CH. XII AN ADVENTURE WITH LIONS 



141 



disobeyed my order, with the result that the whole 

 place flamed up in a second, and but for the 

 prompt and desperate efforts of the whole safari, 

 who beat the flames out with branches, our entire 

 outfit would have been burnt up. As it turned out, 

 'I was delighted to find that it was the cook himself 



"we were not sorrv to leave nveri." 



who was the only one to suffer, all his blankets and 

 kit being lost in the fire. When he came later on 

 to inform me of his misfortune, I told him that it 

 was a well-merited punishment for his disobedience. 

 In the afternoon we went out to have a look at 

 the country, and had a most exciting chase after a 

 serval cat, which my dog Lurcher made desperate 



