46 PEACE: LION HUNTING 



wonder after all if this old fellow is going to prove 

 immune to horse sickness ; he has never looked 

 better." At daylight next morning, however, 

 when I let him go to feed around the camp, for the 

 first time since we had had him Billy would not 

 start eating, and by the time we were ready to 

 move off camp, the old horse was puffing hard and 

 evidently had the sickness. Before we had gone 

 a quarter of a mile the poor old chap was too bad 

 to lead. I knew that he was such a crying and 

 whinnying old brute when left a moment alone, 

 or apart from the mules, that if he possibly could 

 he would follow of his own accord ; but when the 

 bridle was taken off him he lay down very sick. 

 Still, when he saw the wagon and mules gradually 

 leaving him, he got frightened at being left behind. 

 Three times he made a gallant effort on his own 

 to struggle up, the third time just succeeding. 

 Slowly and gamely the old horse came pottering 

 along after the wagon, but gradually fell behind 

 and was lost to sight, a grey dot in the dis- 

 tance. 



We only made a short stage of a few miles and 

 then camped, half hoping that the old grey would 

 come crawling into camp. In the afternoon boys 

 were sent back to report how old Billy was, and 

 when they found him he had already been dead 

 some hours. Lying right on the track, he had 

 followed as far as he could. That night we 

 heard the hyenas howling his requiem in the 

 distance. 



