But Dick would not be persuaded, and, mounting his horse, he rode with
his brother up to the waggon, gave the necessary instructions to Peter
and Dirk, and in a few moments those sable gentlemen were leading a
small ox-team over the plain to where the General and his boys were
busily dressing the fallen bull; and by the time Mr Rogers reached the
waggon, the choicest parts of the buffalo were there, the remainder
having been left for the vultures and wild creatures of the plain.

They trekked on for some miles that evening, and soon after sundown
halted by the side of a wood, whose edges were composed of dense thorns,
and here, at the General's suggestion, all set to work, after the waggon
had been drawn up in a suitable position, to cut down the bushes so as
to make a square patch, with the dense thorns on three sides and the
waggon on the fourth, the lower part of the waggon being fortified with
the bushes that were cut down.

The object was to form a sound enclosure, which was duly strengthened,
so as to protect the horses and bullocks from the wild beasts that
haunted the neighbourhood.

It was very hard work, and Dinny grumbled terribly, till Dick said
quietly to his brother, in Dinny's hearing,--

"I wonder that Dinny don't work harder. The General says this part
swarms with lions; and they'll be down upon us before we've done if he
don't make haste."

Dinny seemed to be turned for the moment into stone, at the bare mention
of the word lion; but directly after he was toiling away with feverish
haste, and in quite a state of excitement, bullying Coffee and Chicory
for not bringing in more dead wood for the fire.

By dint of all working hard, however, a satisfactory place was
contrived, into which, after a good long feed, and a hearty drink of
fresh water from a bubbling stream, the bullocks and horses were shut,
the horses having a division of their own, where they would be safe from
the horns of their friends as well as the teeth and claws of their
enemies. Then the blazing fire in front of the waggon was utilised for
cooking purposes, and buffalo steaks and thick rich soup from Dinny's
big pot soon restored the losses felt by the little party in their
arduous evening toil.

The waggon was on the very edge of the forest, and a couple of trees
stood out on either side, spreading their branches over it as shelter,
while the ruddy fire that was being steadily fed to get it into a good
glow, with a brigh