his time everybody will be aware that the
king's son and the king's daughter were lion cubs, the survivors,
therefore the strongest and the fittest, of three lion cubs in a
litter. It required, you will admit, some resource, courage, and
intelligence to do what they had already done, considering their age;
but the worst was to come. Having got out of the frying-pan, they must
now face the fire, and be quick about it, too, if they didn't want to
be traced and recaptured at dawn.

Arrived at the river's edge, they stopped and stared out across the
dark swirls and unknown, cold depths. Lion cubs, as also the young of
every other African animal, must assuredly be born with an instinctive
and a very lively dread of all rivers and their occupants. Any
horrible invention of death, they must have known, might be expected to
lurk there, ready waiting for them in that underworld of dark waters;
but if they felt fear, they never showed it, and the pride of their
birth held true. Their hesitation was only momentary. The terror had
to be faced, bravely or fearfully, as they would, but still faced, and
bravely it was done.

Slowly and coolly the king's son waded out into the black, chill
waters. He felt the current, which was strong, plucking like invisible
great fingers at his legs; he felt the cold strike through tawny,
spotted fur and skin to his belly, but he never looked back. His feet
were whirled from under him; he trod upon nothing, cold, cold
emptiness, and that was enough to terrify any grown beast, let alone a
baby; but he struck out right manfully, and his fine eyes and face took
on that regal expression of haughty determination that you see in the
face only of King Leo himself and his mate, and in no other beast in
the world. And the king's daughter unhesitatingly followed--a real
princess, by gad, sirs!

Steadily the pair swam, heading instinctively, one presumes, up-stream,
to counteract the drift of the ever-shouldering current. There was,
perhaps, from two to five feet of water under their sturdy paws; but
had it been twenty or thirty, I, personally, believe it would have made
no difference. There were probably also other things under and around
their sturdy paws--things very much worse and less innocent than any
water--things they must have, dimly, at any rate, if not acutely, been
aware of in an inbred sort of way; but they made no difference either.

"Make way for the king's son and the king's daugh