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The Land of Footprints-Part12_Stewart Edward White(1873-1946)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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out; and that was to go after her. The job of going after her

needed some planning. The lion is cunning and exceedingfierce. A



flank attack, once we were in the thicket, was as much to be

expected as a frontal charge.



We advanced to the thicket's edge with many precautions. To our

relief we found she had left us a definite trail. B. and I



kneeling took up positions on either side, our rifles ready. F.

and Simba crawled by inches eight or ten feet inside the thicket.



Then, having executed this manoeuvresafely, B. moved up to

protect our rear while I, with Memba Sasa, slid down to join F.



>From this point we moved forward alternately. I would crouch, all

alert, my rifle ready, while F. slipped by me and a few feet



ahead. Then he get organized for battle while I passed him. Memba

Sasa and Simba, game as badgers, their fine eyes gleaming with



excitement, their faces shining, crept along at the rear. B. knelt

outside the thicket, straining his eyes for the slightest



movement either side of the line of our advance. Often these wily

animals will sneak back in a half circle to attack their pursuers



from behind. Two or three of the bolder porters crouched

alongside B., peering eagerly. The rest had quite properly



retired to the safe distance where the horses stood.

We progressed very, very slowly. Every splash of light or mottled



shadow, every clump of bush stems, every fallen log had to be

examined, and then examined again. And how we did strain our eyes



in a vain attempt to penetrate the half lights, the duskinesses

of the closed-in thicket not over fifteen feet away! And then the



movement forward of two feet would bring into our field of vision

an entirely new set of tiny vistas and possible lurking places.



Speaking for myself, I was keyed up to a tremendoustension. I

stared until my eyes ached; every muscle and nerve was taut.



Everything depended on seeing the beast promptly, and firing

quickly. With the manifestadvantage of being able to see us, she



would spring to battle fully prepared. A yellow flash and a quick

shot seemed about to size up that situation. Every few moments, I



remember, I surreptitiously held out my hand to see if the

constantly growing excitement and the long-continued strain had



affected its steadiness.

The combination of heat and nervousstrain was very exhausting.



The sweat poured from me; and as F. passed me I saw the great

drops standing out on his face. My tongue got dry, my breath came



laboriously. Finally I began to wonder whether physically I

should be able to hold out. We had been crawling, it seemed, for



hours. I dared not look back, but we must have come a good

quarter mile. Finally F. stopped.



"I'm all in for water," he gasped in a whisper.

Somehow that confession made me feel a lot better. I had thought



that I was the only one. Cautiously we settled back on our heels.

Memba Sasa and Simba wiped the sweat from their faces. It seemed



that they too had found the work severe. That cheered me up still

more.



Simba grinned at us, and, worming his way backward with the

sinuousity of a snake, he disappeared in the direction from which



we had come. F. cursed after him in a whisper both for departing

and for taking the risk. But in a moment he had returned carrying



two canteens of blessed water. We took a drink most gratefully.

I glanced at my watch. It was just under two hours since I had



fired my shot. I looked back. My supposed quarter mile had shrunk

to not over fifty feet!



After resting a few moments longer, we again took up our

systematic advance. We made perhaps another fifty feet. We were



ascending a very gentle slope. F. was for the moment ahead. Right

before us the lion growled; a deep rumbling like the end of a



great thunder roll, fathoms and fathoms deep, with the inner

subterranean vibrations of a heavy train of cars passing a man



inside a sealed building. At the same moment over F.'s shoulder I




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