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fancied that he could hear other sounds such as would be made by a heavy

stone dislodged from its site leaping down the mountain side; but he was

not sure that this was not fancy, or that the sound might not be caused

by the roaring of lions far away among the hills.

His father had said that three hours would probably elapse before the

circuit would be completed. The distance was not great, but the troops

would have to make their way with the greatest care along the rocky

hills through brushwood and forest, and their advance would be all the

more slow that they had to take such pains to move noiselessly.

It was indeed more than three hours after the column had left the camp

when the sound of a distant horn was heard far up the hillside. Almost

instantaneously lights burst out in a great semicircle along the

hillside, and a faint confused sound, as of the shouting of a large body

of men, was heard on the still night air.

"That is very well done," the general said in a tone of satisfaction. "I

had hardly expected it to be so well managed; for the operation on such

broken and difficult ground was not easy to carry out, even with the

moon to help them."

"But see, father!" Malchus said, "there are many patches of darkness in

the line, and the lions might surely escape through these."

"It would not be possible, Malchus, to place the parties at equal

distances over such broken ground. Nor are the lions likely to discover

the gaps in the line; they will be far too much terrified by the uproar

and sudden blaze of light to approach the troops. Hark, how they are

roaring! Truly it is a majestic and terrible sound, and I do not

wonder that the wild natives of these mountains regard the animals with

something of the respect which we pay to the gods. And now do you keep

a sharp eye along the foot of the hills. There is no saying how soon the

beasts may break cover."

Slowly the semicircle of light was seen to contract as the soldiers

who formed it moved forward towards the foot of the hill; but although

Malchus kept his eyes strained upon the fringe of trees at its foot, he

could see no signs of movement.

The roaring still continued at intervals, and it was evident that the

beasts inclosed in the arc had descended to the lower slopes of the

hill.

"They may be upon us sooner than you expect, Malchus. Their colour well

nigh matches with that of the sand, and you may not see them until they

are close upon us."

Presently a Nubian soldier standing behind Malchus touched him on the

shoulder and said in a whisper: "There they are!" pointing at the same

time across the plain.

Malchus could for a time see nothing; then he made out some indistinct

forms.

"There are six of them," the general said, "and they are making for this

grove. Get your bows ready."

Malchus could now clearly see the lions approaching. They were advancing

slowly, turning occasionally to look back as if reluctant to quit

the shelter of the hills; and Malchus could hardly resist a start of

uneasiness as one of them suddenly gave vent to a deep, threatening

roar, so menacing and terrible that the very leaves of the trees seemed

to quiver in the light of the moon under its vibrations. The lions

seemed of huge dimensions, especially the leader of the troop, who

stalked with a steady and majestic step at their head. When within fifty

yards of the grove the lions suddenly paused; their leader apparently

scented danger. Again the deep terrible roar rose in the air, answered

by an angry snarling noise on the part of the females.

"Aim at the leader," the general whispered, "and have your brands in

readiness."

Immediately behind the party a fire was burning; it had been suffered

to die down until it was a mere pile of glowing embers, and in this the

ends of a dozen stakes of dried wood were laid. The glow of the fire was

carefully hidden by a circle of sticks on which thick cloths had been

hung. The fire had been prepared in readiness in case the lions should

appear in numbers too formidable to be coped with. The leading lion was

within twenty-five paces of the spot where the party was standing when

Hamilcar gave the word, and a volley of arrows shot forth from their

hiding place.

The lion gave a roar of rage and pain, then, crouching for a moment,

with a few tremendous bounds he reached the edge of the wood. He could

see his enemies now, and with a fierce spring threw himself upon them.

But as soon as they had discharged their arrows the soldiers had caught

up their weapons and formed in a close body, and the lion was received

upon the points of a dozen spears.

There was a crashing of wood and a snarling growl as one of the soldiers

was struck dead with a blow of the mighty paw of the lion, who, ere he

could recover himself, received half a dozen javelins thrust deep into

his flanks, and fell dead.

The rest of the troop had followed him as he sprang forward, but some of

the soldiers, who had been told off for the purpose, seized the lighted

brands and threw them over the head of the leader among his followers.

As the glowing brands, after describing fiery circles in the air, fell

and scattered at their feet, the lions paused, and turning abruptly off

dashed away with long bounds across the front of the grove.

"Now, Malchus, to horse!" Hamilcar exclaimed. And the general and his

son, leaping upon their steeds, dashed out from the grove in pursuit of

the troop of lions. These, passing between the two clumps of trees, were

making for the plain beyond, when from behind the other grove a dark

band of horsemen rode out.

"Let them pass," Hamilcar shouted; "do not head them back."

The cavalry reined up until the troop of lions had passed. Hamilcar rode

up to the officer in command.

"Bring twenty of your men," he said; "let the rest remain here. There

will doubtless be more of them yet."

Then with the twenty horsemen he rode on in pursuit of the lions.

The chase was an exciting one. For a time the lions, with their long

bounds, kept ahead of the horsemen; but the latter, splendidly mounted

on their well bred steeds, soon began to gain. When they were within

a hundred yards of them one of the lions suddenly faced round. The

Numidians, well accustomed to the sport, needed no orders from their

chief. They scattered at once and broke off on each flank so as to

encircle the lion, who had taken his post on a hummock of sand and lay

couched on his haunches, with his tail lashing his sides angrily, like a

great cat about to make his spring.

The horsemen circled round him, dashing up to within five-and-twenty

yards, discharging their arrows, and then wheeling away. Each time the

lion was struck he uttered a sharp, angry growl, and made a spring in

the direction of the horsemen, and then fell back to his post.

One of the soldiers, thinking that the lion was now nearly crippled,

ventured to ride somewhat closer; he discharged his arrow, but before he

could wheel his horse the lion with two tremendous springs was upon him.

