e same moment I heard the crack of a
rifle close to me; the next, a tremendous roar rent the air. I was
felled to the earth, and felt myself weighed down by a vast body, unable
to breathe or move. It was some time before I came to myself, when,
looking up, I saw my uncle kneeling by my side.

"The lion very nearly did for you, Fred," he said; "but cheer up, lad.
I don't think you're mortally hurt, though you've had a narrow squeak
for it. Had your gun not missed fire, you might have shot the lion
yourself. Here he lies, and there's the springbok."

While my uncle was talking, he was examining my hurts. The lion had
given me a fearful blow with his paw, and had injured one of my
shoulders. It was a wonder indeed that he did not kill me.

"We must get you to the camp somehow," said my uncle; "I cannot leave
you here while I bring the ox, so the sooner we set off the better."

Taking me up in his arms, he began to stagger on with me; but, though he
was a strong man, I was no slight weight, and he had great difficulty in
getting along. I asked him to let me walk, as I thought that I could do
so with his support. When I tried, however, I found that I could not
move one foot before the other. As we got within hail of the camp he
shouted to Jan to come and help him; and together they carried me along
the remainder of the distance.

"Now that we have you safe here, though I am unwilling to leave you, I
must go back and fetch the antelope, for we cannot do without food," he
said.

Telling Jan to collect materials for building a hut, as it was evident
that I should be unable to move for some time, and also charging him to
keep an eye on me, he started off.

I felt a great deal of pain, but I retained my senses, and tried to
divert my thoughts by watching Jan, who was busily employed in cutting
long sticks and branches for the hut.

It seemed to me that my uncle had been gone for more than an hour, and I
began to fear that some accident might have happened to him. Where
there was one lion it was probable that there were others, and they
might revenge themselves on the slayer of their relative.

Jan, however, kept working away as if satisfied that all was right, now
and then taking a look at me, and throwing a few sticks on the fire to
get it to burn brightly. He then began to prepare for roasting the
expected venison by placing some uprights, with cross pieces to serve as
spits, close to the fire.

"Hurrah!