alone in the water called to me with eager confidence, 

 " Come on, Baas." 



It had never occurred to me that any one would be 

 such an idiot as to go into water after a wounded 

 crocodile. There was no need to finish off this one, 

 for it was bound to die, and no one wanted the meat 

 or skin. Who, then, would be so mad as to think of 

 such a thing ? Five minutes earlier I would have 

 answered very confidently for myself ; but there are 

 times when one cannot afford to be sensible. There 

 was a world of unconscious irony in Jim's choice of 

 words " Come on ! " and " Baas ! " 



The boy giving the lead to his master was too 

 much for me ; and in I went ! 



I cannot say that there was much enjoyment in it 

 for the first few moments not until the excitement 

 took hold and all else was forgotten. The first thing 

 that struck me was that in the deep water my rifle 

 was worth no more than a walking-stick, and not 

 nearly as useful as an assegai ; but what drove this and 

 many other thoughts from my mind in a second was 

 the appearance of Jock on the stage and his sudden 

 jump into the leading place. 



In the first confusion he had passed unnoticed, pro- 

 bably at my heels as usual, but the instant I answered 

 Jim's challenge by jumping into the water he gave one 

 whimpering yelp of excitement and plunged in too ; and 

 in a few seconds he had outdistanced us all and was 

 leading straight for the crocodile. I shouted to him, 

 of course in vain he heard nothing ; and Jim and I 

 plunged and struggled along to head the dog off. 



387 



