nd got out of
the wagon, while Swartboy armed himself with his bow and arrows. All
four stood close by the trunk of the nwana, on the other side from that
where the fires were. In this place they were in the shadow, where they
could best observe anything that should come under the light of the
fires without being themselves seen. Their position was well chosen.

They had scarcely fixed themselves in it, when they perceived a great
piece of neglect they had been guilty of. Now, for the first time it
occurred to them what had brought the hyenas around them in such
numbers. Beyond a doubt it was the flesh of the elephant,--the
_biltongue_.

That was what the beasts were after; and all now saw that a mistake had
been committed in hanging the meat too low. The hyenas might easily get
at it.

This was soon made manifest; for, even at the moment while they stood
watching the red festoons, plainly visible under the light of Swartboy's
fires, a shaggy spotted brute rushed forward, reared up on his
hind-legs, seized one of the pieces, dragged it down from the pole, and
then ran off with it into the darkness.

A rushing sound could be heard as the others joined him to get share of
his plunder; and, no doubt, in less than half a minute the morsel was
consumed; for, at the end of that time, glancing eyes and gleaming teeth
showed that the whole troop was back again and ready to make a fresh
seizure.

None of the hunters had fired, as the nimbleness with which the brutes
moved about rendered it difficult to take aim at any one of them; and
all knew that powder and lead were too precious to be wasted on a
"flying shot."

Emboldened by their success, the hyenas had now drawn nearer, and in a
moment more would have made a general charge upon the scaffolds of
flesh, and, no doubt, would have succeeded in carrying off a large
quantity of it. But just then it occurred to Von Bloom that it would be
best to lay aside their guns and remedy the mistake they had made, by
putting the biltongue out of reach. If they did not do so, they would
either have to remain awake all night and guard it, or else lose every
string of it.

How was it to be put out of reach?

At first they thought of collecting it into a heap and stowing it away
in the wagon. That would not only be an unpleasant job, but it would
interfere with their sleeping-quarters.

An alternative, however, presented itself. They saw that if the
scaffolds were only hi