My poor boy, my poor boy! If he has encountered those brutes, what chance of escape can he have had?” exclaimed Maloney

”We'll hope for the best Co, as they would otherwise have done, to skin the lioness, they hurried forward, led by their young guide

”He's not far off, he has not been killed,” he said, in answer to a question Hendricks put to hi up, there, to their intense relief, they saw Master Denis seated amidst the branches of a tree, well out of reach of the lions Below it lay his gun

”Have you settled the brutes?” he shouted out ”I'ry They seemed inclined to keep round, I should soon have driven them away I saw the brutes just in time to scramble up here”

”You may thank heaven that you were not torn to pieces by them,” said Hendricks

”Come down, Denis,” cried his father, thankful that he had escaped, and too glad to find fault with him just then

The boy round, had not his father caught hi, but that was not surprising, considering the alarm he had been in, and that he had had no breakfast It was iet back to the ca an ar, for by himself it was very evident that he would have been unable to walk even a short distance