e of the mountains, they seemed less difficult to
scale; I felt no anxiety about returning, though my panting horse had
covered many a mile,--the prints of his hoofs would guide me back.
Already the rays of the ardent sun were falling more aslant, and brown
mists were gathering around the glowing disk. I wished to see what lay
beyond the nearest cliff, and, guiding my horse close to the rocky
base, I turned the corner. Instantly a terrible sound deafened my
ears,--a roar that made every nerve quiver. My horse reared in terror;
I saw, only a few paces in front of me, a huge lion, a monster in size,
crouching to spring. I hurled my spear with all my force; but at the
same moment my horse, frantic with fear, reared still higher,
overbalanced himself, and fell backward, burying me under his weight. A
sharp pain in the thigh was the last thing I felt. Then my senses
failed."

He paused, deeply agitated by the remembrance of the scene.

Hilda, her lips half parted, gazed at him in breathless suspense. "A
lion?" she faltered. "They usually shun the desert."

"Yes," said Gibamund. "But they like to prowl among the mountains close
to the border. I know that you were brought back to Carthage with a
broken thigh," he added. "Many, many weeks passed before you were
cured; but I was not aware--"

"When I recovered consciousness the sun was setting. It was burning
hot--everything--the air, the dry sand on which the back of my head
rested (for the helmet had slipped off in my fall), the heavy horse
which lay motionless on my right leg and thigh. He had broken his neck.
I tried to drag myself from beneath the heavy burden. Impossible; I
could not move the broken limb. By bracing my right hand and arm on the
sand, I attempted to raise the upper part of my body above the carcass
of the horse. I succeeded. Directly in front of me was the lion! The
animal lay motionless on his belly a few feet away; the handle of my
spear protruded from his breast just beside his right fore-paw. My
heart exulted at his death. But alas, no! Now that I had stirred, a low
angry growl came from his half-open jaws. The mane bristled; he tried
to rise, but could not, and remained lying where he had fallen. Then
the claws clenched the sand deeper, evidently in the attempt to drag
the body nearer, while the monster's glittering eyes were fixed full on
mine. And I?--I could not draw back a single inch. Then--I will not
deny it--fear, base, abject, trembling ter