280 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



occasions it will push its way into the most obvious trap 

 with boldness or an utter lack of precaution. This very 

 brute had as yet got the better of all my plans for his 

 destruction, and it might thereby be inferred that he was 

 one of the peculiarly wide-awake kind. It was therefore 

 with considerable surprise that I found my goat very 

 shortly heralding the approach of the enemy in his un- 

 mistakable way. The little creature uttered one of those 

 caprine snorts or abrupt sneezes common to his kind, and 

 staring fixedly down the gloomy glade, began to stamp an 

 impatient forefoot, with sudden sharp head-bobbings of 

 apprehension. 



In a very few moments a stealthy object of an indistinct 

 greyish hue took shape from the surrounding obscurity 

 and seated itself, with its whitish chest making a faint 

 luminosity against an inky background. It was about 

 thirty yards distant too far for the charge of slugs which 

 is the best load for such night work and for a long time 

 it sat there without further movement. Screened as I was, 

 with but a small irregular hole in my leafy shelter through 

 which to make my observations, there was no difficulty in 

 slowly raising the binoculars to examine the animal at 

 closer quarters. It was a large panther, of the cattle- 

 killing sort, that sat demurely there, and it seemed that 

 his large green expressionless eyes were turned not on the 

 unfortunate bait, but rather towards the foot of the tree in 

 which I awaited his approach. 



Suddenly, as I gazed hard through the lenses, the brute's 

 outline shifted and enlarged; he was coming a little 

 nearer ! 



The charge of nine large buckshot which I always used 

 on such occasions is apt to scatter considerably at any 

 distance over fifteen yards, and it is always better to wait 

 until one can be certain of placing the entire charge full on 

 the spotted coat of the treacherous cat ; the best results 

 being obtained when the slugs, fired from a rifled ball-gun, 



