wait; so wait we did. Mavrouki
crouched close at my elbow, showing not the faintest indication of a
desire to be anywhere but there.

The buffalo browsed for a minute or so; then swung slowly broadside on.
So massive and low were the bosses of his horns that the brain shot
was impossible. Therefore I aimed low in the shoulder. The shock of the
bullet actually knocked that great beast off his feet! My respect for
the hitting power of the 405 went up several notches. The only
trouble was that he rebounded like a rubber ball. Without an instant's
hesitation I gave him another in the same place. This brought him to
his knees for an instant; but he was immediately afoot again. Billy
had, with great good sense and courage, continued to lie absolutely flat
within a few yards of the beast, Mavrouki and I had kept low, and C. and
the men were out of sight. The buffalo therefore had seen none of his
antagonists. He charged at a guess, and guessed wrong. As he went by
I fired at his head, and, as we found out afterward, broke his jaw. A
moment later C.'s great elephant gun roared from somewhere behind me as
he fired by a glimpse through the brush at the charging animal. It was
an excellent snapshot, and landed back of the ribs.

When the buffalo broke through the screen of brush I dashed after him,
for I thought our only chance of avoiding danger lay in keeping close
track of where that buffalo went. On the other side the bushes I found a
little grassy opening, and then a small but dense thicket into which the
animal had plunged. To my left, C. was running up, followed closely by
Billy, who, with her usual good sense, had figured out the safest place
to be immediately back of the guns. We came together at the thicket's
edge.

The animal's movements could be plainly followed by the sound of his
crashing. We heard him dash away some distance, pause, circle a bit to
the right, and then come rushing back in our direction. Stooping low
we peered into the darkness of the thicket. Suddenly we saw him, not
a dozen yards away. He was still afoot, but very slow. I dropped the
magazine of five shots into him as fast as I could work the lever. We
later found all the bullet-holes in a spot as big as the palm of your
hand. These successive heavy blows delivered all in the same place were
too much for even his tremendous vitality; and slowly he sank on his
side.

XXVI. JUJA

Most people have heard of Juja, the modern dwelling in th