"What is the matter?" Stanley asked.
"The spirits have been making all sorts of noises outside, and there are other noises at the end of the cave, close to the horses."
Stanley took a brand and went over to them. They were both munching their grain quietly.
"Well, you see the horses are not frightened; so you may be sure that whatever were the noises you heard, there was nothing unnatural about them. What were they like?"
The question was not answered for, at that moment, a sound like a loud deep sigh was heard overhead. The natives started back; and even Stanley felt, for a moment, uncomfortable.
"It is only the wind," he said. "There must be some opening above there; and the wind makes a noise in it, just as it does in a chimney. We will see all about it, in the morning.
"Now, as to the noises outside."
"They were wailing cries," the man said.
"Pooh! They must have been tigers or leopards, or perhaps only wild cats. No doubt they smelt you and the horses, but were too much afraid of the fire to come any nearer. Why, you must have heard tigers often enough to know their cries."
"I thought myself that they were tigers," the man said, rather shamefacedly, "but the boys said they were certain that they were not; and I was not sure, myself, one way or the other."