firing the reeds, which, as I think I told you, were pretty dry.Accordingly Tom took some matches and began starting little fires to theleft, and I did the same to the right. But the reeds were still greenat the bottom, and we should never have got them well alight had it notbeen for the wind, which grew stronger and stronger as the sun climbedhigher, and forced the fire into them. At last, after half-an-hour'strouble, the flames got a hold, and began to spread out like a fan,whereupon I went round to the further side of the pan to wait for thelions, standing well out in the open, as we stood at the copse to-daywhere you shot the woodcock. It was a rather risky thing to do, but Iused to be so sure of my shooting in those days that I did not somuch as mind the risk. Scarcely had I got round when I heard the reedsparting before the onward rush of some animal. 'Now for it,' said I. Onit came. I could see that it was yellow, and prepared for action, wheninstead of a lion out bounded a beautiful reit bok which had been lyingin the shelter of the pan. It must, by the way, have been a reit bok ofa peculiarly confiding nature to lay itself down with the lion, like thelamb of prophecy, but I suppose the reeds were thick, and that it kept along way off.
"Well, I let the reit bok go, and it went like the wind, and kept myeyes fixed upon the reeds. The fire was burning like a furnace now; theflames crackling and roaring as they bit into the reeds, sending spoutsof fire twenty feet and more into the air, and making the hot air danceabove it in a way that was perfectly dazzling. But the reeds werestill half green, and created an enormous quantity of smoke, which camerolling towards me like a curtain, lying very low on account of thewind. Presently, above the crackling of the fire, I heard a startledroar, then another and another. So the lions were at home.
"I was beginning to get excited now, for, as you fellows know, thereis nothing in experience to warm up your nerves like a lion at closequarters, unless it is a wounded buffalo; and I became still more sowhen I made out through the smoke that the lions were all moving abouton the extreme edge of the reeds. Occasionally they would pop theirheads out like rabbits from a burrow, and then, catching sight of mestanding about fifty yards away, draw them back again. I knew that itmust be getting pretty warm behind them, and that they could not keepthe game up for long; and I was not mistaken, for suddenly all four ofthem broke cover together, the old black-maned lion leading by a fewyards. I never saw a more splendid sight in all my hunting experiencethan those four lions bounding across the veldt, overshadowed by thedense pall of smoke and backed by the fiery furnace of the burningreeds.
"I reckoned that they would pass, on their way to the bushy kloof,within about five and twenty yards of me, so, taking a long breath, Igot my gun well on to the lion's shoulder--the black-maned one--so as toallow for an inch or two of motion, and catch him through the heart.I was on, dead on, and my finger was just beginning to tighten on thetrigger, when suddenly I went blind--a bit of reed-ash had drifted intomy right eye. I danced and rubbed, and succeeded in clearing it more orless just in time to see the tail of the last lion vanishing round thebushes up the kloof.
"If ever a man was mad I was that man. It was too bad; and such a shotin the open! However, I was not going to be beaten, so I just turned andmarched for the kloof. Tom, the driver, begged and implored me notto go, but though as a personal rule I never pretend to be very brave(which I am not), I was determined that I would either kill those lionsor they should kill me. So I told Tom that he need not come unless heliked, but I was going; and being a plucky fellow, a Swazi by birth,he shrugged his shoulders, muttered that I was mad or bewitched, andfollowed doggedly in my tracks.
"We soon reached the kloof, which was about three hundred yards inlength and but sparsely wooded, and then the real fun began. There mightbe a lion behind every bush--there certainly were four lions somewhere;the delicate question was, where. I peeped and poked and looked in everypossible direction, with my heart in my mouth, and was at last rewardedby catching a glimpse of something yellow moving behind a bush. At thesame moment, from another bush opposite me out burst one of the cubsand galloped back towards the burnt pan. I whipped round and let drive asnap shot that tipped him head over heels, breaking his back within twoinches of the root of the tail, and there he lay helpless but glaring.Tom afterwards killed him with his assegai. I opened the breech of thegun and hurriedly pulled out the old case, which, to judge from whatensued, must, I suppose, have burst and left a portion of its fabricsticking to the barrel. At any rate, when I tried to get in the newcartridge it would only enter half-way; and--would you believe it?--thiswas the moment that the lioness, attracted no doubt by the outcry of hercub, chose to put in an appearance. There she stood, twenty paces or sofrom me, lashing her tail and looking just as wicked as it is possibleto conceive. Slowly I stepped backwards, trying to push in the new case,and as I did so she moved on in little runs, dropping down after eachrun. The danger was imminent, and the case would not go in. At themoment I oddly enough thought of the cartridge maker, whose name I willnot mention, and earnestly hoped that if the lion got _me_ some condignpunishment would overtake _him_. It would not go in, so I tried to pullit out. It would not come out either, and my gun was useless if I couldnot shut it to use the other barrel. I might as well have had no gun.
"Meanwhile I was walking backward, keeping my eye on the lioness, whowas creeping forward on her belly without a sound, but lashing her tailand keeping her eye on me; and in it I saw that she was coming in afew seconds more. I dashed my wrist and the palm of my hand against thebrass rim of the cartridge till the blood poured from them--look, thereare the scars of it to this day!"
Here Quatermain held up his right hand to the light and showed us fouror five white cicatrices just where the wrist is set into the hand.
"But it was not of the slightest use," he went on; "the cartridge wouldnot move. I only hope that no other man will ever be put in such anawful position. The lioness gathered herself together, and I gave myselfup for lost, when suddenly Tom shouted out from somewhere in my rear--
"'You are walking on to the wounded cub; turn to the right.'
"I had the sense, dazed as I was, to take the hint, and slewing round atright-angles, but still keeping my eyes on the lioness, I continued mybackward walk.
