MY FIRST LION 57 



The boys came rushing up to congratulate 

 me, for it had been a close call. The Masai 

 herdboy danced about the lioness in great glee, 

 shouting, gesticulating, and rehearsing the inci- 

 dents of the exciting event. 



As night was fast coming on and it would 

 soon be too dark to shoot, we lost no time in 

 examining our prize, but made off at once for 

 another thorn-tree beneath which the Masai 

 thought the lioness' mate had hidden. We 

 found the lair where the lion had spent the day, 

 but the beast must have been disturbed by my 

 shots for he had made his escape. 



When we skinned the lioness we discovered 

 that all four of my shots had taken effect; the 

 three that I had fired when she was charging 

 were so close together on her chest that the 

 palm of my hand covered all three wounds. 

 One mushroom bullet had passed through her 

 heart and left the casing in it, yet she had had 

 the vitality to keep on. Then I knew what is 

 meant by the phrase, "the heart of a lion.'* 



It was now dark, and as we plodded along 

 toward camp under a full moon and the South- 

 ern Cross the boys chanted the victorious hunt- 

 ing-song. The Masai walked by my side, jab- 



