ck of rats, and, with
a majestic bound over bushes upwards of twelve feet high, re-entered the
jungle. With a feeling of indignation at such contemptuous treatment,
George Rennie re-charged his gun in haste, vowing vengeance against the
whole feline race--a vow which he fully redeemed in after years. His
brother John, who was injured to the extent of a scratch on the back and
a severe bruise on the ribs by the rough treatment he had received,
arose and slowly followed his example, and Groot Willem, growling in a
tone that would have done credit to the lion himself, and losing for the
moment the usual wisdom of his countrymen in such encounters, strode
savagely into the jungle, followed by Sandy Black and Jerry, the latter
of whom appeared to labour under a sort of frenzied courage which urged
him on to deeds of desperate valour. At all events he had recharged his
piece of ordnance to the very muzzle with a miscellaneous compound of
sand, stones, and sticks--anything, in short, that would go down its
capacious throat,--and, pushing wildly past Groot Willem, took the lead.

It was perhaps well for these strangely-assorted hunters that the lion
had made up his mind to quit the jungle. A few minutes later he was
seen retreating towards the mountains, and the chase was renewed, with
hounds and Hottentots in full cry. They came up with him in a short
time at bay under a mimosa-tree by the side of a streamlet. He lashed
his tail and growled fiercely as he glared at the dogs, which barked and
yelped round him, though they took good care to keep out of reach of his
claws. While they stirred up his wrath to the boiling point, they at
the same time distracted his attention, so that a party of Hottentots,
getting between him and the mountain side, took up a position on a
precipice which overlooked the spot where he stood at bay. Suddenly the
lion appeared to change his mind. Turning as before, and clearing all
obstacles at a bound, he took refuge in a dense thicket, into which a
heavy fire was poured without any effect. Again George Rennie lost
patience. He descended from the height accompanied by a favourite
little dog, and threw two large stones into the thicket. His challenge
was accepted on the spot. The lion leaped out with a roar, and was on
the point of making another bound, which would certainly have been fatal
to the hunter, but the little dog ran boldly up and barked in his face.
The momentary interruption sav