The hunter became the hunted; and
instead of either making off or coming for the
bait prepared for him, the lion began stealthily
to stalk me!
For about two hours he horrified
me by slowly creeping round and round my
crazy structure, gradually edging his way nearer
and nearer. Every moment I expected him to
rush it; and the staging had not been constructed
with an eye to such a possibility. If one of the
rather flimsy poles should break, or if the lion
could spring the twelve feet which separated me
from the ground . . . the thought was scarcely
a pleasant one. I began to feel distinctly
"creepy," and heartily repented my folly in having
placed myself in such a dangerous position. I
kept perfectly still, however, hardly daring even
to blink my eyes: but the long-continued strain
was telling on my nerves, and my feelings may
be better imagined than described when about
midnight suddenly something came flop and struck
me on the back of the head. For a moment I
was so terrified that I nearly fell off the plank, as
I thought that the lion had sprung on me from
behind. Regaining my senses in a second or two,
I realised that I had been hit by nothing more
formidable than an owl, which had doubtless
mistaken me for the branch of a tree - not a
very alarming thing to happen in ordinary circumstances,
I admit, but coming at the time it did,
it almost paralysed me.
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