For about an hour I slept peacefully with my back to the
tree, and then woke suddenly with an uncanny feel-
ing that something was wrong. Mahina, however,
was on the alert, and had seen nothing;
and al-
thoughI looked carefully round us on all sides, I too
could discover nothing unusual. Only halfsatisfied,
I was about to lie back again, whenI fancied I saw something move a little way off among the low
bushes. On gazing intently at the spot for a few
seconds,I found I was not mistaken. It was the
man-eater, cautiously stalking us.

Chapter 9