“Lions,” said Mr. Durban briefly. “They have been attracted by the smell of cooking.”
At that moment, and instantly following a very loud roar, there was an agonized scream of pain and terror. It sounded directly in back of the airship.
“A lion!” cried Mr. Anderson. “One of the brutes has grabbed a native!”
Tom Swift caught up his rifle, and darted off toward the dark jungle.
CHAPTER XVI
SEEKING THE MISSIONARIES
“Here! Come back!” yelled Mr. Damon and Mr. Anderson, in the same breath, while the old elephant hunter cried out: “Don’t you know you’re risking your life, Tom to go off in the dark, to trail a lion?”
“I can’t stand it to let the native be carried off!” Tom shouted back.
“But you can’t see in the dark,” objected Mr. Anderson. He had probably forgotten the peculiar property of the electric rifle. Tom kept on, and the others slowly followed.