330 IN AFRICA 



from so near that they startled us. There seemed to 

 be dozens of hyenas a regular class reunion of 

 them yet not one could be seen in the "murky 

 gloom." And then, a moment later, we heard the 

 crunching of teeth and the slither of rending flesh, 

 and we knew that a supper party of hyenas was 

 gathered about the festal board below us. I was 

 afraid that they would eat up the carcass and thus 

 keep away the lions, so I fired a shot to scare them 

 away. There was a quick rush of feet then that 

 dense, expectant silence once more. Soon some 

 little jackals came and were shooed away. Then 

 more hyenas came, were given their conge, and 

 hurried off to the tall grass. And yet no lion. It 

 was quite disappointing. 



At midnight, far off to the north, came the 

 grunting voice of a lion. I waited eagerly for the 

 next sound which would indicate whether the lure 

 of the bait was beckoning him on. And soon the 

 sound came, this time much nearer, and after a long 

 silence there was a sharp, snarling grunt of a lion, 

 followed by the panic-stricken rush of a hundred 

 heavy hoofs. The conjunction of sounds told the 

 story as definitely as if the whole scene lay bared 

 to view. The lion had leaped upon a hartebeest, 

 probably instantly breaking its neck, while the rest 

 of the herd had galloped away in terror. And it 

 had all happened within two or three hundred yards 

 of the tree yet nothing could be seen. 



At two o'clock the grunt of a lion was again 

 heard far off to the south. It came steadily toward 



