

A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE. 27 



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splendid cock, but for the life of me I could not get 

 close to him. Still the bird was not so frightened 

 as not to feed, but kept walking up wind. I felt 

 certain he had neither seen, nor winded me, but if 

 ot frightened by me, what had alarmed him ? 

 omething, for ostriches are not in the habit of 

 being so restless unless there is reason for it. At a 

 bend in the kloof the bird disappeared, after taking 

 a cautious survey of the surroundings, which it did 

 so slowly and leisurely that I was about to make a 

 run forward with the hope of getting within easy 

 range, when, by the merest chance, I looked behind 

 me, and, to my surprise, well, I may say horror, I 

 saw that a large lion was not over seventy yards 

 behind me, and evidently stalking me as carefully as 

 I had been stalking the bird. 



" From childhood I had been brought up among 

 the wild beasts, and knew their ways as well as I 

 did those of my own people or my childhood's play- 

 fellows ; so I resolved to pretend not to be aware of 

 the presence of my pursuer, although its conduct 

 told me distinctly that it meditated mischief, and, 

 worse than all, I had only one charge of ammunition 

 remaining, and that but a very light one. 



" If I could have gained a tree I would certainly 

 have ascended it ; but none was near. To make a 

 run for it would certainly have brought the lion 

 upon me at once, so that was not to be thought of. 

 Thus, pretending that I was still in pursuit of some- 



