on the sand. Yes; there it
was, something grey, short, and thick. A donkey, he told himself.
He smiled sleepily. A donkey! It was strange to see the old familiar
form out there in the wilderness. He wondered dreamily where it came
from; then a shadow cast by the moon on a passing cloud blotted out
the river-bed. He rubbed his eyes, and when the cloud had gone there
were two animals--donkeys, unmistakably--one larger than the other,
both with their heads turned upwards towards him. Another cloud
sailed by, and when it had passed he missed them, and, his curiosity
roused, he rubbed his eyes again for a closer scrutiny. Surely that
was not a bush on the bank? No! it moved. The donkeys were coming
towards him. One of them, the larger, moved forward quickly, then
stopped. Then a chill ran through him, his heart grew weak, his
breathing grew sharp, and the sweat suddenly started out all over
his face and body. That was no donkey standing there, with its huge
head now sunk almost to the ground, now lifted high, as it tried to
make out what manner of living creature it was crouching there by
the rock above!

Venning felt the hair stir on his head as the two animals stood
gazing at him, and then he knew. The one behind sank to the ground,
and with long steps began to creep round to the right. The moon
struck along its side, and showed the tawny hide and the whitish
under-parts of a lioness. The other, then, was a lion! With a sort
of gurgling in his throat he turned his eyes to it, and he saw it
trotting up straight for him, its shaggy mane giving to its head and
shoulders an enormous size. He felt spell-bound, incapable of moving
hand or foot. It was the silence of the ferocious beasts that
paralyzed him. Then the jackal howled behind him, and his blood
rushed through his veins. His tongue no longer clave to the roof of
his mouth, and when the great beast was within ten yards of him, he
let forth a terrific yell and jumped to his feet, with his rifle in
his hands.

The lion stopped suddenly in its charge with a low harsh grunt of
surprise. Never before in its hunting had it heard such a wild
uncanny noise. In one motion it stopped in its charge and swerved to
the right, and as it swerved the boy fired. The lion gave a mighty
bound, he heard it strike the ground with a heavy thud, and then it
seemed to disappear, though he knew it was near from the low
growling it set up.

From the camp there came a confused shouting, fol