A single blow of his paw brought the horse to the ground. Then the lion

seized the soldier by the shoulder, shook him as a cat would a mouse,

and throwing him on the sand lay with his paw across him. At this moment

Malchus galloped past at full speed, his bow drawn to the arrow head and

fixed. The arrow struck the lion just behind its shoulder. The fierce

beast, which was in the act of rising, sank down quietly again; its

majestic head drooped between its forepaws on to the body of the Nubian,

and there it lay as if overtaken with a sudden sleep. Two more arrows

were fired into it, but there was no movement.

"The brave beast is dead," Malchus said. "Here is the arrow with which I

slew it."

"It was well done, Malchus, and the hide is yours. Let us set off after

the others."

But the stand which the lion had made had been sufficiently long to

enable the rest of the troop to escape. Leaving two or three of their

comrades to remove the body of the soldier, the horsemen scattered in

various directions; but although they rode far over the plain, they

could see no signs of the troop they had pursued.

After a time they gave up the pursuit and rode back towards the camp.

When they reached it they found that another troop of lions, eight in

number, had approached the other grove, where two had been killed by the

party commanded by Adherbal and Giscon, and the rest of the cavalry were

still in pursuit of the others. They presently returned, bringing in

four more skins; so that eight lions in all had fallen in the night's

work.

"Well, Malchus, what do you think of lion hunting?" Adherbal asked as

they gathered again in the general's tent.

"They are terrible beasts," Malchus said. "I had not thought that any

beast could make so tremendous a roar. Of course I have heard those

in captivity in Carthage, but it did not seem nearly so terrible as it

sounded here in the stillness of the desert."

"I own that it made my blood run cold," Adherbal said; "and their charge

is tremendous--they broke through the hedge of spears as if they had

been reeds. Three of our men were killed."

"Yes," Malchus agreed; "it seemed almost like a dream for a minute when

the great beast was among us. I felt very glad when he rolled over on to

his side."

"It is a dangerous way of hunting," Hamilcar said. "The chase on

horseback in the plains has its dangers, as we saw when that Numidian

was killed; but with proper care and skill it is a grand sport. But this

work on foot is too dangerous, and has cost the republic the loss of

five soldiers. Had I had nets with me I would have adopted the usual

plan of stretching one across the trees ten paces in front of us. This

breaks the lion's spring, he becomes entangled in its meshes, and can be

destroyed with but little danger. But no skill or address avails against

the charge of a wounded lion. But you are wounded, Giscon."

"It is a mere nothing," Giscon said.

"Nay," Hamilcar replied, "it is an ugly scratch, Giscon; he has laid

open your arm from the shoulder to the elbow as if it were by the cut of

a knife."

"It served me right for being too rash," Giscon said. "I thought he

was nearly dead, and approached with my sword to give him a finishing

thrust. When he struck viciously at me I sprang back, but one of his

claws caught my shoulder. A few inches nearer and he would have stripped

the flesh from my arm, and perhaps broken the limb and shoulder bone."

While he was speaking a slave was washing the wound, which he then

carefully bandaged up. A few minutes later the whole party lay down to

sleep. Malchus found it difficult to dose his eyes. His pulse was still

throbbing with excitement, and his mind was busy with the brief but

stirring scene of the conflict.

Two or three hours passed, and he felt drowsiness creeping over him,

when he heard a sudden challenge, followed instantly by a loud and

piercing yell from hundreds of throats. He sprang in an instant to his

feet, as did the other occupants of the tent.

"To arms!" Hamilcar cried; "the enemy are upon us."

Malchus caught up his shield and sword, threw his helmet on his head,

and rushed out of the tent with his father.

A tremendous din had succeeded the silence which had just before reigned

in the desert, and the yells of the barbarians rose high in the air,

answered by shouts and loud words of command from the soldiers in the

other grove. The elephants in their excitement were trumpeting loudly;

the horses stamped the ground; the draught cattle, terrified by the din,

strove to break away.

Large numbers of dark figures occupied the space some two hundred yards

wide between the groves. The general's guards, twenty in number,

had already sprung to their feet and stood to arms; the slaves and

attendants, panic stricken at the sudden attack, were giving vent to

screams and cries and were running about in confusion.

Hamilcar sternly ordered silence.

"Let each man," he said, "take a weapon of some kind and stand steady.

We are cut off from the main body and shall have to fight for our lives.

Do you," he said to the soldiers, "lay aside your spears and shoot

quickly among them. Fire fast. The great object is to conceal from them

the smallness of our number."

Moving round the little grove Hamilcar posted the slaves at short

distances apart, to give warning should the enemy be attempting an

attack upon the other sides, and then returned to the side facing the

other grove, where the soldiers were keeping up a steady fire at the

enemy.

The latter were at present concentrating their attention upon their

attack upon the main body. Their scouts on the hills during the previous

day had no doubt ascertained that the Carthaginian force was encamped

here, and the occupants of the smaller grove would fall easy victims

after they had dealt with the main body. The fight was raging furiously

here. The natives had crept up close before they were discovered by the

sentries, and with a fierce rush they had fallen upon the troops before

they had time to seize their arms and gather in order.

The fight raged hand to hand, bows twanged and arrows flew, the light

javelins were hurled at close quarters with deadly effect, the shrill

cries of the Numidians mingled with the deeper shouts of the Iberians

and the yells of the natives. Hamilcar stood for a minute irresolute.

"They are neglecting us," he said to Adherbal, "until they have finished

with the main body; we must go to their assistance. At present our men

are fighting without order or regularity. Unless their leaders are with

them they are lost, our presence will encourage and reanimate them.

Bring up the elephants quickly."

The three elephants were at once brought forward, their drivers mounted