A Tale Of Three Lions Read Online Free PDF Page B

air, and then over he rolled and lay still.
    “‘Great Heavens!’ I said, ‘why, you’ve hit him! He’s dead.’
    “As for Harry, he said nothing, but merely looked scared, as well he
might, for such a marvellous, I may say such an appalling and ghastly fluke
it has never been my lot to witness. A man, let alone a boy, might have fired
a thousand such shots without ever touching the object; which, mind you, was
springing and bounding over rocks quite five hundred yards away; and here
this lad—taking a snap shot, and merely allowing for speed and
elevation by instinct, for he did not put up his sights—had knocked
the bull over as dead as a door-nail. Well, I made no further remark, as the
occasion was too solemn for talking, but merely led the way to where the
koodoo had fallen. There he lay, beautiful and quite still; and there, high
up, about half-way down his neck, was a neat round hole. The bullet had
severed the spinal marrow, passing through the vertebræ and away on the
other side.
    “It was already evening when, having cut as much of the best meat as we
could carry from the bull, and tied a red handkerchief and some tufts of
grass to his spiral horns, which, by the way, must have been nearly five feet
in length, in the hope of keeping the jackals and aasvögels (vultures)
from him, we finally got back to camp, to find Pharaoh, who was getting
rather anxious at our absence, ready to greet us with the pleasing
intelligence that another ox was sick. But even this dreadful bit of
intelligence could not dash Harry’s spirits; the fact of the matter being,
incredible as it may appear, I do verily believe that in his heart of hearts
he set down the death of the koodoo to the credit of his own skill. Now,
though the lad was a pretty shot enough, this of course was ridiculous, and I
told him so plainly.
    “By the time that we had finished our supper of koodoo steaks (which would
have been better if the koodoo had been a little younger), it was time to get
ready for Jim-Jim’s murderess. Accordingly we determined again to expose the
unfortunate sick ox, that was now absolutely on its last legs, being indeed
scarcely able to stand. All the afternoon Pharaoh told us it had been walking
round and round in a circle as cattle in the last stage of redwater generally
do. Now it had come to a standstill, and was swaying to and fro with its head
hanging down. So we tied him up to the stump of the tree as on the previous
night, knowing that if the lioness did not kill him he would be dead by
morning. Indeed I was afraid that he would die at once, in which case he
would be of but little use as a bait, for the lion is a sportsmanlike animal,
and unless he is very hungry generally prefers to kill his own dinner, though
when that is once killed he will come back to it again and again.
    “Then we again went through our experience of the previous night, sitting
there hour after hour, till at last Harry fell fast asleep, and, though I am
accustomed to this sort of thing, even I could scarcely keep my eyes open.
Indeed I was just dropping off, when suddenly Pharaoh gave me a push.
    ”’ Listen! ‘ he whispered.
    “I was awake in a second, and listening with all my ears. From the clump
of bush to the right of the lightning-shattered stump to which the sick ox
was tied came a faint crackling noise. Presently it was repeated. Something
was moving there, faintly and quietly enough, but still moving perceptibly,
for in the intense stillness of the night any sound seemed loud.
    “I woke up Harry, who instantly said, ‘Where is she? where is she?’ and
began to point his rifle about in a fashion that was more dangerous to us and
the oxen than to any possible lioness.
    “‘Be quiet!’ I whispered, savagely; and as I did so, with a low and
hideous growl a flash of yellow light sped out of the clump of bush, past the
ox, and into the corresponding clump upon the other side. The poor