Jungle By-Ways in India 



fury, or so it seemed to me. I shall remember that 

 eye for a long time. So close was I that I 

 could see the blood trickling down over the hair 

 on the shoulder, and noted that the shot had 

 missed the heart. The other bullet had struck 

 him, but far too high up at the top of the shoulder. 

 Neither seemed to have affected the bull. 

 One felt as if one had been firing with a pea- 

 shooter at him, and I simply dared not risk that 

 last shot, though I had a beautiful bull's-eye to 

 aim at. To have another missfire would mean 

 a charge if the bison heard the click. And, any 

 way, it would have left me unloaded, and so was 

 not to be thought of. There was no doubt that 

 the bull was puzzled as his eye continually roved 

 about in search, and how he failed to spot me 

 is a thing I shall never satisfactorily decide. 

 The one and only factor in my favour was the fact 

 that, cordite being smokeless, there was no cloud 

 of smoke hanging about such as always followed a 

 shot with the old black powder cartridge. I 

 have little doubt that this saved me, as this bull 

 would undoubtedly have charged the smoke 

 had there been any such to betray the direction 

 of the foe. All sorts of thoughts flitted through 

 my mind as I crouched there, though, curiously 

 enough, fear was almost absent. I knew that I 

 was keeping my head and keeping quite cool, 

 and that my brain was actively at work looking 

 out for any opportunity for ameliorating my 



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