us fellow with a mane
that swept the ground, advanced a few paces and uttered a tremendous
roar that seemed to shake the earth.

Guy cocked his rifle, but at the sharp click Canaris turned on him
fiercely.

"Don't shoot," he whispered. "Don't shoot. If we can get over the ridge
we may escape. I don't think they will attack us."

In a moment more they reached the crest of the slope. The lions were
still down by the pool.

"Look," exclaimed Canaris, pointing to the right. "Do you see those
rocks! We must make a run for them."

The spot referred to was a dim mass rising out of the plain some fifty
yards distant. Whether they really were rocks or not it was hard to
tell.

Another fearful roar put an end to indecision, and they ran at the top
of their speed toward the hoped-for refuge. No one glanced behind. In
imagination they felt the hot breath on their necks and heard the soft
patter through the grass.

Then the refuge was before them, a tall column of rock rising from a
clump of jungle grass and some low, stunted timber.

It towered up in ledges and in a trice Canaris had sprung upon the first
platform, and extended a helping hand to his companions.

With frantic haste they climbed another jutting ledge and pulled
themselves to the top. None too soon, for as they turned to look, the
big lion sprang into the air and landed with a roar of baffled rage on
the ledge beneath.

He rose instantly for another spring, but as he reared upward Guy
brought down the butt of his rifle on the massive head, and the beast
rolled down into the grass at the foot of the rock.

Another lion loomed up in the shadows, and together the two paced about,
lashing their tails and growling with fury.

"That was a narrow escape," said Guy. "A moment more and we would have
been caught."

"We're not altogether safe yet," replied Canaris. "Those are hungry
looking brutes, and it's hard to tell what they may do. We must remain
quiet and watch them closely."

The two lions continued to prowl up and down, licking their chops and
occasionally glancing at the top of the rock. Suddenly they halted in
the middle of their beat, and, pricking up their ears, assumed an
expectant attitude.

"They hear something," said Guy. "I wonder what it can be."

For a full minute the two noble beasts stood like bits of statuary, not
a muscle quivering, their tails slowly waving to and fro. Then with a
couple of bounds they vanished in the high grass.