Mr. Hume followed slowly, with his head over his shoulder, towards the place where the growling came from. When he reached the fire he gave a great sigh of relief.
"Thank God. Now tell us what happened, my boy;" and he put his hand on Venning's arm.
Venning started violently, for just then from the river there came a harsh, growling call; and no sooner had it ceased than the ground shook to a terrific roar.
"The lion answers the lioness," said the chief, calmly.
"Throw a little wood on the fire, Muata. Now, my lad."
Venning told his story, and Compton listened with intense excitement; but the hunter treated the whole thing calmly, with set purpose. He had in his experience seen the effect of a terrible shock, in the complete breakdown of the victim, and, personally, he had known one man die from the shock to his system caused exactly by the sudden and unexpected appearance of a lion at night. He kept Venning's thoughts off the mental picture of the charging lion until dawn, when all hands prepared for the hunt.
"If you hit him hard he will be lying near, and I guess it will be a different matter meeting him by daylight—eh, my lad?"
Venning looked into the hunter's calm eyes, and felt strong. He went straight to the rock against which he had crouched, and pointed to the deep scars made in the hard ground by the sharp claws as the lion had stopped his charge and wheeled.
Compton measured the distance from the rock to the claw-marks.
"Fifteen feet! By Jove! it was a narrow squeak. I would have yelled like fits."