med quite restful after the
painful crawl, and gaining spirit by the change, he went on with so good
effect that he saw that he was certainly gaining on the cob. This
infused fresh spirit within him, and congratulating himself on the fact
that he must soon get within whistling distance, he had another glance
back to see that eland and lion were an indistinct mass, or so it seemed
for the moment. Then he turned cold again in spite of the heat, for
there, moving slowly over the sand, about a quarter of a mile back, was
a tawny, indistinct something which gradually grew clearer to his
startled eyes, for unmistakably there was a lion stealthily stalking
him, taking advantage of every tuft to approach unseen, and before many
minutes had passed he felt that it would be within springing distance,
and all would be over in spite of his almost superhuman toil.

There was only one chance for him now, he felt, and that was to run his
best.

He did not pause to look, but began to run over the burning sand, his
breath coming hot and thick; but he must go on, he knew, for at every
affrighted glance behind, there was his enemy keeping up its stealthy
approach, and the cob was still so far away.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

BEING STALKED.

Those were minutes which would have made the stoutest-hearted man feel
that his case was hopeless; and Dyke struggled along, feeling his legs
grow weaker, and as if his feet were turned to heavy weights of lead.
Still he kept on at what was no longer a good run, for his pace had
degenerated into a weary trot, and there were moments when he fancied
that the cob was disappearing in a mist of distance, while at the same
time he felt a constant inclination to check his speed, so as to be able
to gaze back at his pursuer, which every now and then sent his heart
upward with a tremendous throb, as it made a few rapid bounds to gain
the shelter of bushes, and disappeared, but, as the boy well knew, to
come into sight again much nearer.

The later part of that terrible flight was dreamlike in its strange,
wild confusion, and was dominated by a despairing feeling that he had
now done all that was possible, and must throw himself down and yield to
his fate.

But the instinctive desire for life, the horror of being seized by the
monstrous beast, and the thought of Emson and their home, which, shabby
and rough as it was, now seemed to be a glorious haven of refuge, kept
him struggling on in spite of his exhaus