He was asleep, and he was awake again so suddenly that he did not know he had slept until he saw the position of the gun.  The jackal plucked at his blanket.  He remembered that something had disturbed him, and he judged that the jackal had done the same thing just before.  He yawned and patted its head; but, instead of sitting down, it ran a few yards, sniffed the air, whined, came back, glanced long over its shoulder into the riverbed, looked into Venning’s face, then ran off in the direction of the camp.  As soon as it was gone Venning felt lonely.  He stood up, thinking to return to the camp, then sat down again, for he heard the sharp stamp that an antelope makes when alarmed, and he hoped to see it come into the moonlight.  So he settled down to watch again, and drowsiness fell upon his eyes.  He could see the white patch of sand, and as his heavy lids were lowered and lifted between the drowsy intervals, he became dimly conscious that there was something on the sand.  Yes; there it was, something grey, short, and thick.  A donkey, he told himself.  He smiled sleepily.  A donkey!  It was strange to see the old familiar form out there in the wilderness.  He wondered dreamily where it came from; then a shadow cast by the moon on a passing cloud blotted out the river-bed.  He rubbed his eyes, and when the cloud had gone there were two animals—­donkeys, unmistakably—­one larger than the other, both with their heads turned upwards towards him.  Another cloud sailed by, and when it had passed he missed them, and, his curiosity roused, he rubbed his eyes again for a closer scrutiny.  Surely that was not a bush on the bank?  No! it moved.  The donkeys were coming towards him.  One of them, the larger, moved forward quickly, then stopped.  Then a chill ran through him, his heart grew weak, his breathing grew sharp, and the sweat suddenly started out all over his face and body.  That was no donkey standing there, with its huge head now sunk almost to the ground, now lifted high, as it tried to make out what manner of living creature it was crouching there by the rock above!

Venning felt the hair stir on his head as the two animals stood gazing at him, and then he knew.  The one behind sank to the ground, and with long steps began to creep round to the right.  The moon struck along its side, and showed the tawny hide and the whitish under-parts of a lioness.  The other, then, was a lion!  With a sort of gurgling in his throat he turned his eyes to it, and he saw it trotting up straight for him, its shaggy mane giving to its head and shoulders an enormous size.  He felt spell-bound, incapable of moving hand or foot.  It was the silence of the ferocious beasts that paralyzed him.  Then the jackal howled behind him, and his blood rushed through his veins.  His tongue no longer clave to the roof of his mouth, and when the great beast was within ten yards of him, he let forth a terrific yell and jumped to his feet, with his rifle in his hands.