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rolling and pealing down the dark paths of
the night. And at this point I interfered. Taking a careful sight at the
centre of his body, in order to give the largest possible margin for error, I
fired, and sent a .570 express bullet right through him, and down he dropped
dead upon the carcass of his mighty foe.
    “After that, fairly satisfied with our performances, we slept peaceably
till dawn, leaving Pharaoh to keep watch in case any more lions should take
it into their heads to come our way.
    “When the sun was well up we arose, and went very cautiously—at
least Pharaoh and I did, for I would not allow Harry to come—to see
if we could find any trace of the wounded lioness. She had ceased roaring
immediately upon the arrival of the two lions, and had not made a sound
since, from which we concluded that she was probably dead. I was armed with
my express, while Pharaoh, in whose hands a rifle was indeed a dangerous
weapon, to his companions, had an axe. On our way we stopped to look at the
two dead lions. They were magnificent animals, both of them, but their pelts
were entirely spoiled by the terrible mauling they had given to each other,
which was a sad pity.
    “In another minute we were following the blood spoor of the wounded
lioness into the bush, where she had taken refuge. This, I need hardly say,
we did with the utmost caution; indeed, I for one did not at all like the
job, and was only consoled by the reflection that it was necessary, and that
the bush was not thick. Well, we stood there, keeping as far from the trees
as possible, searching and looking about, but no lioness could we see, though
we saw plenty of blood.
    “‘She must have gone somewhere to die, Pharaoh,’ I said in Zulu.
    “‘Yes, Inkoos,’ he answered, ‘she has certainly gone away.’
    “Hardly were the words out of his mouth, when I heard a roar, and starting
round saw the lioness emerge from the very centre of a bush, in which she had
been curled up, just behind Pharaoh. Up she went on to her hind-legs, and as
she did so I noticed that one of her fore-paws was broken near the shoulder,
for it hung limply down. Up she went, towering right over Pharaoh’s head, as
she did so lifting her uninjured paw to strike him to the earth. And then,
before I could get my rifle round or do anything to avert the oncoming
catastrophe, the Zulu did a very brave and clever thing. Realizing his own
imminent danger, he bounded to one side, and swinging the heavy axe round his
head, brought it down right on to the back of the lioness, severing the
vertebræ and killing her instantaneously. It was wonderful to see her
collapse all in a heap like an empty sack.
    “‘My word, Pharaoh!’ I said, ‘that was well done, and none too soon.’
    “‘Yes,’ he answered, with a little laugh, ‘it was a good stroke, Inkoos.
Jim-Jim will sleep better now.’
    “Then, calling Harry to us, we examined the lioness. She was old, if one
might judge from her worn teeth, and not very large, but thickly made, and
must have possessed extraordinary vitality to have lived so long, shot as she
was; for, in addition to her broken shoulder, my express bullet had blown a
great hole in her middle that one might have put a fist into.
    “Well, that is the story of the death of poor Jim-Jim and how we avenged
it. It is rather interesting in its way, because of the fight between the two
lions, of which I never saw the like in all my experience, and I know
something of lions and their manners.”
    “And how did you get back to Pilgrim’s Rest?” I asked Hunter Quatermain
when he had finished his yarn.
    “Ah, we had a nice job with that,” he answered. “The second sick ox died,
and so did another, and we had to get on as best we could with three
harnessed unicorn fashion, while we pushed behind. We did about four miles a
day, and it took us nearly a month, during the last week of which we pretty
well starved.”
    “I notice,” I