ned the lion, for it at once jumped off into the
bush.

"All four askaris then came forward and lifted my husband back on to
the bed. He was quite dead. We had hardly got back into the tent before
the lion returned and prowled about in front of the door, showing every
intention of springing in to recover his prey. The askaris fired at
him, but did no damage beyond frightening him away again for a moment
or two. He soon came back and continued to walk round the tent until
daylight, growling and purring, and it was only by firing through the
tent every now and then that we kept him out. At daybreak he
disappeared and I had my husband's body carried here, while I followed
with the children until I met you."

Such was Mrs. O'Hara's pitiful story. The only comfort we could give
her was to assure her that her husband had died instantly and without
pain; for while she had been resting Dr. Rose had made a post-mortem
examination of the body and had come to this conclusion. He found that
O'Hara had evidently been lying on his back at the time, and that the
lion, seizing his head in its mouth, had closed its long tusks through
his temples until they met again in the brain. We buried him before
nightfall in a peaceful spot close by, the doctor reading the funeral
service, while I assisted in lowering the rude coffin into the grave.
It was the saddest scene imaginable. The weeping widow, the wondering
faces of the children, the gathering gloom of the closing evening, the
dusky forms of a few natives who had gathered round--all combined to
make a most striking and solemn ending to a very terrible tragedy of
real life.

I am glad to say that within a few weeks' time the lion that was
responsible for this tragedy was killed by a poisoned arrow, shot from
a tree top by one of the Wa Taita.

CHAPTER XVII

AN INFURIATED RHINO

My work at Tsavo was finished in March, 1899, when I received
instructions to proceed to railhead and take charge of a section of the
work there. For many reasons I was sorry to say good-bye to Tsavo,
where I had spent an eventful year; but all the same I was very glad to
be given this new post, as I knew that there would be a great deal of
interesting work to be done and a constant change of camp and scene, as
the line progressed onward to the interior. In good spirits, therefore,
I set out for my new headquarters on March 28. By this time railhead
had reached a place called Machakos Road, some two