sly through the grass, which they pushed
aside with the assegai and the muzzles of the rifles, till they saw, a
short distance off, the handle of an assegai sticking up.

"There him is," shouted Coffee; "my assegai!" And he seemed ready to
run forward and get it, but was checked by a sign from his father.

The young hunters raised their rifles to their shoulders, ready to fire
again, at the sight of the lion; but the staff of the assegai did not
even quiver; and, gaining confidence, the General went closer and parted
the grass, for his young companions to fire.

The next moment he had sprung forward, and shouted and waved his spear
above his head; for there, upon its side, lay the lion, quite dead, the
second within twenty-four hours.

"That was your shot, Dick," said Jack.

"No, no: yours," said Dick.

"No; I felt as if I didn't hit it far enough forward," cried Jack. "But
we'll soon see."

"Ah, yah, yah! Inyami, Inyami!" shouted Coffee and Chicory; and they
began to kick and bang the dead lion with their kiris, till their father
stopped them, and bade one of them go and fetch Peter or Dinny to come
and help to skin.

As it proved, there was a bullet right in the centre of the second
lion's forehead, and another in the shoulder, which ball Jack claimed,
so that Dick had, as he really deserved, the honour of shooting the
monster, and he gazed with no little pride at its tremendous
proportions.

But big as it was, it was a lioness, and slighter in build than the
tawny monster killed upon the previous evening, to which they now
turned, looking in awe at its huge claw-armed paws, and legs one mass of
muscle. There was something almost stupendous in the power that seemed
to be condensed in its short thick neck, and broad deep shoulders, for,
being one of the maneless kind every muscle of the neck, throat, and
shoulders could be plainly seen.

"Why, Jack, we should be like rats in the jaws of a cat if he took hold
of us," said Dick.

"More need to practise our shooting. Dicky, I shall always aim at their
eyes."

"I want to get back and tell father," said Dick. "Oh, look! here he
comes."

In effect, Mr Rogers, who had heard the firing, was coming on at a fast
run, in dread lest anything should be wrong; but a smile of satisfaction
appeared upon his face as he came up, and heard Dick's joyful cry,
"Father, I've shot a lion."

The skinning of the dangerous monsters was a tough job; but in the
Zulu's sk