In actuality, two marauding lions halted the construction of the railroad's bridge across the Tsavo River, terrorizing the builders' camps by night and day, dragging off unarmed workers with brazen cunning. The ruthless attitude of the build it at all costs British home-front administration denies the bridge builders any support troops, giving Lt. Col. John Patterson the unlucky duty of handling the pesky wildlife problem on his own. His support comes from a world-class big-game hunter named Remington, leading a constituency of Masai warriors and the standard major domo of all trades, Samuel, the local African liaison to everyone else in the area.