DANGEROUS POSITION. 
187 
ness in the use of fire-arms, I reckoned little upon 
the assistance I might derive from him in case of 
need. Good will was not, however, -wanting, and 
we advanced side by side to the rescue. 
6t Poor Woodhouse, I expected to find him dead, 
and I must say I thought it was a bad business as 
regards myself; for the brute, independent of the 
natural ferocity of his disposition, seemed to possess 
a charmed life, the shot not crippling him in the 
slightest degree. And let it not for a moment 
be supposed that the guns employed were light, or 
ill directed. All was right in these respects, as was 
fully shown in the sequel. 
“ There was dry grass of from one and a half to two 
feet in height, with scattered bushes at the spot where 
the accident occurred, and I did not know exactly 
where Woodhouse lay, but advancing, and looking 
earnestly around, I was delighted to hear his voice at 
my left, saying, c Come in the other direction,’ afraid, 
doubtless, that, from our relative positions, my shot 
might strike him. My attention was instantly drawn 
to the spot whence the voice came, and I saw at that 
moment the lion’s head rising just above the grass at 
twenty or twenty-five yards distance—he saluting me 
at the same time with one of his pleasant growls, 
and evidently coming on. There w^as no time for 
hesitation, and in spite of Woodhouse’s caution, I 
seized the opportunity, and with steady aim pulled 
the trigger that was most likely to decide his fate as 
well as my own. The result was instantaneous— 
the beast’s head dropped like a stone—he was in¬ 
deed stone dead, the ball having passed in between 
the eyes to the very brain. 
