It was some time before Challis got an opportunity of explaining through John the object of his visit, of which Mogra had already given his version. On hearing his story, the chief refused to assist him. "What the white man asks is too hard a thing," he said. "How can I, with only eighty men of fighting age, expect to accomplish anything against a multitude of Tubus? They have guns, we have none; they have horses, we have none. It is too hard a thing." John expostulated, pleaded, at last threatened; and Challis, perceiving that his well-meant efforts only annoyed the old man and made him more obdurate, decided not to press the matter for the moment. It was something gained that the chief consented to shelter the strangers for the night. For safety's sake they brought the horses in. During the hours of darkness the lions could be heard roaring in the neighbourhood of the cave. At moments they seemed to be almost at the entrance, and the negroes shivered with terror lest the beasts should break in. They could not light a fire--usually, though not always, effectual in scaring away lions--for fear the glare should betray the position of the cave to the Tubus. It seemed that they had escaped human foes only to fall a prey to foes still more formidable. Challis passed a very uncomfortable night. The atmosphere of the cave was nauseating. The villagers, more than two hundred in number, had brought many of their cattle with them, and the place, large as it was, was overcrowded. The foul air, the roaring of the lions outside, the lowing of the cattle within, and his own worried thoughts, combined to banish sleep; and at the first sign of dawn Challis was glad to escape into the fresh air. He took his rifle, and left the cave, to think matters over in the cool freshness of the morning. It was a pity that, having found Mogra's tribe, he could not avail himself of the eighty fighting men of whom the chief had spoken. Yet he could not think of any argument, any inducement, that was likely to prevail over the old man's reluctance. Apparently, he must travel further in search of help. Walking along, lost in thought, he came upon a watercourse worn by a small stream in the rocky surface of the hillside. He was on the point of turning back, for walking was aimless except as an aid to thought. But suddenly his eye was caught by a slight movement behind a rock on the far side of the nullah, at this point about eight yards broad and six feet deep. The object which had attracted his notice was a moving patch of dusky brown. It had disappeared, but a moment later again rose into view. And then Challis was galvanised from meditation into a state of mind keenly practical, for the brownish patch resolved itself into the shaggy head of a lion. In another moment he perceived a lioness, standing behind and slightly lower than her mate. Both were watching him.