THE LONG TRAIL 



elephant, the buffalo, and the rhinoceros. 

 It was the lion for which he was most keen 

 • — and which he also felt was the most 

 problematical. Luck was with us, and we 

 had not been hunting many days before 

 father's ambition was fulfilled. It was 

 something that he had long desired — 

 indeed it is the pinnacle of most hunters' 

 ambitions — so it was a happy cavalcade 

 that rode back to camp in the wake of the 

 natives that were carrying the lioness 

 slung on a long pole. The blacks were 

 chanting a native song of triumph, and 

 father was singing " Whack- fa-lal for 

 Lanning's Ball," as sort of "chant pagan." 

 Father was more fluent than exact in 

 expressing himself in foreign languages. 

 As he himself said of his French, he spoke 

 it "as if it were a non- Aryan tongue, 

 having neither gender nor tense." He 

 would, however, always manage to make 

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