A brilliant moon made the animals easily visible. They were unusually large specimens, that from all appearances could tear a man limb from limb.
“I guess they’re too cowardly to attack even a very small animal,” remarked Bob. “But they sure look mean, don’t they?”
“This must be the surprise Dad was talking about,” said Joe, never taking his eyes from the scene. “And it really is a surprise, too. Who’d expect to see wild animals out in the main street of a town, even in Africa?”
The chums could hardly tear themselves away from the window. The whining, screaming hyenas were something that they had never seen except behind bars, and they naturally looked out with great interest.
“Come on, Joe.” Bob at last went back to bed. “We want to get a little more sleep before morning. We’ll have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Shortly after daybreak Mr. Lewis appeared at the doorway.
“Come along, boys,” he said, noting that they were awake. “The train leaves in two hours.”
They dressed as soon as possible and secured their breakfast. Then, with their fathers, they went to the railroad station, carrying most of their baggage.
As there was nearly an hour remaining, all four took a short walk about the city, in search of anything unusual.
Before long they found themselves at the city fish market, which was a colorful place displaying practically all kinds of sea food. There were sharks, swordfish, crabs, crayfish, sardines, and many other queer denizens of the near-by waters.