He Answered
Simply That Where I Went, There Would He Go
Also; And Right Well He Kept His Word.
I watched the lion carefully out of the corner
of my eye as we closed in.
Every now and
then he would disappear from view for a moment;
and it was a fascinating sight to see how he
slowly raised his massive head above the top of
the grass again and gazed calmly and steadily
at us as we neared him. Unfortunately I could
not distinguish the outline of his body, hidden
as it was in the grassy thicket. I therefore
circled cautiously round in order to see if the
cover was sufficiently thin at the back to make
a shoulder shot possible; but as we moved, the
lion also twisted round and so always kept his
head full on us. When I had described a
half-circle, I found that the grass was no thinner
and that my chances of a shot had not improved.
We were now within seventy yards of the
lion, who appeared to take the greater interest
in us the closer we approached. He had lost
the sleepy look with which he had at first
regarded us, and was now fully on the alert;
but still he did not give me the impression
that he meant to charge, and no doubt if we
had not provoked him, he would have allowed
us to depart in peace. I, however, was bent on
war, in spite of the risk which one must always
run by attacking a lion at such close quarters
on an open plain as flat as the palm of the hand;
so in a standing position I took careful aim at
his head, and fired.
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