120 WAR: A SCOUTS' PATROL 



killed near the Zambezi. John Home was an 

 experienced old hand, a transport rider and hunter, 

 a splendid shot, and a man who himself in his 

 time had killed not a few lions. Home was travel- 

 ling with his wagons at the time this happened, 

 and had just done a morning trek when he saw a 

 herd of hartebeeste close to the road. Telling 

 his boys to outspan the cattle, he started to walk 

 down towards the buck, two of which he presently 

 killed, the boys hearing the shots quite plainly 

 from the wagon. After shooting these two buck, 

 and when only perhaps a few hundred yards from 

 the wagon, he began to walk back towards them, 

 at the same time calling out for the boys to be 

 quick and come for the meat. The boys, having 

 let loose the last of the oxen, then hurried down 

 towards where they had heard his shouting. To 

 their horror, however, they almost ran into a big 

 lion dragging the body of their master towards a 

 bit of bush, stopping at times to lap up some of 

 his blood. They pluckily drove the lion off with 

 yells and sticks, and carried the body back to the 

 wagon, but Home was quite dead. 



What had evidently happened, judging from the 

 wounds, was that the great brute, lying hidden 

 and coolly watching while he shot the hartebeeste, 

 had, as Home walked back, deliberately and 

 silently, like a great shadow, stalked him, seizing 

 him from behind with one paw across the chest 

 and the other higher up, and thus had killed him 

 instantly with a single bite through the back of 



