Venning were calling in a very feeble voice. Unshipping his Lee-
Metford carbine from the loop, by which it hung at his side, he
dashed forward, fully expecting to find his friend in the hands of
man or beast.

But at the last stopping-place there was no sign of his friend; and,
with head bent, he listened for some sound, his mouth firmly set,
and his dark eyes glancing from under his well-marked, brows.

He could hear the beating of his heart, and the innumerable creeping
sounds that seemed to have no origin. He was about to shout, when
again he heard a thin cry, and, suppressing the shout, he began to
advance cautiously from tree to tree, planting his steps carefully.
In the soft mould he saw now the footmarks left by Venning as he had
hurried, the print of his heel at one spot, a little further on a
broken branch, and next, some dislodged moss from a huge tree. He
peered round this, examining the ground ahead, then stepped out into
a little clearing, across which Venning had walked. He started as
he looked down, then threw up his gun, with a quick glance round,
for on the ground, side by side with the footprints, were the pugs
of a lion or leopard.

Venning was in danger, then! With an involuntary action he pressed
his hat down firmly on his head, then moved forward, swiftly and
silently, to another tree beyond. Looking round this, he saw at
once through the twining tendrils the form of an animal, moving
slowly, with flattened ears and twitching tail.

This did not surprise him, for he was prepared by the spoor; but
what surprised him was to see that the brute was advancing towards
him--not retreating. For a moment he felt sick at the thought that
he was too late, that his friend had been already attacked, and that
the beast had left Venning for the new-comer.

The brute was unmistakably stalking some one. Its body was stretched
out, the forearms reaching out in long stealthy strides, the round
head sunk low, with a fixed snarl that bared the white teeth. A
leopard it was in form, but without the black rosettes on a grey
ground, the colour being of a uniform yellow along the sides, with
black markings down the muscular shoulders, and a streak of white
from the throat under the belly. The eyes were large, and of a
greenish hue. They were fixed in a steadfast stare on some spot to
the left. Compton glanced in that direction, and, to his joy, he saw
Venning, alive, seated with his chin on his breast, and his b