76 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



up their rifles, went outside the hut and listened 

 intently for any noise that might confirm their 

 comrade's surmise. A low moan broke the stillness 

 of the night, and discovering that the sound issued 

 from a hut some fifty yards away, in which a woman 

 and her child were sleeping, they crept closer and 

 distinctly heard the sound of bones being crunched 

 inside. Convinced that a lion had broken into the 

 hut and was making a meal of the woman, whom he 

 had killed, they promptly emptied their rifles into 

 the dwelling, trusting that a lucky bullet might find 

 its billet in the animal. For a space, they waited to 

 see if the man-eater would come forth, but as he 

 made no appearance and silence reigned in the hut, 

 they came to the conclusion that he had either been 

 killed or was crouching expectant, ready to spring 

 on the first man who dared venture too close. 

 Deciding to take no risks, they fashioned torches of 

 dry grass and, setting them alight, flung them from 

 a distance on to the roof of the hut, the dry in- 

 flammable thatch of which was soon ablaze. Ere 

 the conflagration had died down, the dawn had 

 broken in the east and with the light of day they 

 learned the truth. Going over to the still glowing 

 embers all that was left of the hut they dis- 

 covered the charred remains of a lion, a woman, 

 and a child. Only one bullet had struck the lion, 

 but that one had gone right through his heart 



