"Good shot!" shouted Sir Reginald, from the open windows of the pilot-house, through which he had been watching the scene. "We had better drop to earth at once, if you wish to secure the skin. Vultures have a trick of appearing from nowhere in an incredibly short time, you know; and if we leave the skinning until we come back, there may be no skin left worth the taking." "Quite so; we must make sure of that skin at once, if we intend to have it at all. And we certainly must, for not only is it our first trophy this cruise, but it belongs to Ida by right of first discovery, and she must have it," answered Lethbridge, who had quickly developed a quite remarkable affection for the child. The _Flying Fish_ was accordingly brought to earth at once on a tolerably level spot quite close to the carcase of the leopard, and the five men quickly left the ship by way of what was known as the "diving-chamber," and the trap-door in the bottom of the craft, and forthwith proceeded to take the skin. It was found upon examination that the ex-colonel had made a really splendid shot, his bullet having struck the creature fair in the centre of the back of the skull, and passed out through the left eye. They were still engaged upon the work of removing the pelt when the roar of a lion reached their ears, the muffled sound seeming to suggest that the animal was at some distance--possibly as much as two miles--from them. In about half a minute the sound was repeated, and again about half a minute later, and so on, the sound coming to them pretty regularly at half-minute intervals. "Ach!" exclaimed the professor, presently, "I think I can guess what is happening. Now, if we are quick, we may be in time to witness a somewhat remarkable sight." "Yes," said Lethbridge, "I think I know to what you refer, Professor. I once saw it myself, and it certainly was, as you say, a very curious sight." "May we be allowed to know what this curious sight is of which you two gentlemen are speaking?" inquired the Russian. "Wait and see for yourself, Boris, my friend," exclaimed von Schalckenberg. "If you do not know what to expect, you will appreciate the sight all the more when you see it. There," as the last ligament was severed and the skin came away from the carcase, "that job is finished. Let us wash our hands and be off at once, or we may be too late." Five minutes later the _Flying Fish_ was again in the air, and heading at a twenty-knot speed in the direction from which the sound of roaring appeared to proceed, while several vultures had already mysteriously appeared high in the air above the carcase of the leopard, and were rapidly dropping down toward it.