bound landed right on to the ox, and struck it a frightful blow with
her paw.

"Down it went, and lay on the ground kicking feebly. She put down her
wicked-looking head, and, with a fierce growl of contentment, buried
her long white teeth in the throat of the dying animal. When she
lifted her muzzle again it was all stained with blood. She stood
facing us obliquely, licking her bloody chops and making a sort of
purring noise.

"'Now's our time,' I whispered, 'fire when I do.'

"I got on to her as well as I could, but Harry, instead of waiting for
me as I told him, fired before I did, and that of course hurried me.
But when the smoke cleared, I was delighted to see that the lioness
was rolling about on the ground behind the body of the ox, which
covered her in such a fashion, however, that we could not shoot again
to make an end of her.

"'She's done for! she's dead, the yellow devil!' yelled Pharaoh in
exultation; and at that very moment the lioness, with a sort of
convulsive rush, half-rolled, half-sprang, into the patch of thick
bush to the right. I fired after her as she went, but so far as I
could see without result; indeed the probability is that I missed her
clean. At any rate she got to the bush in safety, and once there,
began to make such a diabolical noise as I never heard before. She
would whine and shriek with pain, and then burst out into perfect
volleys of roaring that shook the whole place.

"'Well,' I said, 'we must just let her roar; to go into that bush