CH. VI] A CRITICAL MOMENT 139 
fired. She plunged forward at the shot and turned 
toward the swamp, going slowly and dead lame, for my 
bullet had struck the shoulder and had gone into the 
cavity of the chest. But at this moment our attention 
was distracted from the wounded cow by the conduct 
of the herd, which, headed by the wounded bulls, turned 
in a quarter-circle toward us, and drew up in a phalanx 
facing us with outstretched heads. It vras not a nice 
country in which to be charged by the herd, and for a 
moment things trembled in the balance. There was a 
perceptible motion of uneasiness among some of our 
followers. 44 Stand steady ! Don’t run !” I called out. 
44 And don’t shoot!” called out Cuninghame, for to do 
either would invite a charge. A few seconds passed, 
and then the unwounded mass of the herd resumed 
their flight, and after a little hesitation the wounded 
bulls followed. We now turned our attention to the 
wounded cow, which was close to the papyrus. She 
went down to our shots, but the reeds and marsh-grass 
were above our heads when we drew close to the swamp. 
Once again Heatley went in with his white horse, as 
close as it was even reasonably safe, with the hope 
either of seeing the cow, or of getting her to charge 
him and so give us a fair chance at her. But nothing 
happened, and we loosed the two dogs. They took up 
the trail and went some little distance into the papyrus, 
where we heard them give tongue, and immediately 
afterward there came the angry grunt of the wounded 
buffalo. It had risen and gone off thirty yards into the 
papyrus, although mortally wounded—the frothy blood 
from the lungs was actually coming out of my first 
bullet-hole. Its anger now made it foolish, and it 
followed the dogs to the edge of the papyrus. Here 
we caught a glimpse of it. Down it went to our shots, 
