s well-fed and not savage, that was plain enough, but its
action might change at any moment, and, worse still, there was the
prospect of others arriving at any moment to join in the feast.

For a full hour Dyke sat there, watching the great animal, and listening
to it as it tore off pieces of the neck from time to time, the crack of
a bone every now and then making him start violently, and shudder at the
thought of certain possibilities connected with himself. And all this
time the beast was in such a position that one eye was toward him, and a
gleam therefrom made it apparent that he was carefully watched the whole
time. But at last the lion turned itself more away to get at a more
meaty portion, and a thrill of excitement ran through Dyke.

Grasping his knife firmly in one hand, his gun in the other, he turned
over, and fixing upon one of the low bushes a short distance away,
beyond which was other good cover, he began slowly and silently to crawl
sidewise away, keeping a watchful eye the while upon the lion, so as to
stop short at the slightest movement on the part of the great beast.

It was an exceedingly difficult mode of progression, and it was hard
work to keep to it, for with every yard the desire to get up and run
toward where Breezy would be grazing increased. Once he could reach the
cob, take off the hobbles which confined its forefeet, tighten the
girths, and slip the bit between its teeth, he did not care. But there
was a great deal to do, he knew, before he could achieve this.

Yard by yard he crept on, the sand hushing every sound, and he had
nearly reached the low bush cropped short all over the top by the horse
or some passing animal, when there was a quick movement and a low growl
which made him feel that all was over.

But a sharp _crick, crack_ of a broken bone nipped in the powerful jaws
reassured him, and after waiting a few minutes, he crept sidewise again
a little farther, and he was behind the bush, which shut out all view of
the lion and smouldering fire, and of course hid him from his enemy.

He could now make better progress, for if the lion turned, he would be
invisible; and taking advantage of this, he crept on from bush to bush,
till he was quite a hundred yards away. And now the longing was intense
to stand erect and look out for Breezy, but the bushy growth had been so
closely cropped that it was nowhere a yard in height, and to stand up
might have meant to bring him full in hi