"By George!—fancy those wretched chaps over by that fire," said Jack, "without rifles; what a state of terror they will be in!"
What a good fellow Jack was! I had never thought, in my selfishness, of the infinitely more dangerous position of the others.
At this moment the lion roared again.
"Listen to that!" continued Jack. "What a voice the brute has! It's enough to terrify anyone, especially unarmed people. Ought we to go and stand by those chaps, think you, Peter?"
I am glad to think that I replied in the affirmative.
"And yet," said Jack, "I'm not sure that one of us hadn't better stop here to take care of our horses. Shall we toss up who goes? You see, it was we who disarmed the poor beggars; we can't very well leave them unprotected when real danger comes."
I cordially endorsed the sentiment, and though I would far rather have let our horses go by the board than separate from Jack in this crisis, I tossed up with him as to who should go and who stay.
"Heads stay—tails go," said Jack. "You toss."
I tossed, and the coin showed tails.
"Tails; then you go—lucky rascal!" said Jack; "you get all the fun. Shout for me if anything happens. Cæsar! there he is, roaring again, and nearer their camp. Be off, Peter, and mind your hide!"