By this time the manager had arrived with the horses; and when we told the ladies how the intelligent animals had shown us the way to rescue them, they hugged and petted the creatures as though they had been sisters who had just arrived after ten years' separation. I think Jack and Harry would willingly have been transformed into Miss Boland's horse for the sake of the caresses it received. The horses seemed delighted to find their owners again, and manifested their joy by little whinnies, and in other equine ways.
When the caressing of the horses had ended, Miss Boland referred again to the cause of their imprisonment, and said she was surprised at the persistence of the lions in staying near them so long. "I never knew," said she, "that lions were so keen after the human race; I thought their preference was for quadrupeds."
"So it is," I answered; "at least as a general thing. When lions come into one's camp they are usually in search of oxen or horses, and don't disturb human beings unless the latter happen to be in their way; but occasionally there is a lion which has tasted human flesh, and learned how easily a man can be overpowered and killed; and learned also, at the same time, that a man's flesh is excellent eating. Such a lion is apt to disdain, from that time forth, the pursuit and capture of quadrupeds; in fact, he becomes a man-eater."
"I've heard of man-eating tigers," said Mrs. Roberts, "but I don't know that I ever heard of man-eating lions. Oh yes, now you speak of it, I think Cumming mentions them in his book."
"Man-eating lions are mentioned by Cumming and some other writers," said Jack, "but they are not very prominent. Now, referring to your case, the probabilities are that one or two, and perhaps all three, of those lions that chased you into the tree were man-eaters. The fact that they stayed by and watched so long would confirm that belief; of course it is just possible that they were after the horses, and not yourselves; but as the horses ran away and you were left behind, they took whatever fate had in store for them."
"I hope you slept well in the tree," said Harry, "though the accommodations were rather poor for a night's lodging."
"Slept well!" said Mrs. Roberts. "We didn't either of us close an eye during the night; and I don't believe any one of you three could have slept had you been in our places."
Harry admitted the probable correctness of her surmise, and after a little more jocularity, to enable the ladies to forget their recent horrible predicament, the lunch being finished, we suggested a return to the wagons. The proposition was accepted, and in a few minutes we were in the saddle and away.
We reached the camp of the ladies without any incident worthy of note, and glad enough they were to be at home again. All their followers were out to greet them, and the manifestations of joy were quite in keeping with the Kafir character. They shouted and yelled and danced, and if etiquette and custom had permitted, they would have embraced their employers with tears of joy in their eyes. Mrs. Roberts suggested that we should remain with them for luncheon; but we excused ourselves by telling a few polite falsehoods, and went back to our own camp. We felt that they would prefer to be left to themselves for the rest of the day, as they had been under a great mental strain, and ought not to be submitted to the fatigue of entertaining visitors.
On our way back to our own camp we paid no attention to hunting, chiefly for the reason that we were not properly equipped for it. We had brought, in addition to revolvers, our light rifles only, which would have done good work with small game, but were quite unsuited to elephants or buffaloes. We saw a herd of elands three or four miles away—at least we supposed them to be elands, though we were not near enough to make them out. When within about a mile of camp we saw an elephant—and a big one he was—standing under a large tree fully half a mile distant from any other protection, the nearest trees being the forest that skirted the river.