About midnight they were roused from their slumbers by the roar of a lion, apparently very near them, and Moto said, as soon as he could collect his faculties:
“What did I tell ye? I knew such a country as this must be full of game, and the roar of that beast confirms it, for a lion is never found except where there is food for him, but, Selim, thou must be ready with thy rifle, for if the fellow is very hungry he will try to take one of us.”
“I see him,” whispered Kalulu. “There! look at him; do ye not see that dark form slowly moving past that big tree now? There! he stops and looks towards us!”
“Hush!” whispered Simba, “he is coming. Be ready and sure with thy gun, young master!”
“Shall I fire now?” asked Selim in a low tone.
“No, no, no,” replied Moto. “Wait until I give the word. Pooh, young master, thou must drive thy hall through and through his head. It will never do to wound him.”
The sound of the pulsations in their bodies might almost have been heard, as still as the tree stem under whose leafage they were crouching, they waited the ferocious and powerful thief and prowler who ranges at will, seeking whom he may devour, throughout the long night in the game lands of Africa. Fortunate was it for some of them that he signalled his presence in the forest with that first loud roar, for had he but crept to them, unwarning, as he was now doing, what a terrible confusion he had thrown the panic-stricken people into! Not a sound was heard as he neared them. It was only by the approaching bulk and dark loom of him they knew he was advancing; but presently he again stopped, and they heard the soft brushing of the grass, probably made with his tail, as he twirled and tossed it about wantonly, and through the gloom they saw two specks of luminous light, shine like miniature lanterns, by which Selim was able to take aim. The hand of Moto lightly resting on the Arab boy’s shoulders, warned him and restrained him from firing.
For a moment the lion stood surveying the creatures he knew to be crouched under the tree. He then was seen to move to the left, as if he were about to make a circuit round them, but at every step he took Selim turned his gun, resting on his knee, at him, completely covering him. Suddenly he halted and confronted them, and a loud appalling roar broke on their startled ears, terrible enough in its volume and sound to unnerve the stoutest, and which caused little Niani and Abdullah to shrink behind Simba and Moto, who in the meantime had prepared their guns lest Selim’s nerve might fail him at the critical and trying moment. The form of the lion, now fearfully plain, came to the earth with an almost imperceptible downward movement, and each second as it passed, while he waited for the command, was freighted with keenest anxiety to Selim.
Kalulu warned Moto that the beast was preparing for a spring. Then Moto bade all be ready, and the word “Piga” (fire) was heard, sharp and peremptory, and the three guns simultaneously belched flame and fire, lit up the form of the then uprising lion, and a savage cry and dull heavy thud upon the earth announced to these anxious souls that the lion’s spring was cut short, and that he was either dying or was dead.