thus, has well earned the title of shikari-the Hunter.
And the last method of all is to trust to the God of Chance. The

secret of success is to be always ready to take instant advantage
of what the moment offers.

An occasionalhunting story is good in itself: and the following
will also serve to illustrate what I have just been saying.

We were after that prize, the greater kudu, and in his pursuit
had penetrated into some very rough country. Our hunting for the

time being was over broad bench, perhaps four or five miles wide,
below a range of mountains. The bench itself broke down in sheer

cliffs some fifteen hundred feet, but one did not appreciate that
fact unless he stood fairly on the edge of the precipice. To all

intents and purposes we were on a rolling grassy plain, with low
hills and cliffs, and a most beautiful little streamrunning down

it beneath fine trees.
Up to now our hunting had gained us little beside information:

that kudu had occasionally visited the region, that they had not
been there for a month, and that the direction of their departure

had been obscure. So we worked our way down the stream, trying
out the possibilities. Of other game there seemed to be a fair

supply: impalla, hartebeeste, zebra, eland, buffalo, wart-hog,
sing-sing, and giraffe we had seen. I had secured a wonderful

eland and a very fine impalla, and we had had a gorgeous
close-quarters fight with a cheetah.* Now C. had gone out, a

three weeks' journey, carrying to medical attendance a porter
injured in the cheetah fracas. Billy and I were continuing the

hunt alone.
*This animal quite disproved the assertion that cheetahs never

assume the aggressive. He charged repeatedly.
We had marched two hours, and were pitching camp under a single

tree near the edge of the bench. After seeing everything well
under way, I took the Springfield and crossed the stream, which

here ran in a deep canyon. My object was to see if I could get a
sing-sing that had bounded away at our approach. I did not bother

to take a gunbearer, because I did not expect to be gone five
minutes.

The canyon proved unexpectedly deep and rough, and the stream up
to my waist. When I had gained the top, I found grass growing

patchily from six inches to two feet high; and small, scrubby
trees from four to ten feet tall, spaced regularly, but very

scattered. These little trees hardly formed cover, but their
aggregation at sufficient distance limited the view.

The sing-sing had evidently found his way over the edge of the
bench. I turned to go back to camp. A duiker-a small grass

antelope-broke from a little patch of the taller grass, rushed,
head down headlong after their fashion, suddenly changed his

mind, and dashed back again. I stepped forward to see why he had
changed his mind-and ran into two lions!

They were about thirty yards away, and sat there on their
haunches, side by side, staring at me with expressionless yellow

eyes. I stared back. The Springfield is a good little gun, and
three times before I had been forced to shoot lions with it, but

my real "lion gun" with which I had done best work was the 405
Winchester. The Springfield is too light for such game. Also

there were two lions, very close. Also I was quite alone.
As the game stood, it hardly looked like my move; so I held still

and waited. Presently one yawned, they looked at each other,
turned quite leisurely, and began to move away at a walk.

This was a different matter. If I had fired while the two were
facing me, I should probably have had them both to deal with. But

now that their tails were turned toward me, I should very likely
have to do with only the one: at the crack of the rifle the other

would run the way he was headed. So I took a careful bead at the
lioness and let drive.

My aim was to cripple the pelvic bone, but, unfortunately, just
as I fired, the beast wriggled lithely sidewise to pass around a

tuft of grass, so that the bullet inflicted merely a slight flesh
wound on the rump. She whirled like a flash, and as she raised

her head high to locate me, I had time to wish that the
Springfield hit a trifle harder blow. Also I had time to throw

another cartridge in the barrel.
The moment she saw me she dropped her head and charged. She was

thoroughly angry and came very fast. I had just enough time to
steady the gold bead on her chest and to pull trigger.

At the shot, to my great relief, she turned bottom up, and I saw
her tail for an instant above the grass-an almost sure

indication of a bad hit. She thrashed around, and made a
tremendous hullabaloo of snarls and growls. I backed out slowly,

my rifle ready. It was no place for me, for the grass was over
knee high.

Once at a safe distance I blazed a tree with my hunting knife and
departed for camp, well pleased to be out of it. At camp I ate

lunch and had a smoke; then with Memba Sasa and Mavrouki returned
to the scene of trouble. I had now the 405 Winchester, a light

and handy weapon delivering a tremendous blow.
We found the place readily enough. My lioness had recovered from

the first shock and had gone. I was very glad I had gone first.
The trail was not very plain, but it could be followed a foot or

so at a time, with many faults and casts back. I walked a yard to
one side while the men followed the spoor. Owing to the abundance

of cover it was very nervous work, for the beast might be almost
anywhere, and would certainly charge. We tried to keep a neutral

zone around ourselves by tossing stones ahead of and on both
sides of our line of advance. My own position was not bad, for I

had the rifle ready in my hand, but the men were in danger. Of
course I was protecting them as well as I could, but there was

always a chance that the lioness might spring on them in such a
manner that I would be unable to use my weapon. Once I suggested

that as the work was dangerous, they could quit if they wanted
to.

"Hapana!" they both refused indignantly.
We had proceeded thus for half a mile when to our relief, right

ahead of us, sounded the commanding, rumbling half-roar,
half-growl of the lion at bay.

Instantly Memba Sasa and Mavrouki dropped back to me. We all
peered ahead. One of the boys made her out first, crouched under

a bush thirty-two yards away. Even as I raised the rifle she saw
us and charged. I caught her in the chest before she had come ten

feet. The heavy bullet stopped her dead. Then she recovered and
started forward slowly, very weak, but game to the last. Another

shot finished her.
The remarkable point of this incident was the action of the

little Springfield bullet. Evidently the very high velocity of
this bullet from its shock to the nervoussystem had delivered a

paralyzing blow sufficient to knock out the lioness for the time
being. Its damage to tissue, however, was slight. Inasmuch as the

initial shock did not cause immediate death, the lioness
recovered sufficiently to be able, two hours later, to take the

offensive. This point is of the greatest interest to the student
of ballistics; but it is curious to even the ordinary reader.

That is a very typical example of finding lions by sheer chance.
Generally a man is out looking for the smallest kind of game when

he runs up against them. Now happened to follow an equally
typical example of tracking.

The next day after the killing of the lioness Memba Sasa, Kongoni
and I dropped off the bench, and hunted greater kudu on a series

of terraces fifteen hundred feet below. All we found were two