Lion 



unconscious of my presence. They were now 

 about two hundred yards away, so I kept on 

 more carefully than ever, having left my orderlies 

 a long way behind to minimize the danger of 

 being spotted by these watchful beasts. The 

 men had orders to sit on an ant-heap, of which 

 there were several dotting the plain, and watch 

 for my signals on hearing a shot fired. Closer 

 and closer I crept, by this time in a filthy grime 

 all over from the ashes of grass fires that strewed 

 the ground, till I reached the little bush, about as 

 large as a billiard table, that I had marked down 

 as my goal. Quietly and slowly I raised myself 

 to peer over it, and as quietly and slowly up got 

 another face to look at me ! 



I really don't know who was the more surprised 

 of the two, the lion or I ! I fancy he must have 

 been in two minds whether to attack me or not 

 — as he proved to be dreadfully thin — or else 

 he really hadn't quite decided what strange beast 

 it was advancing quietly upon him. 



At all events, off he galloped with a "wuff!" 

 I had just time to turn the safety-catch of my 

 Mannlicher on, get the sights aligned, and pull 

 the trigger, to see him upset behind a thick thorn 

 bush. I spied upon him from a safe distance and 

 saw he was hit in the neck, and so was as good as 

 done for, I therefore signalled to the orderlies 

 to advance with all speed. By the way, the roan 

 and tiang were nowhere to be seen from the 



143 



