heap under
the shade of a small mimosa tree which grew not more than ten paces from
the skerm.

"'Well, what is it?' I whispered; 'I can see nothing.'

"'It is another lion,' he answered.

"'Nonsense! thy heart is dead with fear, thou seest double;' and I bent
forward over the edge of the surrounding fence, and stared at the heap.

"Even as I said the words, the dark mass rose and stalked out into the
moonlight. It was a magnificent, black-maned lion, one of the largest
I had ever seen. When he had gone two or three steps he caught sight of
me, halted, and stood there gazing straight towards us;--he was so close
that I could see the firelight reflected in his wicked, greenish eyes.

"'Shoot, shoot!' said Mashune. 'The devil is coming--he is going to
spring!'

"I raised the rifle, and got the bit of paper on the foresight, straight
on to a little path of white hair just where the throat is set into
the chest and shoulders. As I did so, the lion glanced back over his
shoulder, as, according to my experience, a lion nearly always does
before he springs. Then he dropped his body a little, and I saw his big
paws spread out upon the ground as he put his weight on them to gather
purchase. In haste I pressed the trigger of the Martini, and not a
moment too soon; for, as I did so, he was in the act of springing. The
report of the rifle rang out sharp and clear on the intense silence of
the night, and in another second the great brute had landed on his
head within four feet of us, and rolling over and over towards us,
was sending the bushes which composed our little fence flying with
convulsive strokes of his great paws. We sprang out of the other side of
the 'skerm,' and he rolled on to it and into it and then right through
the fire. Next he raised himself and sat upon his haunches like a great
dog, and began to roar. Heavens! how he roared! I never heard anything
like it before or since. He kept filling his lungs with air, and then
emitting it in the most heart-shaking volumes of sound. Suddenly, in the
middle of one of the loudest roars, he rolled over on to his side and
lay still, and I knew that he was dead. A lion generally dies upon his
side.

"With a sigh of relief I looked up towards his mate upon the ant-heap.
She was standing there apparently petrified with astonishment, looking
over her shoulder, and lashing her tail; but to our intense joy, when
the dying beast ceased roaring, she turned, and, with one enorm