THE FIFTEEN LIONS 



flank movement. The chances seemed good. The 

 jumble of boulders was surrounded by open country, 

 and it was improbable the lions could leave it without 

 being seen. We had arranged with our men a 

 system of signals. 



For two hours we walked very hard in order to 

 circle out of sight, down wind, and to gain the other 

 side of the ridge back of the lions. We purposed 

 slipping over the ridge and attacking from above. 

 Even this was but a slight advantage. The job was 

 a stiff one, for we might expect certainly the majority 

 to charge. 



Therefore when we finally deployed in skirmish 

 order and bore down on that patch of brush and 

 boulders, we were braced for the shock of battle. 

 We found nothing. Our men, however, signalled 

 that the lions had not left cover. After a little 

 search, however, we discovered a very shallow de- 

 pression running slantwise up the hill and back of 

 the cover. So slight it was that even the glasses 

 had failed to show it from below. The lions had 

 in all probability known about us from the start, 

 and were all the time engaged in withdrawing after 

 their leisurely fashion. 



Of course we hunted for them; in fact we spent 

 two days at it; but we never found trace of them 

 again. The country was too hard for tracking. They 



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