Page 126 - Adventures in Africa

“ but don't fire at the creature unless it approaches to
attack us. If you only wound it, its rage may be

excited, and I to a certainty shall become its victim,”
The lion regarded us for a few seconds when— we
raising1 a loud shout— it, greatly to my satisfaction,
bounded on and disappeared in the wood. Indeed a

lion when alone will seldom, especially in the day­
time, attack human beings who show a bold front,
though it will follow like a cat, as do most other

savage brutes, if a man runs from it.
My friends again taking* me up, we proceeded,
though I own that I peered somewhat anxiously into
the wood where the lion had retreated, lest it should

change its mind and rush out upon us.
My uncle returned soon after we reached the camp,
and at once examined my ankle. Greatly to my
relief he assured me that it was not broken, and that,

if he bound it up in a water bandage, I should pro­
bably be well in a day or two. As it was already
late, the blacks were unwilling to go through the
forest at night for the purpose of bringing in our

spoils, for fear of being carried off by lions. All
night long we could hear them muttering and roar­
ing. Harry suggested that they were mourning for

their late companion. Occasionally the death-cry of
some unfortunate deer which they had pulled down
reached our ears, while various other sounds, some
produced by insects or bull-frogs, or birds, disturbed

the silence of the forest. I, however, managed, in
spite of the noise and the pain I suffered, to go to
sleep, and in the morning, greatly to my satisfaction,

I found my ankle much better than I expected.