y earth I scanned narrowly in
search of "pug," as hunting-men call the traces; but I could not make
out a single footprint. There were those of the baboons by the dozen,
and the hoof-tracks of horses, probably those of some of our men when
they made a circuit of the rocky hillock. Every hoof-mark was made by
horses going in the direction we were; but still no sign of a lion.

"Keep a sharp lookout," said the Sergeant softly; and I remember
thinking his words unnecessary, seeing that every one was keenly on the
alert.

"Seems to me a mare's-nest," said the Sergeant to me dryly, as he cocked
his eye and pointed down at the footprints.

"No," I said; "the baboons have got something below them on the other
side, or they wouldn't keep on like that. Ah! look out!"

"What can you see?" cried the Sergeant.

"Marks of blood on the ground here. The lion has caught one of the
baboons, I expect, and he's devouring it over yonder under where the
rest are dancing about and chattering."

"And enough to make them," said the Sergeant between his teeth. "Shoot
the beggar if you can, sir."

"I'll try," I replied; and Sandho advanced cautiously, with the cover
getting more dense, till, just as I was separated from the Sergeant by a
few big blocks of ironstone, from out of whose chinks grew plenty of
brushwood, Sandho stopped short, threw up his muzzle, and neighed.

"What is it, old fellow?" I said softly, as I debated whether I should
dismount so as to make sure of my shot. "There, go on."

The horse took two steps forward, and then stopped again.

"Here's something, Sergeant," I said. "Push on round the end of that
block and you'll see too."

"Lion?"

"No, no. Go on."

Sergeant Briggs pushed on, and uttered a loud ejaculation.

"One of the Boers' horses?" I said.

"One of the Boers, my lad," he cried. "Close in there."

The two men drew nearer, and the next minute we were all gazing down at
where one of the enemy's wounded horses had evidently pitched forward
upon its knees and thrown its wounded rider over its head to where he
lay, a couple of yards in advance, with a terrible gash across his
forehead, caused by falling upon a rough stone. But that was not the
cause of his death, for his jacket and shirt were torn open and a rough
bandage had slipped down from the upper part of his chest, where a
bullet-wound showed plainly enough that his lungs must have been
pierced, and that he had bled to death.

"P