I was about to `back out' or back in among the springboks, and make my way in some other direction, and had even got near the edge, when, in looking over my shoulder, I saw the lion suddenly halt and turn round.

I halted too, knowing that to be the safest plan; and, as I did so, I glanced back at the lion's eyes.
"To my relief, I saw they were not upon _me_.

He seemed to have taken some fancy in his head.

His appetite, perhaps, had returned; for the next moment he ran a few yards, and then, rising with a terrific bound, launched himself far into the herd, and came down right upon the back of one of the antelopes! The others sprang right and left, and a new space was soon opened around him.
"He was now nearer than ever to where I stood, and I could see him distinctly crouched over his victim.

His claws held its quivering body, and his long teeth grasped the poor creature by the neck.