“Huh!” ejaculated Fitz, waking with a start. “I heard something roaring—sounded like thunder,” the boy explained. “Where?” “I don’t know; I wasn’t wide enough awake to tell. There—there it goes again.” “That’s a lion out on the sands,” chuckled the goblin; “he’s coming for a drink. Now the fun’ll begin, Bob.” “And listen! What are those other sounds, Fitz?” “Jackals barking and hyenas howling. They’re all coming at once. There’ll be a circus when they gather at the spring.” The two aëronauts giggled and shrugged their shoulders, in nervous but delicious expectancy. The moon made the night almost as light as day; but soon great dark shapes and shadows were to be seen approaching the oasis, from various directions. The lion roared defiantly, the jackals barked snappishly and the hyenas howled dolefully. “I see the lion,” Bob whispered excitedly. “There! He’s just coming in among the trees. But what’s that other animal creeping along away out there in the bright moonlight?” “A leopard,” Fitz replied. “And that pack of little fellows are jackals?” “Yes.” “And those ugly scrawny ones are hyenas?” “Yes.” “Oh, my!” the boy exclaimed gleefully. “Talk about a circus, Fitz; _I_ call it a menagerie. This is a free show; and you and I have box seats.” Then thoughtfully, and with a little shiver, “And I’m mighty glad we have—and right above the ring. I—” He was interrupted by a roar that seemed to shake the slender fronds of the palm trees and rock the balloon. The lion was directly beneath them, smelling over the ground where they had been. The two small comrades cuddled close together upon the locker, held each other’s hands, and strained their eyes and ears to see and hear all that was going on. Presently the leopard, too, was among the trees and, like the lion, was nosing from one spot to another; and the jackals and hyenas had ranged themselves along the border of the little oasis, and were indulging in a discordant serenade. “Ugh!” the boy grunted in disgust. “Those cowardly things out there make me lonesome with their mournful sounds.” [Illustration] “Me, too,” the goblin admitted, nodding. Then he whispered sharply: “There—there, Bob. The lion’s going to the spring. See him in that patch of moonlight?” “Yes.” “And now he’s right at the edge of the water. See him—see him?” “Uh—huh. And there’s the leopard coming up on the other side.” The lion advanced majestically to the edge of the pool. He looked askance at his slender cousin, the leopard; and then he touched his nose to the clear water. Instantly he sprang backward, bristling, sneezing and shaking his head, in surprise and anger. The leopard looked on in wonder at her cousin’s strange behavior; and the lion glared fiercely at her. The two aëronauts hugged each other and laughed softly.