aard-vark flesh--and the blow was given.

Poor fellow! It did the job for him. With scarce a kick he dropped dead
in the opening he had scraped with his own claws.

Well--my day's adventures were not yet ended. They seemed as though they
were never to end. I had got the aard-vark over my shoulders, and was
about heading homeward, when, to my astonishment, I observed that the
bull-gnoo--not the one that had besieged me, but his late
antagonist--was still out upon the plain where I had last seen him! I
observed, moreover, that he was still in a sort of half-lying,
half-kneeling attitude, with his head close to the ground!

His odd movements seemed stranger than anything else. I fancied he had
been badly hurt by the other, and was not able to get away.

At first I was cautious about going near him--remembering my late narrow
escape--and I thought of giving him a wide berth, and leaving him alone.
Even though wounded, he might be strong enough to charge upon me; and my
empty gun, as I had already proved, would be but a poor weapon with
which to defend myself.

I hesitated about going near him; but curiosity grew strong within me,
as I watched his queer manoeuvres; until at length I walked up within a
dozen yards of where he was kneeling.

Fancy my surprise on discovering the cause of his oblique movements. No
hurt had he received of any kind--not even a scratch; but for all that,
he was as completely crippled as if he had lost his best pair of legs.

In a very singular manner was he rendered thus helpless. In his struggle
with the other bull, one of his fore-legs had, somehow or other, got
passed over his horn; and there it stuck--not only depriving him of the
use of the limb itself, but holding his head so close to the ground that
he was quite unable to stir from the spot!

At first I designed helping him out of his difficulty, and letting him
go. On second thoughts, I remembered the story of the husband-man and
the frozen snake, which quite changed my intention.

I next thought of killing him for venison; but having no bullet, I did
not like to beat him to death with my gun. Besides the aard-vark was my
load to camp, and I knew that the jackals would eat the bull up before
we could go back for him. I thought it probable he would be safer left
as he was--as these ravenous brutes, seeing him alive, might not so
readily approach him.

So I left him with his "head under his arm," in hopes that we may find
him ther