It happened that food was very scarce, and that the young cubs were
growing more and more hungry as the days went on.

Leo was a proud father, and the fine, sturdy cubs which belonged to
him were the admiration of all the other lions who had ever had the
privilege of seeing them. He would go through almost anything for
himself, but for his wife and cubs he cared not what he faced or what
he dared, so that he obtained what he wanted.

They had eaten up most of the young things which had been thriving on
the various farms, and there seemed to be nothing left but either a
sheep or a bullock. Being lazy, Leo did not care to carry either a
sheep or a bullock to his lair; he preferred something lighter.

And so it happened one evening that, as he made his way towards the
village--making up his mind that if there was nothing else he must
have a sheep--he suddenly came across the dead body of a little Kaffir
boy lying by the wayside.

The Kaffirs very seldom bury their dead, and so the mother had laid
her beloved one under a shady bank, and left him with a few leaves
strewn over him.

At first Leo hesitated. He had never tasted Kaffir, and he also knew
that it was a bad thing to eat. But he was very hungry himself, and
his wife and family were hungry, too; and the little Kaffir boy would
be light to carry.

After smelling and turning over the body, he decided first to taste it