350 
TO THE UAS1N GISHU [ch. xii 
but who rode foremost, was almost on him. He halted 
and turned under a low thorn-tree, and we galloped 
past him to the opposite side, to hold him until the 
spearmen could come. It was a sore temptation to 
shoot him ; but of course we could not break faith with 
our Nandi friends. W e were only some sixty yards 
from him, and we watched him with our rifles ready, 
lest he should charge either us or the first two or three 
spearmen, before their companions arrived. 
One by one the spearmen came up at a run, and 
gradually began to form a ring round him. Each, when 
he came near enough, crouched behind his shield, his 
spear in his right hand, his fierce, eager face peering 
over the shield rim. As man followed man, the lion 
rose to his feet. His mane bristled, his tail lashed, he 
held his head low, the upper lip now drooping over 
the jaws, now drawn up so as to show the gleam of the 
long fangs. He faced first one way and then another, 
and never ceased to utter his murderous grunting roars. 
It was a wild sight; the ring of spearmen, intent, silent, 
bent on blood, and in the centre the great man-killing 
beast, his thunderous wrath growing ever more 
dangerous. 
At last the tense ring was complete, and the spearmen 
rose and closed in. The lion looked quickly from side 
to side, saw where the line was thinnest, and charged at 
his topmost speed. The crowded moment began. With 
shields held steady, and quivering spears poised, the 
men in front braced themselves for the rush and the 
shock ; and from either hand the warriors sprang for¬ 
ward to take their foe in flank. Bounding ahead of 
his fellows, the leader reached throwing distance ; the 
long spear flickered and plunged ; as the lion felt the 
wound he half turned, and then flung himself on the 
