orward inch by inch and, taking his time about it, settled himself
comfortably for the shot. It was no easy shot in that uncertain light
at a downward angle. The glare of the sun on the lake had troubled his
eyes during the last few days. The shimmer of the moonlight was
deceptive now. I wished he would pass the rifle to Will, or even to
Brown of Lumbwa, who was digging his fingers into the earth beside me
in almost uncontrollable excitement. But Fred was unperturbed, and the
chief, who was nervous enough to detect the slightest sign of
nervousness in Fred, did not seem to mistrust him for one second.

Three times I saw Fred breathe deeply, as if about to squeeze the
trigger, but each time he was only "makkin' sikkar," and eased his
lungs again. The target a hippo offers to a Mauser rifle bullet is not
much more than half the size of a man's hand, including only the ear
and eye and the narrow space between them. By daylight at a hundred
yards that is nothing for a cool shot to complain about, but in
half-moonlight, at that angle, it is none too much. I swore silently,
wishing again and again that Fred would pass the rifle to Will, or to
Brown--or to me! Yet if he had passed it to me I should have trembled
worse than any one.

Visions began to haunt me of what would happen if Fred should miss!
What would the effect be on wild folk tortured by hunger and keyed to
the pitch of frenzy by suspense? Then, even while we watched, another
problem added itself. Over on the water there began to come a wind,
driving ripples and little waves in front of it. The moment those came
near the hippo he would vanish from view, for they only care for
moonlight when they can see it mirrored on a perfectly still surface.

I cursed Fred between set teeth, almost loud enough for him to hear me;
for the hippo did move. His head was a foot nearer water-level; he
had seen or heard something that alarmed him. He was in the act of
sinking under water when Fred made sure of the sights at last and the
rifle spoke, ringing out into the still night like the crack of
Judgment Day, more startling because we had waited so long for it in
such suspense.

Instantly the amazing happened. A yell burst out behind us that split
the night apart. Where stilly blackness had been, now four or five
hundred crazy shadows leaped and danced, murdering the silence with
marrow-curdling noises intended to express joy.

Out on the water the stricken hipp