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