“Well, then, I will tell you one more amusing, and not so fatal in its results; I was told it by a Bushman,” said Swinton.  “A Bushman was following a herd of zebras, and had just succeeded in wounding one with his arrow, when he discovered that he had been interfering with a lion, who was also in chase of the same animals.  As the lion appeared very angry at this interference with his rights as lord of the manor, and evidently inclined to punish the Bushman as a poacher upon his preserves, the latter, perceiving a tree convenient, climbed up into it as fast as he could.  The lion allowed the herd of zebras to go away, and turned his attention to the Bushman.  He walked round and round the tree, and every now and then he growled as he looked up at the Bushman.

“At last the lion lay down at the foot of the tree, and there he kept watch all night.  The Bushman kept watch also, but toward morning, feeling very tired, he was overcome by sleep, and as he slept, he dreamed, and what do you think that he dreamed?—­he dreamed that he fell from the tree into the jaws of the lion.  Starting up in horror from the effects of his dream, he lost his hold, and falling from the branch, down he came with all his weight right on the back of the lion.  The lion, so unexpectedly saluted, sprang up with a loud roar, tossing off the Bushman, and running away as fast as he could; and the Bushman, recovering his legs and his senses, also took to his heels in a different direction; and thus were the ‘sleepers awakened,’ and the dream became true.”

“Besiegers retreating and fort evacuated both at the same time,” cried the Major, laughing.

“Well, I think you have had enough of the lion now,” said Swinton.

“No, we had quite enough of him last night, if you choose,” replied Alexander.  “But your lions are not quite so near as he was.”

CHAPTER XV.

It was not until the evening that the Caffres and Hottentots returned with the cattle, which they had great difficulty in collecting; two or three of the oxen were not brought back till late at night, so frightened had the animals been by the approach of the lion.  In the afternoon, as it was too late to think of proceeding, our travelers, with their guns on their shoulders, and accompanied by Omrah and Begum, who would always follow the Major if she was not tied up, strolled away from the camp to amuse themselves.  At first they walked to the hill from which they had such a splendid view of the valley covered with elephants, and, proceeding to where the male elephant had fallen, found that his flesh had, by the Caffres, the wolves, and the vultures, been completely taken off his bones, and it lay there a beautiful skeleton for a museum.

As, however, they had no room for such weighty articles in their wagons, they left it, after Swinton had made some observations upon the structure of the animal.  Begum would not go near the skeleton, but appeared to be frightened at it.  They then proceeded to the rock which had been their place of refuge when the herd of elephants had charged upon them; and as they stood under it, they were suddenly saluted with a loud noise over their heads, sounding like quah, quah!