It seems stupid not to have guessed what it all meant ; 

 yet the fact is that for the few remaining seconds I 

 was simply puzzled and fascinated by the behaviour 

 of the two sables. Then in the corner of my eye I 

 saw, away on my right, another red-brown thing come 

 into the open : it was Jock, casting about with nose 

 to ground for my trail which he had over-run at the 

 point where I had turned back near the deadwood 

 on the other side of the rocks. 



What happened then was a matter of a second or 

 two. As I turned to look at him he raised his head, 

 bristled up all over, and made one jump forward ; 

 then a long low yellowish thing moved in the unbeaten 

 grass in front of the sable cow, raised its head sharply, 

 and looked full into my eyes ; and before I could 

 move a finger it shot away in one streak-like 

 bound. A wild shot at the lioness, as I jumped up 

 full height ; a shout at Jock to come back ; a scramble 

 of black and brown on my left ; and it was all over : 

 I was standing in the open ground, breathless with 

 excitement, and Jock, a few yards off, with hind-legs 

 crouched ready for a dash, looking back at me for leave 

 to go ! 



The spoor told the tale : there was the outer circle 

 made by the lioness in the grass, broken in 

 places where she had feinted to rush 

 in and stopped before the 

 lowered horns ; and inside 

 this there was the smaller 

 circle, a tangle of trampled 

 grass and spoor, where the 



434 



