Thomas County cat., 1886-11-18

the leopard ge: off without having .
try for him. Can we?''
Eyes. there are the sepoys' rifles.
certainly" replied Castleton rather
doubtfully: '.but''-
| '.And / have got couple of spear,,"
l interrupted. ''Oh, do let us go at
once, before he is disturbed"
''Well-all right; we'll try it," said
Castleton. hesitatingly.
lost no time in running home and
changing into shooting costume.
Castleton sent his orderly off to the
lines for our weapons; and by the
time l had returned with the spears,
the orderly reappeared with couple
OF rifles and a packet of cartridges. So
q very short time saw us mounted on
our horses and following our guide out
to the little village of Goree.
IL am not very sure about the wis.,
dom of this business" said Castleton.
''Oh, it will be sll right" 1 replied.
I'VE must be careful not to fire until
we are pretty sure to kill-that's all. !"
Him, yes, suppose so.' assented
my comrade somewhat doubtfully.
As matter of fact, it was not an
overwise business. Our regiment was
armed in those days with the short two
grOoved Brunswick rifle, muZzle
loader. of course. and one in which the
bullet had to be hammered into the
muZzle with small wooden hammer
carried for the purpose. before it could
be rammed down with the ramrod.
This rendered the process of loading
SD dreadfully slow that practically it
would make it quite impossible for
either of US to get more than one
shot, and it is no cash matter to kill a
leopard with one bullet. however well
placed. If he were not killed, he would
be pretty certain to charge, and we
should be in an awkward plight
Matters did not look much more en-
cOuraging when we reached GOrce.
The khuJber was good enough; there
was the place where the kid had been
struck, and there were the drops of
blood and footprints of large leOp.
ard leading into patch of dense cane
Jungle about one hundred yards long
and sixty yards wide, and We had very
little doubt that he was in there, sure
enough. We arranged, somewhat
rashly, that we would enter the Jungle
from nearly opposite ends of the patch
and work towards the center. If either
of us saw the leopard, we were, if pos
sible, first to whistle and then to cal;
out before shooting. We did this with
a double Object-first, that we might
not shoot each other; and secondly,
that if one of us wounded the beast
and he came towards the other, we
might be on the lookout for him, and
not be taken unawares. So we sep
arated; and l cautiously entered the
left end of the patch, while Castleton
made his entrance on the right. My
end of the jungle was thicker
than Castleton's; but the edge
was fairly clear, and by pcering under
the brake, l could see four or
five yards in front of me. Very soon,
the cane and bushes became so dense
that had to clear away the leaves
with one hand while I held the rifle
ready cooked in the other. We had
each Sepoy accompanying us and
carrying our second weapon, the spear.
To my man l gave instructions that
the moment l fired. would hand him
back the rifle, and he was to give me
the spear. OF course l kept him be-
hind me, so that he should be in no
danger. We had not begun our ad-
vance more than two or three minutes.
and had not penetrated, at our slow
and cautious pace. more than about
twenty yards, when Castleton whlstled.
l at once stood still. After slight
pause, he called out in q sort of
stage whisper: II see him; but it's
nasty shot. | can only see his hind
quarters. and there is lot of jungle in
the way. Shall shoot?''
Fire away" replied. in an equally
melOdramatic tone, heartily wishing
that his chance had been mine. In
about half 4 minute the report of Castle
toms rifle rang out. 1t was followed
by an angry roar somewhere from my
| right front, and there was dead 81
| lence. The smoke from Castleton's
rifle came floating over my head; but
though listened intently with my rifle
half raised to my shoulder, not the
sound of fOOtstep or the cracking of
twig could hear. At last Castleton
called out: ''rve hit him, but not badly.
think: and he has gone off in your
direction
Giving Castleton time to reload, l
again began moving forward with even
greater caution than before, had ad-
vanced only a few PAGES, when on
pushing aside screen of leaves thick
er than usual, and thrusting my head
into bush. met sight that made my
heart jump; there. within about six feet
of me. crouched the leopard, his eye
balls glowing like balls of green fire in
the dark jungle. Il look of the most
savage mischief on his face, and evil
IDENTIFY just on the point of spring;ng
straight at me. My first impulse was
to throw my rifle to my shoulder and
fire at once; but more quickly than
flash of lightning came the conviction.
like living voice speaking in me: IF
you do, and if you don't kill him,
he'll kill YOU" My nerves seemed to
grow steady at once. and checked my
first rash impulse. Then keeping my
eye fixed on his. l raised my rifle slow
ly and deliberately. took steady aim
and fired. A dull groan and desper-
ate convulslon followed. and then in
half minute all was still. NV faithful
sepoy had duly obeyed my instructions;
he had taken my rife and had given
ME the spear, and with this spear held