I lay
still, conscious only of the horrible whirring sound which had begun
again and continued without ceasing. I think I entirely lost
consciousness at this point, and lay, it might have been a few minutes,
it might have been an hour, lost to every sense of fear, of wonder, of
pain.

When I awoke, on regaining consciousness, I still lay upon my face, but
my brain felt more capable of coping with the situation. I lay and
reflected. Something had happened to me: was it a stroke of paralysis? I
moved the muscles of my face: they were all right on both sides. I
turned my head slightly first one way and then the other--no, I was not
paralysed. I tried to raise myself, but found that some heavy weight
upon the small of my back prevented me. That was odd. Could there have
been an earthquake, and had some rock rolled over upon me--a most
unlikely thing, yet what else could it be? I wriggled my back in order
to discover, if I could, the nature of the incubus. Instantly there
recommenced that abominable sound, close to my ear, which had so angered
me before; now that my brain was once more in working order I was able
to listen with understanding. The sound was the growling of some great
beast; the weight upon my back could be nothing else than its paw which
held me down; I was, in a word, at the mercy of a savage animal,
doubtless a lion, for the weight of the paw proved that it could be no
smaller beast. I had been knocked down from behind: stalked while I
myself stalked the water-buck; I was in the position of a mouse which
has been caught by a cat.

My brain remained wonderfully clear, though I expected that my reason
would leave me in that moment of terror. It did not. On the contrary, I
lay there and thought more keenly and quickly, I believe, than I had
ever thought before. How long ago had the brute sprung upon me? Surely
an hour, at least, must have passed since I fell, or was it that time
passes very slowly in these terrible moments? I counted thirty
slowly--well, that was half a minute; nothing happened.

'Why doesn't he eat me?' I wondered. 'There must be a reason for the
delay. Is he waiting for his mate?' He certainly was waiting--while I
lay and thought, another minute or two had passed.

I longed to screw my head round so that I might at least catch a glimpse
of the brute in whose power I lay. I wondered where my rifle was--if
only I could see or reach it! There was a skinning-knife, I knew, in my
belt, and