safe, dashed down the open
slope toward the bottom of the canyon. At my first shot all eight of
the Chinese had leaped for the empty rifle shell and were rolling
about like a pack of dogs after a bone. One of them struck my leg
just as I fired the second time and the bullet went into the air; I
delivered a broadside of my choicest Chinese oaths and the man drew
off. I sent three shots after the fleeing sow, but she disappeared
unhurt.

One shell remained in my rifle, and I saw the other pig running like
a scared rabbit in the very bottom of the canyon. It was so far away
that I could barely see the animal through my sights, but when I
fired it turned a complete somersault and lay still; the bullet had
caught it squarely in the head.

Meanwhile, Smith was having a lively time with the old sow. He had
swung around a corner of rock just in time to meet the pig coming at
full speed from the other side not six yards away. He tried to check
himself, slipped, and sat down suddenly but managed to fire once,
breaking the animal's left foreleg. It disappeared into the brush
with Smith after it.

He began an intermittent bombardment which lasted half an hour.
_Bang_, _bang_, _bang_--then silence. _Bang_, _bang_,
_bang_--silence again. I wondered what it all meant and finally ran
down the bottom of the valley until I saw Smith opposite to me just
under the rim of the ravine. He was tearing madly through the brush
not far behind the sow. As the animal appeared for an instant on the
summit of a rise he dropped on one knee and fired twice. Then, I saw
him race over the hill, leaping the bushes like a roebuck. Once he
rolled ten feet into a mass of thorn scrub, but he was up again in
an instant, hurdling the brush and fallen logs, his eye on the pig.

It was screamingly funny and I was helpless with laughter. "Go it,
Smith," I yelled. "Run him down. Catch him in your hands." He had no
breath to waste in a reply, for just then he leaped a fallen log and
I saw the sow charge him viciously. The animal had been lying under
a tree, almost done, but still had life enough to damage Smith badly
if it had reached him. As the man landed on his feet, he fired again
at the pig which was almost on him. The bullet caught the brute in
the shoulder at the base of the neck and rolled it over, but it
struggled to its feet and ran uncertainly a few steps; then it
dropped in a little gully.

By the time I had begun to climb the bill Smith shouted