pack suddenly pulled up in a bunch and stood panting, with their tongues
lolling out and the foam dripping from their jaws, for the wild dog does
not love to meet man, especially a white man, at least in daylight. As
the pack bunched themselves together, uncertain whether to continue
their advance or to retire, but evidently very strongly impelled by the
sight of the fallen zebra to do the former, it offered a target so
tempting that I was quite unable to resist it; and, leaping lightly from
the saddle, I ran forward a pace or two and, sinking upon one knee,
levelled my rifle and fired right into the thick of the bunch. The
range was only about four hundred yards, and while the sharp, whip-like
report of the piece was still echoing along the side of the range of
hills in front of me I heard the clap of the bullet, and, as the smoke
drifted away, saw that one dog was down, dead, while a second was
struggling feebly on the ground, and a third, with a broken leg, was
making the welkin ring with his howls of anguish.

At the flash and report of the piece some eight or ten of the dogs in
the rear of the pack wheeled sharply round, and, with their tails tucked
tightly between their legs, beat a hasty retreat along the back trail,
uttering sharp yelps of terror as they went; but the remainder of the
pack stood its ground, staring at us as though wondering what new kind
of animals we could be who had the power of slaying from a distance.
There was one big gaunt brute, however, apparently the leader of the
pack, who kept his flaming eyes fixed upon the zebras, and as the smoke
of the discharge cleared away I saw him slink out from the rest of the
pack in a crouching attitude, with bared fangs, as though meditating a
dash at the gasping mare.

"The gun--quick!" I ejaculated to Piet, who retained his saddle and sat
motionless as a statue, watching intently; and at the word he held out
to me the loaded elephant gun, and received from me the empty rifle in
its stead. A moment later the heavy piece roared out its death message,
and the big brute who had separated himself from the rest of the pack
sprang with a convulsive twist into the air and fell stone-dead.

"Now," said I, as I sprang into the saddle, "unclip one of your
stirrups, Piet, and we will see if we cannot beat off the brutes with
our stirrup irons!" And as I spoke the words we urged our horses to a
gallop, unclipping our off-side stirrups as we went, and charged