Part 6 (2/2)

You yourself stride along hand free It is an English idea, and is pretty generally adopted out there by every one, of whatever nationality They will explain it to you by saying that in such a climate a unbearer will get a weapon into your hand so quickly and in so convenient a position that you will lose no tiunbearers are sometimes very skilful at this, but I do deny that there is no loss of ti a weapon, the necessity of recollecting the nervous correlations after the transfer, very often mark just the difference between a sure instinctive snapshot and a lost opportunity It reasons that the man with the rifle in his hand reacts instinctively, in one unbearer has the gun, HE must first react to pass it up, the master o on froan As for physical labour in the tropics: if a grown ht-pound rifle, he is too feeble to go out at all

In a long Western experience I have learned never to be separated from my weapon; and I believe the continuance of this habit in Africa savedourselves off our horses I, having est lion as he vanished It was a snap at nothing, and e a hundred yards away appeared one of the lionesses She was trotting slowly, and on her I had tih in the air, fell, rolled over, and was up and into the thicket before I had azine Meot in the way-the first and last time he ever made a ot hold of their weapons We fronted the blank face of the thicket

The wounded ani We made a wide circle to the other side of the stream There we quickly picked up the trail of the two uninjured beasts They had headed directly over the hill, where we speedily lost all trace of the pack of baboons in the only likely direction for a lion to go Being thus thrown back on a choice of a hundred other unlikely directions, we gave up that slim chance and returned to the thicket

This proved to be a very dense piece of cover Above the height of the waist the interlocking branches would absolutely prevent any progress, but by stooping loe could see di the simpler main stems to a distance of perhaps fifteen or twenty feet This combination at once afforded the wounded lioness plenty of cover in which to hide, plenty of rooe of a crouched or crawling attitude with lihly There was only one way to get that lioness out; and that was to go after her The job of going after her needed so fierce A flank attack, once ere in the thicket, was as e

We advanced to the thicket's edge with many precautions To our relief we found she had left us a definite trail B and I kneeling took up positions on either side, our rifles ready F and Siht or ten feet inside the thicket Then, having executed this manoeuvre safely, B moved up to protect our rear while I, with Memba Sasa, slid down to join F

From this point we moved forward alternately I would crouch, all alert, my rifle ready, while F slipped by anized for battle while I passed hilea at the rear B knelt outside the thicket, straining his eyes for the slightest movement either side of the line of our advance Often these wily animals will sneak back in a half circle to attack their pursuers froside B, peering eagerly The rest had quite properly retired to the safe distance where the horses stood

We progressed very, very slowly Every splash of light orhad to be exaain And hoe did strain our eyes in a vain attehts, the duskinesses of the closed-in thicket not over fifteen feet away! And then theinto our field of vision an entirely new set of tiny vistas and possible lurking places

Speaking for myself, I was keyed up to a tremendous tension I stared untildepended on seeing the beast proe of being able to see us, she would spring to battle fully prepared A yellow flash and a quick shot seemed about to size up that situation Every few moments, I remember, I surreptitiously held outexcite-continued strain had affected its steadiness

The co The sweat poured fro out on his face My tongue got dry, an to wonder whether physically I should be able to hold out We had been crawling, it seemed, for hours I dared not look back, but we ood quarter asped in a whisper

Soht that I was the only one Cautiously we settled back on our heels Memba Sasa and Simba wiped the sweat from their faces It seemed that they too had found the work severe That cheeredhis way backith the sinuousity of a snake, he disappeared in the direction from which we had co and for taking the risk But in atwo canteens of blessed water We took a drink lanced at my watch It was just under two hours since I had fired my shot I looked back My supposed quartera few ain took up our systematic advance We entle slope F was for the rowled; a deep rureat thunder roll, fathoms and fathoms deep, with the inner subterranean vibrations of a heavy train of cars passing aAt the sae yellow head rise up, the round eyes flashi+ng anger, the s The beast was not over twelve feet distant F i, ild With the uter of his double barrel

The cartridge snapped

”If you will kindly stoop down-” said I, in what I now reeratedly polite tone As F's head disappeared, I placed the little gold bead of ood, and pulled trigger She rolled over dead

The whole affair had begun and finished with unbelievable swiftness

Frorowl to the fatal shot I don't suppose four seconds elapsed, for our various actions had followed one another with the speed of the instinctive The lioness had growled at our approach, had raised her head to charge, and had received her deathblow before she had released her htened

We sat back for a second A brown hand reached over my shoulder

”Mizouri-mizouri sana!” cried Memba Sasa joyously I shook the hand

”Good business!” said F ”Congratulate you on your first lion”

We then remembered B, and shouted to hiled in to where ere lying He made this distance in about fifteen seconds It had taken us nearly an hour

We had the lioness dragged out into the open She was not an especially large beast, as compared to most of the others I killed later, but at that ti as they h, for she stood three feet two inches at the shoulder-ainst the wall-and was seven feet and six inches in length My first bullet had hit her leg, and the last had reached her heart

Every one shook unbearers squatted about the carcass, skilfully re that every few moments broke out into one or two bars of a chant As the body was uncovered, the men crouched about to cut off little pieces of fat These they rubbed on their foreheads and over their chests, to , like the lion