232 NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN 



chill ran down his spine as he realized that 

 for those few seconds his scalp had perhaps 

 been at the mercy of the occupant. 



Why had the beast not struck ? 



The man took off his old cap, stuck it 

 on the muzzle of his gun, and, raising it 

 cautiously, wagged it from side to side. This 

 move eliciting no demonstration from within 

 the cave, he scratched noisily on the rock. 

 Having repeated this challenge several times 

 without response, he felt sure that both 

 panthers must be away from home. 



Nevertheless, he was not going to let 

 himself be over-confident. He was too 

 sagacious and instructed a woodman to 

 think that the wild creatures would always 

 act the same way under the same circum- 

 stances. It was not impossible that the 

 occupant of the cave was just waiting to see. 

 Drawing back some six or eight feet, the 

 man wriggled slantingly up the slope of rock, 

 with the muzzle of his Winchester just ahead 

 of him, till his face came level with the 

 entrance. Every muscle of his body was 

 strung taut for an instantaneous recoil, in 

 case he should see before him two palely 

 flaming eyes, afloat, as it were, upon the 

 darkness of the interior. 



But no ; at first he could see nothing but 



