Before he could fire, the buffalo bull
tripped on a stump and fell on his knees, causing Considine's horse
to shoot almost past him. As the bull rose again, he sprang savagely
sideways, bringing his huge head up from beneath, and fairly impaled the
horse on his horn. It gave a terrible scream, and reared over.

The old man never lost his nerve. Almost as he fell he fired down into
the buffalo's shoulder, but the bullet had no effect. Man and horse were
fetched smashing to the ground, the man pinned under the horse's body.
The bull hesitated a second before hurling himself upon the two; and in
that second Hugh jumped from his horse, ran up, stood over the fallen
man, holding out the rifle like a pistol with the muzzle an inch off the
bull's head, and fired. A buffalo's skull is an inch and a half thick,
solid bone, as hard as granite; but a Martini carbine, sighted for a
thousand yards, will pierce it like paper at short range. The smoke had
not cleared away when the huge beast fell to the ground within two feet
of his intended victims. Hugh pulled Considine from under the horse.
The unfortunate beast struggled to his feet, with blood gushing from a
terrible wound in the belly, ran fifty yards, and fell dead.

The old man looked round him in silence. "Serve me damn well right," he
said at last. "I ought to have got the other side of the buffalo!"

Not another word did he say, as he transferred his saddle to one of the
blacks' horses. But in the camp, that night, the old man came over to
Hugh holding a paper in his hand.

"I've got something for you," he said. "Here's the certificate of my
weddin' with Peggy Donohoe. The parson gev us each one. That ought to do
you, oughtn't it? I'll come down with you, as soon as you like, and
give all the evidence you want. I'll chance how I get on with Peg. I'll
divorce her, or poison her, or get shut of her somehow. But after what
you done to-day I'm on Grant's side, I am."

And off he stalked to bed, while Hugh talked long with Tommy Prince and
the buffalo-shooters of the best way to get down to the wire and send
the news of his success. He went to bed the happiest man south of
the line; and next day, saying good-bye to his hospitable friends, he
started off with Considine and Tommy on the road to the telegraph, and
thence to civilisation.

CHAPTER XXVII. THE REAL CERTIFICATE.

As the day of the great case approached Blake got more and more restless
and irritable. H