No beast was moving， and no bird called. Not a breath of airstirred the quiet trees， and the shadows did not even quiver，they only grew. It was very oppressive and very lonely， forthere was not a sign of the cattle or the boys. I was quitethankful for the society of old Kaptein， who was lying downcontentedly against the disselboom， chewing the cud with agood conscience.
“Presently， however， Kaptein began to get restless. First hesnorted， then he got up and snorted again. I could not makeit out， so like a fool I got down off the waggon-box to have alook round， thinking it might be the lost oxen coming.
“Next instant I regretted it， for all of a sudden I heard a roarand saw something yellow flash past me and light on poorKaptein. Then came a bellow of agony from the ox， and acrunch as the lion put his teeth through the poor brute’s neck，and I began to understand what had happened. My rifle wasin the waggon， and my first thought being to get hold of it， Iturned and made a bolt for the box. I got my foot up on thewheel and flung my body forward on to the waggon， and thereI stopped as if I were frozen， and no wonder， for as I was aboutto spring up I heard the lion behind me， and next second I feltthe brute， ay， as plainly as I can feel this table. I felt him， I say，sniffing at my left leg that was hanging down.
“My word！ I did feel queer； I don’t think that I ever felt soqueer before. I dared not move for the life of me， and the oddthing was that I seemed to lose power over my leg， whichdeveloped an insane sort of inclination to kick out of its ownmere motion—just as hysterical people want to laugh whenthey ought to be particularly solemn. Well， the lion sniffedand sniffed， beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing awayup to my thigh. I thought that he was going to get hold then，but he did not. He only growled softly， and went back to theox. Shifting my head a little I got a full view of him. He wasabout the biggest lion I ever saw， and I have seen a great many，and he had a most tremendous black mane. What his teethwere like you can see—look there， pretty big ones， ain’t they？
Altogether he was a magnificent animal， and as I lay sprawlingon the fore-tongue of the waggon， it occurred to me that hewould look uncommonly well in a cage. He stood there bythe carcass of poor Kaptein， and deliberately disembowelledhim as neatly as a butcher could have done. All this while Idared not move， for he kept lifting his head and keeping aneye on me as he licked his bloody chops. When he had cleanedKaptein out he opened his mouth and roared， and I am notexaggerating when I say that the sound shook the waggon.
Instantly there came back an answering roar.
“‘Heavens！’ I thought， ‘there is his mate.’
“Hardly was the thought out of my head when I caught sightin the moonlight of the lioness bounding along through thelong grass， and after her a couple of cubs about the size ofmastiffs. She stopped within a few feet of my head， and stood，waved her tail， and fixed me with her glowing yellow eyes；but just as I thought that it was all over she turned and beganto feed on Kaptein， and so did the cubs. There were the four ofthem within eight feet of me， growling and quarrelling， rendingand tearing， and crunching poor Kaptein’s bones； and there Ilay shaking with terror， and the cold perspiration pouring outof me， feeling like another Daniel come to judgment in a newsense of the phrase. Presently the cubs had eaten their fill，and began to get restless. One went round to the back of thewaggon and pulled at the Impala buck that hung there， and theother came round my way and commenced the sniffing gameat my leg. Indeed， he did more than that， for， my trouser beinghitched up a little， he began to lick the bare skin with his roughtongue. The more he licked the more he liked it， to judgefrom his increased vigour and the loud purring noise he made.
Then I knew that the end had come， for in another second hisfile-like tongue would have rasped through the skin of myleg—which was luckily pretty tough—and have drawn theblood， and then there would be no chance for me. So I just laythere and thought of my sins， and prayed to the Almighty， andreflected that after all life was a very enjoyable thing.
“Then of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and theshouting and whistling of men， and there were the two boyscoming back with the cattle， which they had found trekkingalong all together. The lions lifted their heads and listened，then bounded off without a sound—and I fainted.
“The lions came back no more that night， and by the nextmorning my nerves had got pretty straight again； but I wasfull of wrath when I thought of all that I had gone throughat the hands， or rather noses， of those four brutes， and of thefate of my after-ox Kaptein. He was a splendid ox， and I wasvery fond of him. So wroth was I that like a fool I determinedto attack the whole family of them. It was worthy of agreenhorn out on his first hunting trip； but I did it nevertheless.
Accordingly after breakfast， having rubbed some oil upon myleg， which was very sore from the cub’s tongue， I took thedriver， Tom， who did not half like the business， and havingarmed myself with an ordinary double No. 12 smoothbore， thefirst breechloader I ever had， I started. I took the smoothborebecause it shot a bullet very well； and my experience hasbeen that a round ball from a smoothbore is quite as effectiveagainst a lion as an express bullet. The lion is soft， and not adifficult animal to finish if you hit him anywhere in the body.
A buck takes far more killing.
“Well， I started， and the first thing I set to work to do wasto try to discover whereabouts the brutes lay up for the day.