TIGERLAND 



aim, and saw it fall, and' halting the elephant was about to 

 get off, when to my amazement it got up as I thought 

 and crept stealthily away through the grass to my right. 

 I brought up the rifle instantly and fired again but 

 thought I had missed, for though the beast spoke to the 

 shot, it went on. Following quickly, however, I soon came 

 upon it once more, lying under a bush, close to where I 

 had first seen it as I imagined and evidently hit, for no 

 sooner did it see the elephant approaching than it charged, 

 roaring savagely. 



For the next few minutes we had quite an exciting time 

 the beast charging again and again in spite of being hit 

 once or twice, till a lucky bullet through its head put an 

 end to the contest, which was one of the fiercest I have 

 ever had with a leopard. This time I waited a while to 

 make sure it was dead before dismounting to inspect and 

 measure my prize a process with most sportsmen next 

 in importance to securing it and parting the grass with 

 my rifle, was making my way towards the carcass when I 

 stumbled over what I took to be an ant-hill. 



Picking myself up, I examined the obstacle more 

 closely, to find, instead of an earthen mound, another 

 leopard lying dead ! The two bodies were within a yard 

 of each other, the one I had fallen over being evidently 

 that of the first I had fired at, for there was one bullet hole 

 only, in the back of its head, while the other, as I expected 

 to find, had several. 



But this was not the only surprise in store for me that 

 morning, for while I was examining these two bodies, I 

 heard the beating elephant which was now coming 

 towards me stop suddenly, begin to trumpet and squeal, 

 and a moment later the mahout shouting loudly that 

 there was another leopard lying dead in front of him ! 

 Scarcely crediting his statement, I rushed through the 

 grass to where the elephant was standing, and there, sure 

 enough, saw what I now guessed to be the leopard I had 

 seen fall, and such it proved to be, for the only shot hole 

 in the skin was one through the shoulder, at which I had 

 taken such very deliberate aim. 



The mystery was now fully explained. The first shot 

 I had fired which, by the way, was the luckiest fluke I 

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