A FEW BIG CATS 35 



but a leopard is not a small object when close 

 by, and it seems an extraordinary thing that 

 not a single shot should even have grazed 

 the animal. Of course the shooting roused 

 every one within earshot, especially the 

 leopard himself, who at once became wild 

 and fierce, although at first he had seemed 

 quiet and frightened as far as the watchman 

 could make out. 



He leaped to one place and then to another, 

 until no one knew where he was or what was 

 going to happen next. Men scuttled in all 

 directions to obtain any object of defence 

 they could get hold of, all the while wonder- 

 ing how on earth the animal could have got 

 out. 



The darkness doubled all the difficulties and 

 did not tend to lessen the nervousness of the 

 men, for, with its cat-like tread and its soft, 

 light spring, there was no telling where the 

 animal might be or whether it might not 

 jump on any one of them at any moment. 

 Fortunately, its white coat occasionally served 

 as some slight guide to its whereabouts and 



