fatal mistake of allowing the giraffe a good start, and to his great
surprise found he was losing ground.

But, lazy and indolent as the lion is, he can be energetic enough when
he chooses, and so the King of Beasts gathered himself together, put
forth his great strength and best speed, and very soon it was Gean who
was losing ground, while the lion was gaining steadily.

Quivering with terror, and with her strength failing her, poor Gean
began to feel hopeless. She could see the lion getting closer and
closer, but not a sound did she make, for the giraffe is absolutely
dumb, and makes no noise even when dying. On and on she went, trusting
to her strong limbs, making curious, frog-like leaps and awkward,
jumpy movements, her long neck rocking swiftly up and down as though
pulled by some mechanical contrivance, and her tail swishing faster
than ever.

She knew now she could not keep up much longer, and at last, realizing
she must give up the race, turned suddenly round and faced her enemy,
sending forth such a shower of strong, vigorous kicks that the lion
was not only surprised, but completely bewildered. He hesitated but a
moment, however, and then prepared to spring. Crouching down, with his
huge head close to the ground, he watched his opportunity, for he had
no relish for springing straight at those flourishing heels, and Gean
took very good care to keep her head carefully out of his way,
although she was quite prepared to give him a good blow with a
sidelong swing of her-muscular neck. But she knew perfectly well that
she could not keep this up more than another minute or two, and her
beautiful, brown eyes were distended with fear, and her breath came
thick and fast.