Now the earth is a conductor of sound and Henry was sure that he heard a soft tread.

He rose upon his elbow and gazed into the darkness.

There he beheld at last a dim form moving with sinuous motion, and slowly it took the shape of a great cat-like animal.

Then he saw just behind it another as large, and he knew that they were the two panthers whose cries he had heard.
Henry was not frightened, although there was something weird and uncanny in the spectacle of these two powerful beasts of prey, stealing about the fire, before which two unarmed boys reposed.

He knew, however, that they were drawn not by the desire to attack, but by a kind of terrified curiosity.