xvi A WIDOW'S STORY 177 



my husband and told him I felt sure there was 

 a lion about. He jumped up and went out, 

 taking his gun with him. He looked round the 

 outside of the tent, and spoke to the Swahili 

 askari who was on sentry by the camp fire a little 

 distance off. The askari said he had seen nothing 

 about except a donkey, so my husband came in 

 again, telling me not to worry as it was only a 

 donkey that I had heard. 



" The night being very hot, my husband threw 

 back the tent door and lay down again beside 

 me. After a while I dozed off, but was sud- 

 denly roused by a feeling as if the pillow were 

 being pulled away from under my head. On 

 looking round I found that my husband was 

 gone. I jumped up and called him loudly, but 

 got no answer. Just then I heard a noise among 

 the boxes outside the door, so I rushed out and 

 saw my poor husband lying between the boxes. 

 I ran up to him and tried to lift him, but found 

 I could not do so. I then called to the askari 

 to come and help me, but he refused, saying 

 that there was a lion standing beside me. I 

 looked up and saw the huge beast glowering at 

 me, not more than two yards away. At this 

 moment the askari fired his rifle, and this fortun- 

 ately frightened the lion, for it at once jumped off 

 into the bush. 



N 



