30 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



flap to the tent door and sat in silence listening 

 to them grunting and purring. They passed 

 around his tent several times while he and his 

 porters, who were in a near-by tent, kept per- 

 fectly quiet, and finally the cats departed. 



Not far from Nairobi there lives an English- 

 man in one of the typical East African sheet-iron 

 bungalows. Several living-rooms lack connec- 

 tions, so in passing from one room to another it 

 is necessary to step out on the veranda and 

 walk to the door of the adjacent room. 



One evening a guest for the night arrived and 

 left his wagon standing by the side of the veranda 

 opposite the door of the room that he was to 

 occupy. The two men talked well into the night, 

 and then the guest bade his host good night and 

 stepped out on the veranda. He had reached 

 his room, opened the door, and was standing on 

 the threshold, when a lion, that must have been 

 watching the men through the window, sprang 

 at him from behind the wagon. The beast mis- 

 calculated, however, for it failed to clear the 

 vehicle, fell upon the porch, and, sliding across 

 it, struck the door with such force that the guest 

 was sent sprawling to the matting and the door 

 closed safely behind him. 



