A GROWLING LION 



The animal snarled fiercely and showed his great 

 yellow teeth. My heart thumped painfully, and I 

 believe I perspired. Nevertheless, I remained perfectly 

 still and steadfastly returned his stare. 



He growled " Gnaeum — eugh ! " 



I stood as though turned to stone. 



What did " Gnaeum — eugh " mean ? 



He repeated the performance, perhaps to enlighten 

 me ; but, as before, I did not move a muscle. Another 

 terrifying growl came from the ferocious beast. Was 

 it rage, disappointment, or loss of courage ? 



A moment later he dropped his tail, moved off 

 a couple of yards, turned half round again, 

 " Gnaeum — eughed," then gave me a parting growl 

 and snarl, and disappeared into the bush. 



Peuh ! My reply was a huge sigh of relief, and 

 I lost no time in returning to the camp. 



After this episode the mechanics became very 

 excited and the porters were positively terrified. There 

 was some reason for this. 



Every day I had to send one of my men to a camp 

 about nine miles distant with a weather report. 



The morning after my encounter with the lion, 

 while on a quail-shooting trip, I cautioned the man who 

 was going to carry the report to keep a sharp look-out 

 for lions, although he was mounted on a motor-bicycle. 

 He only laughed, but when scarcely a mile and 

 a half from the aerodrome his laughter gave way 



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