162 TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 



diately around the pachyderm, but a thick belt of 

 khansa and mimosa jungle lay to our left and the 

 country behind us was fairly thick. 



All this unexpected treat was joy untold to Cecily, I 

 suppose ; it was absolute horror to me. If she could 

 have had the affair all to herself it wouldn't have 

 mattered, but how are you to know which hunter the 

 rhino may select to chase ? His sight is so poor, his 

 charge goes this way or that, and has, in my experi- 

 ence, next to nothing to do with the way of the wind ; 

 and all this makes it quite impossible to reduce the 

 possibilities of his onslaught to a mathematical calcu- 

 lation beforehand. Another moment and the huge 

 animal was rushing straight at my poor bit of thorn 

 bush, a mere broken reed of a shelter. What was I to 

 do ? Anger the brute with a useless frontal shot, or 

 fly on the wings of terror ? The wings of terror had 

 it. I abandoned my untenable position, and gained 

 another very little better. I let the rhino have the 

 right barrel just as I installed myself, and looked 

 for Cecily to finish the affair. She was doing a 

 scientific stalk on the flank. 



The rhino was now spinning about and knocking 

 up the dust in clouds. I played Brer Rabbit and "lay 

 low." I saw Cecily expose herself to the full view of 

 the wounded animal, and her 12-bore spoke. We were 

 spared another charge, thank goodness ; and as the 

 dust subsided I saw the rhino ambling quickly towards 

 the thick cover, blood pouring from its shoulder. We 

 followed, discreetly, I assure you, as far as Fm con- 

 cerned, on the blood trail until we reached the fringe 



