when, after what seemed an eternity, none came, I fired 

 another. When you shoot in the excitement of the 

 chase the noise of the report does not strike you as 

 anything out of the way ; but a signal shot when 

 you are alone and lost seems to fill the world with 

 sound and to shake the earth itself. It has a most 

 chilling effect, and the feeling of loneliness becomes 

 acute as the echoes die away and still no answer 

 comes. 



Another short spell of tip-toe walking and intent 

 listening, and then it came to me that one shot as a 

 signal was useless ; I should have fired more and at 

 regular intervals, like minute-guns at sea. I felt in 

 my pocket : there were only four cartridges there 

 and one in the rifle ; there was night before me, with 

 the wolves and the lions ; there was the food for to- 

 morrow, and perhaps more than to-morrow ! There 

 could be no minute-guns : two shots were all that 

 could be spared, and I looked about for some high 

 and open ground where the sound would travel far 

 and wide. On ahead of us to the right the trees seemed 

 fewer and the light stronger ; and there I came upon 

 some rising ground bare of bush. It was not much for 

 my purpose, but it was higher than the rest and quite 

 open, and there were some rocks scattered about the 

 top. The same old feeling of mixed remembrance 

 and doubt came over me as we climbed it : it looked 

 familiar and yet different. Was it memory or imagina- 

 tion? 



But there was no time for wonderings. From the 

 biggest rock, which was only waist high, I fired off two 



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