ble beast."

There was no difficulty in taking up the traces.

"One of them at least must be hard hit," Mr. Goodenough remarked; "there
are traces of blood every yard."

They had gone but a short distance when one of the Houssas gave a sudden
exclamation, and pointed to something lying at the edge of a clump of
bushes.

"Leopard," he said.

"Yes, there is one of them, sure enough. I think it's dead, but we
cannot be too cautious. Advance very carefully, Frank, keeping ready to
fire instantly."

They moved forward slowly in a body, but their precaution was
unnecessary. There was no movement in the spotted, tawny skin as they
advanced, and when they came close they could see that the leopard was
really dead. He had been hit by two bullets. The first had struck his
shoulder and exploded there, inflicting so terrible a wound that it was
wonderful he had been able to move afterwards. The other had struck him
on the back, near the tail, and had burst inside him. Frank on seeing
the nature of the wounds was astonished at the tenacity of life shown by
the animal.

"I wonder whether I hit the other," he said.

"I have no doubt at all about it," Mr. Goodenough answered, "although I
did not think so before. It seemed to me that I only heard the howls of
one animal in the night, and thought it was the one I had hit. But as
this fellow must have died at once, it is clear that the cries were made
by the other."

A sharp search was now set up for the tracks of the other leopard, the
Houssas going back to the tree and taking it up anew. They soon found
traces of blood in a line diverging from that followed by the other
animal. For an hour they followed this, great care being required, as
at times no spots of blood could be seen for a considerable distance. At
last they seemed to lose it altogether. Mr. Goodenough and Frank stood
together, while the Houssas, scattered round, were hunting like well
trained dogs for a sign. Suddenly there was a sharp roar, and from
the bough of a tree close by a great body sprang through the air and
alighted within a yard of Frank. The latter, in his surprise, sprang
back, stumbled and fell, but in an instant the report of the two barrels
of Mr. Goodenough's rifle rang out. In a moment Frank was on his feet
again ready to fire. The leopard, however, lay dead, its skull almost
blown off.

"You have had another narrow escape," Mr. Goodenough said. "I see that
your ball last night broke one of