94 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



the ducks, seven of which I bagged in as- many 



minutes, 



After a hearty supper of beef and potatoes 



washed down with grog, we wished the colonel 



good-night, and prepared to turn in; but we 

 had hardly finished our cigars, when he 

 rushed into the hut in a great state of excite- 

 ment, flourishing the stock of a revolver over 

 his head. He was followed by the two girls, 

 who were crying bitterly ; from what we could 

 gather it appeared that on the way to their 

 sleeping hut they had met a man with whom 

 the colonel was on bad terms ; this ruffian had 

 expressed his intention of killing his master the 

 first opportunity. The colonel seeing the man 

 approaching him with a knife in his hand, 

 wisely took the initiative and broke his revolver 

 over his head. This blow caused the six barrels 

 to explode simultaneously, and the man fell, as 

 they supposed, dead. It was difficult to make 

 head or tail of the story, as the two girls were 

 screaming in Spanish, and the colonel swearing 

 in broken English ; but as far as we could make 



