Falkner Sewin, who had left me
to follow on and see the racket.

"Look out!" I roared. "Look out, Sewin! Run, man, for your life!"

If he had taken my warning in time, all would have been well; but for
some reason or other--I suspect cussedness--he did not. The cow, a red
one, with sharp needle-like horns, now thoroughly maddened by the riot
and the blood, and the sharp dig of more than one badly aimed spear, put
down her head, and charged straight for Falkner. I snatched an assegai
from a young Zulu who was standing by me watching the fun, and rushed
forward, and none too soon, for now Falkner was in full flight; the
savage animal, head lowered, and throwing the foam from her mouth, and
"twilling" hideously, was gaining upon him at the rate of two steps to
one. It was now or never. As she shot past me I let go the assegai.
It was a tense moment that--between when the long shaft left my hand and
half buried itself in the side of the cow. But the throw was a right
true one. The keen, tapering blade had bitten right into the heart, and
the maddened beast plunged heavily forward to lie in a moment, dead and
still, and at the sight a great roar of applause went up from the
excited savages, who while trooping back from their unsuccessful chase
had been delightedly watching this its termination.

CHAPTER SIX.

FURTHER FESTIVITY.

"Near thing that," I said.

"Near thing? By Jove, I believe you!" echoed Falkner, who had halted,
considerably out of wind and temper; the latter not improved by certain
scarcely smothered and half-averted laughs which escaped some of the
spectators. "Why I do believe the infernal sweeps are having the grin
of me," he added, scowling at them.

"We'll enter into the joke yourself, just as you would have done if it
had been some other fellow. That would have struck you as funny, eh?
and this strikes them. They don't mean anything by it."

"Oh well, I suppose not," he growled, and I felt relieved, for he was
quite capable of kicking up some silly row then and there, which would
have been unpleasant, if not worse.

"Let's go back," I suggested. "The noble savage engaged in the most
congenial occupation of his heart, that of butchery, is not seen at his
best."

"I should think not. Look at those fellows over there. Why they're
beginning on the stuff raw. Nasty beggars!"

"There are certain tit-bits they like that way, just as we do our snipe
and woodcock and teal--or sa