In Desert and Wilderness

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

It was, however, a horrible night—the most horrible in the entire journey.

They sat like drenched birds on a twig, listening to what was happening below. And there for some time a deep silence continued, but soon came a peculiar sound as though of lapping, smacking of torn-off pieces of flesh, together with the horses' heavy breathing and the groans of the monsters.

The odor of the raw meat and blood reached up to the tree, as the lions feasted not farther than twenty paces from the zareba.

And they feasted so long that in the end anger seized Stas. He seized the rifle and fired in the direction of the sounds.

But he was answered only by a broken, irritated roar, after which resounded the cracking of bones, rattling in powerful jaws. In the depths glared the blue and red eyes of hyenas and jackals waiting for their turn.

And thus the long hours of the night passed away.

IV

The sun finally rose and illuminated the jungle, groups of trees, and the forest. The lions had disappeared before the first ray began to gleam on the horizon. Stas commanded Kali to build a fire. Mea was ordered to take Nell's clothes out of the leather bag in which they were packed, to dry them, and to dress anew the little girl as soon as possible; while Stas himself, taking his rifle, proceeded to visit the camp and at the same time to view the devastation wrought by the storm and the two midnight assassins.

Immediately beyond the zareba, of which only the pickets remained, lay the first horse almost half devoured; about a hundred paces farther the second, barely touched, and immediately behind him the third, disemboweled, and with crushed head. All presented a horrible sight; their eyes were open, full of settled terror, and their teeth were bared. The ground was trampled upon; in the depressions were whole puddles of blood. Stas was seized with such rage that at the moment he almost wished that the shaggy head of a marauder, sluggish after the nocturnal feast, would emerge from some cluster of trees that he might put a bullet in him. But he had to postpone his revenge to a later time for at present he had something else to do. It was necessary to find and capture the remaining horses. The boy assumed that they must have sought shelter in the forest, and that the same was true of Saba, whose body was nowhere to be seen. The hope that the faithful companion in misfortune had not fallen a victim to the predaceous beasts pleased Stas so much that he gained more courage. His happiness was yet augmented by the discovery of the donkey. It appeared that the sagacious, long-eared creature did not wish to fatigue himself by a too distant flight. He had ensconced himself outside of the zareba in a corner formed by the white-ant hillock and the tree and there, having his head and sides protected, had awaited developments, prepared in an emergency to repel an attack by kicking heroically with his heels. But the lions, apparently, did not perceive him at all, so when the sun rose and danger passed away he deemed it proper to lie down and rest after the dramatic sensations of the night.

Stas, strolling about the camp, finally discovered upon the softened ground the imprint of horses' hoofs. The tracks led in the direction of the forest and afterwards turned towards the ravine. This was a favorable circumstance for the capture of the horses in the ravine did not present any great difficulties. Between ten and twenty paces farther he found in the grass the fetters which one of the horses had broken in his escape. This one must have run away so far that for the time being he must be regarded as lost. On the other hand, the two espied by Stas were behind a low rock, not in the hollow itself, but on the brink. One of them was rolling about, while the other was cropping the new light-green grass. Both looked unusually exhausted, as if after a long journey. But the daylight had banished fear from their hearts, so they greeted Stas with a short, friendly neigh. The horse which was rolling about started to his feet. The boy observed that this one also had freed himself from his fetters, but fortunately he apparently preferred to remain with his companion instead of running away wherever his eyes should lead him.