CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 165 



revolver. As for the Egyptian, he fled into 

 the night, leaving the party convulsed with 

 laughter. So far, all had gone well, and 

 everyone was much pleased with the not un- 

 foreseen result of the experiment. Then the 

 laughter suddenly ceased, for another roar, 

 even more terrible than the first, sounded 

 close to the camp. The ventriloquist had 

 been sitting with the rest, but he was now 

 as panic-stricken as they, for this time it was 

 a real lion that had taken up the challenge, 

 and he was the last to appreciate so practical 

 a tribute to his talent for imitation. Fortu- 

 nately, the brute was driven off before doing 

 any mischief, but the evening's comedy might 

 easily have been turned to tragedy. 



Although the lion may ungrudgingly be 

 acclaimed the king of beasts, there is no 

 need to believe all the rubbish written about 

 its nobility of disposition and, in particular, its 

 alleged reluctance to kill an unarmed man. It 

 is neither noble nor magnanimous, nor has its 

 life on the veldt taught it any belief in plain 

 living and high thinking. It is just a cat that 

 hunts zebras, or even an occasional young 

 hippopotamus when it can find one on land 

 without its parents, instead of mice, and it is 

 often a hungry cat savage, greedy, and cun- 

 ning. 



Lions are partial to a young giraffe, but as 



