76 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
state of fright that if they caught sight of a hyzna, 
or a baboon, or even a dog, in the bush, they were 
sure to imagine it was a lion; but I found out next 
day that it was an actual fact, and that both station- 
master and signalman had been obliged to take 
refuge from one of the man-eaters by locking them- 
selves in the station building. 
I waited some little time for Mr. Whitehead, but 
eventually, as he did not put in an appearance, I 
concluded that he must have postponed his journey 
until the next day, and so had my dinner in my 
customary solitary state. During the meal I hearda 
couple of shots, but paid no attention to them, as 
rifles were constantly being fired off in the neigh- 
bourhood of the camp. Later in the evening, I 
went out as usual to watch for our elusive foes, and 
took up my position in a crib made of sleepers 
which I had built on a big girder close to a camp 
which I thought was likely to be attacked. Soon 
after settling down at my post, I was surprised to 
hear the man-eaters growling and purring and 
crunching up bones about seventy yards from the 
erib. I could not understand what they had found 
to eat, as I had heard no commotion in the camps, 
and I knew by bitter experience that every meal the 
brutes obtained from us was announced by shrieks 
and uproar. The only conclusion I could come to 
was that they had pounced upon some poor un- 
