cause the lion's paw struck the
thick stem of ivy.

The creature was making a frightful racket now, leaping back and forth
from the floor at the broad window ledge, tearing at the masonry with
his claws in vain attempts to reach me. But the opening was too
narrow, and the masonry too solid.

Victory had commenced the descent, but I called to her to stop just
above the window, and, as the lion reappeared, growling and snarling, I
put a .33 bullet in his face, and at the same moment Victory slipped
quickly past him, dropping into my upraised arms that were awaiting her.

The roaring of the beasts that had discovered us, together with the
report of my rifle, had set the balance of the fierce inmates of the
palace into the most frightful uproar I have ever heard.

I feared that it would not be long before intelligence or instinct
would draw them from the interiors and set them upon our trail, the
river. Nor had we much more than reached it when a lion bounded around
the corner of the edifice we had just quitted and stood looking about
as though in search of us.

Following, came others, while Victory and I crouched in hiding behind a
clump of bushes close to the bank of the river. The beasts sniffed
about the ground for a while, but they did not chance to go near the
spot where we had stood beneath the window that had given us escape.

Presently a black-maned male raised his head, and, with cocked ears and
glaring eyes, gazed straight at the bush behind which we lay. I could
have sworn that he had discovered us, and when he took a few short and
stately steps in our direction I raised my rifle and covered him. But,
after a long, tense moment he looked away, and turned to glare in
another direction.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Victory. I could feel her body
quiver as she lay pressed close to me, our cheeks almost touching as we
both peered through the same small opening in the foliage.

I turned to give her a reassuring smile as the lion indicated that he
had not seen us, and as I did so she, too, turned her face toward mine,
for the same purpose, doubtless. Anyway, as our heads turned
simultaneously, our lips brushed together. A startled expression came
into Victory's eyes as she drew back in evident confusion.

As for me, the strangest sensation that I have ever experienced claimed
me for an instant. A peculiar, tingling thrill ran through my veins,
and my head swam. I could not account for i