ome way north of
this, though not so far as Tuli. I shall be ready to start to-night,
and with luck shall be back here in three weeks' time."

A few minutes sufficed to make all arrangements, and that night, after a
farewell supper with Francis and his friends, Jack shook hands cordially
with them all and said good-bye. Then, mounting the animal which had
been sent down for him, he shook the reins and trotted off into the
darkness. Turning to the left, he was soon out in the open veldt, and
in half an hour was well away from the beleaguered town and the
investing forces without having been challenged by anyone.

Riding by night at first, and then during the day, he had covered a
considerable number of miles at the end of three days. On the third
evening he rode into a deserted native kraal, and having knee-haltered
his pony, stretched his blankets on the floor of one of the huts and was
soon asleep. Some hours later he was awakened by the creak of wagon
wheels, and, springing to his feet and peering out through the doorway,
found that a force of some thirty Boers had laagered within the walls of
the kraal. It was still night, but the moon was up, and in its light
Jack watched the figures flitting about in the open space amongst the
huts. The wagon had been left in one corner and the oxen outspanned,
and a Kafir servant was in the act of setting all the wearied beasts
free to graze outside, when there was a bellowing roar, which seemed to
shake the huts, and a huge animal landed in the centre of the kraal and
stood crouching there, one forepaw poised in the air, while his tail
lashed angrily from side to side.

It was an immense African lion, rendered bold and reckless by hunger; a
terrifying sight as it stood there roaring loudly, and crouching lower,
ready to spring upon the nearest object.

As the beast landed in the kraal the Boers were on the point of making a
fire and cooking a meal. Now they turned and bolted at headlong speed,
but not so rapidly as to escape the dreaded lion. With a deafening roar
it leapt high in the air, and landing on the shoulders of one of the
burghers, beat in his skull like an egg-shell. Then it stood defiantly
over the body and growled ominously.

But it was not to carry off the body without interference, for one of
the Boers had gallantly remained behind, and, stepping forward and
lifting his rifle to his shoulder, he fired point-blank at the lion's
head.

Jack watched f