The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-29

buffalo, promising reward 10 the Hrsl
 who discovered him. Fiere and I then stretched ourselves out for 40 winks.
 Suddenly we both started up simulta-
 neously, reused by the cries of "Buf- falow "Buffalol'' The boys had found
 him lying, badly wounded in the high grass. We were off at once, for this
 was unexpected luck, as l thought we
 had lost the animal forever. l hurried
 forward while Fiere was busy looking after his cinematograph on the other side of which the boys were standing
 in semi-circle waiting for us. The
 buffalo was not to be seen, but the
 boys pointed farther ahead, and so pressed on for about 100 yards, through
 high, tough marsh grass. Turning, l
 noticed that Fiere was following me long distance away.
 Suddenly the buffalo broke out of the
 grass thicket immediately in front of
 me. In moment my rifle spoke.
 thought I also heard F'iere's gun. There
 was time for a second shot; the an-
 maj was upon me. l sprang aside, and
 then fell entangled in the tall grass,
 which was my salvation, as otherwise
 the buffalo would have reached and spit
 ted me on his widespread horns.
 Horrors of horrors! The beast sprang
 back and appeared beside me, pressing
 hls horns under me. l thought my last
 hour had come but determined to .ght to the last. With frenzied effort l sprang up and seized the buffalo by the
 horns, hoping that, as he was evidently
 weakened by his wounds, I should be able to master him while Fiere got chance of another shot. All this hap
 pened in a few seconds-quicker in fact. than it takes to relate. The buffalo | tried hard to shake me off, and he tossed | his shaggy head from side to side my
 face and head were covered with froth and blood from his great mouth. Though
 I exerted all my strength I was forced to release my hold, and in that instant
 the brute dug his left horn deeply into my right cheek. I shrieked loudly with the pain, and the next moment felt 1
 was being hurled skyward-my last mo-
 ments of consciousness.
 When I awoke I found myself, stream
 ing with blood, squatting on the back of the Chambesi, supported by a couple of
 bowling boys.
 Where is Fiere?'' I asked.
 "The boys are bringing him." was told, 'as he can not walk"
 And the buffalo?"
 Dead"
 A torrent of blood which flowed out of my mouth and down the right side of my face stopped further conversation. The boys carried me to the boat the plOOu SpuflflS out aITeSn Wltn every movement. At this rate I knew should bleed to death, so I shouted out: "Quickl the medicine chest!''
 Ora bbing the needle and thread, I de- termined to sew up the wound, my only salvation, 1 peeped into the glass. My face was in frightful condition An ir-
 regularly torn hole as big as my fist gaped In my right cheek, while the lower lip
 hung down loosely, making it difficult on G O ft1f fa,- fA a1y II. curved needle through the loose hanging flesh, drawing the shred close together. Tie pain made me delirious but necessity is good sewing master, and l stitched on before the terrified eyes of the boys
 only thankful that I was able to retain my senses. Meanwhile the tent was got ready and
 bed prepared for poor Fiere, whose clothes the head boy cut off with shears. By now Fiere had also recovered con- seriousness, and from his white lips, when he saw me, came the words, Tres mal- vais! He had evidently been badly gored His left breast muscle hung down, but tue lungs and heart were uninjured. In the left side, between the heart and hip, a great rent gaped. This hole l at once stitched up. In the upper thigh there was
 also a broad and heavily bleeding but not dangerous flesh wound. My boys washed him. and, after bandaging the poor fel- | lew, he was placed on a fresh bed Mean- while terrible thoughts passed through my throbbing brain hoped and prayed
 that the wound in the abdomen was only
 mere flesh wound and that he was not injured internally, as in that case I i should be able to do little.
 Fortunately for us my head boy James was a very intelligent fellow and had all ady dispatched two runners to the next 1 stations, Kasama and Chnsali, saying 1 that two white men had been wounded by
 a buffalo and needed medical assistance l It was an awful night that followed. Heavens! shall I ever forget it? Fiere
 and I lay side by side on camp beds,
 while the whole tent reeked with blood. Finally Fiere fell asleep, and I felt re-
 lieved and thankful as l listened to his
 regular breathing To me, however 1t
 was a night full of pain. I felt as if 1 had glowing stones in my, mouth. The
 exposed nervous rubbed against the
 jagged edges of splintered bone causing
 me excruciatlng pain. Toward morning. however, a brief sleep relieved me from
 my maddening torture. At dawn awoke
 to renewed suffering. Then I realized the | terrible stiffness of the tent. I listened 1 for the sound of Fiere's breathing, but
 heard nothing. I clapped my hands and
 one of the boys opened the tent. The
 first light ot day fell upon white. sunk
 eH ldce, anu tNHeW pooT flere nau uleu
 rainlessly in his sleep. l As to Fieres tussle with the buffalo we
 can only conjecture what happened The boys, who were unarmed, quite excusably
 sought safety in flight. Later they found
 us three-Fiere, myself and the buffalo | lying close together in our blood In all
 probability Fiere, when he saw me strug- gling with the buffalo, feared that he
 might hit me if he aimed direct and so fired shot in the air, whereupon the
 brute quickly got rid of me and attacked | F'.ere who shot him in the head. The bullet, however, was not immediately fa-
 tai. and the buffalo had time to gore Fiere before expiring. The animal had received three shots, one just behind the shoulder blade-my first; high glancing
 shot, evidently my second when the brute was charging. and another in the skull apparently Fiere's last shot.