"To my intense relief, with a low growl she straightened herself,turned, and bounded further up the kloof.
"'Come on, Inkoos,' said Tom, 'let's get back to the waggon.'
"'All right, Tom,' I answered. 'I will when I have killed those threeother lions,' for by this time I was bent on shooting them as I neverremember being bent on anything before or since. 'You can go if youlike, or you can get up a tree.'
"He considered the position a little, and then he very wisely got up atree. I wish that I had done the same.
"Meanwhile I had found my knife, which had an extractor in it, andsucceeded after some difficulty in pulling out the cartridge which hadso nearly been the cause of my death, and removing the obstruction inthe barrel. It was very little thicker than a postage-stamp; certainlynot thicker than a piece of writing-paper. This done, I loaded the gun,bound a handkerchief round my wrist and hand to staunch the flowing ofthe blood, and started on again.
"I had noticed that the lioness went into a thick green bush, or rathera cluster of bushes, growing near the water, about fifty yards higherup, for there was a little stream running down the kloof, and I walkedtowards this bush. When I got there, however, I could see nothing, so Itook up a big stone and threw it into the bushes. I believe that it hitthe other cub, for out it came with a rush, giving me a broadside shot,of which I promptly availed myself, knocking it over dead. Out, too,came the lioness like a flash of light, but quick as she went I managedto put the other bullet into her ribs, so that she rolled right overthree times like a shot rabbit. I instantly got two more cartridgesinto the gun, and as I did so the lioness rose again and came crawlingtowards me on her fore-paws, roaring and groaning, and with such anexpression of diabolical fury on her countenance as I have not oftenseen. I shot her again through the chest, and she fell
over on to herside quite dead.
"That was the first and last time that I ever killed a brace of lionsright and left, and, what is more, I never heard of anybody else doingit. Naturally I was considerably pleased with myself, and having againloaded up, I went on to look for the black-maned beauty who had killedKaptein. Slowly, and with the greatest care, I proceeded up the kloof,searching every bush and tuft of grass as I went. It was wonderfullyexciting work, for I never was sure from one moment to another but thathe would be on me. I took comfort, however, from the reflection that alion rarely attacks a man--rarely, I say; sometimes he does, as you willsee--unless he is cornered or wounded. I must have been nearly an hourhunting after that lion. Once I thought I saw something move in a clumpof tambouki grass, but I could not be sure, and when I trod out thegrass I could not find him.
"At last I worked up to the head of the kloof, which made a_cul-de-sac_. It was formed of a wall of rock about fifty feet high.Down this rock trickled a little waterfall, and in front of it, someseventy feet from its face, was a great piled-up mass of boulders, inthe crevices and on the top of which grew ferns, grasses, and stuntedbushes. This mass was about twenty-five feet high. The sides of thekloof here were also very steep. Well, I came to the top of the nullahand looked all round. No signs of the lion. Evidently I had eitheroverlooked him further down, or he had escaped right away. It was veryvexatious; but still three lions were not a bad bag for one gun beforedinner, and I was fain to be content. Accordingly I departed back again,making my way round the isolated pillar of boulders, beginning to feel,as I did so, that I was pretty well done up with excitement and fatigue,and should be more so before I had skinned those three lions. When I hadgot, as nearly as I could judge, about eighteen yards past the pillar ormass of boulders, I turned to have another look round. I have a prettysharp eye, but I could see nothing at all.
"Then, on a sudden, I saw something sufficiently alarming. On the topof the mass of boulders, opposite to me, standing out clear againstthe rocks beyond, was the huge black-maned lion. He had been crouchingthere, and now arose as though by magic. There he stood lashing histail, just like a living reproduction of the animal on the gateway ofNorthumberland House that I have seen in a picture. But he did not standlong. Before I could fire--before I could do more than get the gun to myshoulder--he sprang straight up and out from the rock, and driven by theimpetus of that one mighty bound came hurtling through the air towardsme.
"Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he flew,describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of hisspring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would clearthe whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost withoutaim, I fired, as one would fire a snap shot at a snipe. The bullet told,for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound caused by thepassage of the lion through the air. Next second I was swept to theground (luckily I fell into a low, creeper-clad bush, which broke theshock) and the lion was on the top of me, and the next those great whiteteeth of his had met in my thigh--I heard them grate against the bone. Iyelled out in agony, for I did not feel in the least benumbed and happy,like Dr. Livingstone--who, by the way, I knew very well--and gave myselfup for dead. But suddenly, as I did so, the lion's grip on my thighloosened, and he stood over me, swaying to and fro, his huge mouth, fromwhich the blood was gushing, wide open. Then he roared, and the soundshook the rocks.
"To and fro he swung, and suddenly the great head dropped on me,knocking all the breath from my body, and he was dead. My bullet hadentered in the centre of his chest and passed out on the right side ofthe spine about half-way down the back.
"The pain of my wound kept me from fainting, and as soon as I got mybreath I managed to drag myself from under him. Thank heavens, his greatteeth had not crushed my thigh-bone; but I was losing a great deal ofblood, and had it not been for the timely arrival of Tom, with whoseaid I loosed the handkerchief from my wrist and tied it round my leg,twisting it tight with a stick, I think that I should have bled todeath.
"Well, it was a just reward for my folly in trying to tackle a familyof lions single-handed. The odds were too long. I have been lame eversince, and shall be to my dying day; in the month of March the woundalways troubles me a great deal, and every three years it breaks outraw.
"I need scarcely add that I never traded the lot of ivory at Sikukuni's.Another man got it--a German--and made five hundred pounds out of itafter paying expenses. I spent the month on the broad of my back, andwas a cripple for six months after that. And now I've told you the yarn,so I will have a drop of Hollands and go to bed. Good-night to you all,good-night!"
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