Mogra showed no hesitation at the start; but, after riding for a couple of hours, he declared that he could guide them no farther.
"Does he know what sort of country is round about the cave?" asked Challis.
It was bare and rocky, said Mogra, with hardly any vegetation; but he remembered having heard that one particularly large tree stood in front of the cave.
"We will cast about for that, then," said Challis. "Let us take different directions."
"No, no, no!" said John energetically. "Go all same one way."
"Very well, if you are afraid of our losing one another, we will all go together."
They rode on, searching the country over a wide area; but the afternoon was wearing to evening, and they had still lighted on no trace of the cave. Challis began to think they had better give it up and make for another village before night enveloped them.
The horses were growing tired, and showed signs of uneasiness which Challis was puzzled to account for. The explanation came with startling suddenness. On rounding a rocky eminence they saw, only a hundred yards away, two lions lying side by side.
The trembling horses reared, backed, then turned tail and fled in terror. Mogra was thrown almost at once, and neither Challis nor John could check their horses for a considerable distance. When at last they regained control over them, they returned, afraid that Mogra might have been pursued by the beasts and by this time be torn in pieces.
They were relieved in a few minutes to see him running towards them at the speed of a hunted deer. There was no sign of the lions; Challis conjectured that they were digesting a heavy meal. Mogra was shaking with fright, but unhurt except for a bruise or two. His horse had disappeared.