There had been no
opportunity for flight, even if it had been contemplated; and now
that the lion was gone with his prey the men made no move to pursue
him. They paused only long enough to recall the two or three of
their lions that had scattered and then resumed the march along
the trail.
"Might be an everyday occurrence from all the effect it has on
them," remarked Smith-Oldwick to the girl.
"Yes," she said. "They seem to be neither surprised nor disconcerted,
and evidently they are quite sure that the lion, having got what
he came for, will not molest them further."
"I had thought," said the Englishman, "that the lions of the Wamabo
country were about the most ferocious in existence, but they are
regular tabby cats by comparison with these big black fellows.
Did you ever see anything more utterly fearless or more terribly
irresistible than that charge?"
For a while, as they walked side by side, their thoughts and
conversation centered upon this latest experience, until the trail
emerging from the forest opened to their view a walled city and an
area of cultivated land. Neither could suppress an exclamation of
surprise.
"Why, that wall is a regular engineering job," exclaimed Smith-Oldwick
"And look at the domes and minarets of the city beyond," cried the
girl. "There must be a civilized people beyond that wall.
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