The three victims lay dead in the hollow of the Hill of Death.  Presently the king, recovering himself, gave orders that the spectators should be moved back to places where they could see what happened without frightening the vultures.  So the Boers, attended by their band of soldiers, who were commanded to slay them at once if they attempted to escape, went one way, and Dingaan and his Zulus went the other, leaving Hans and myself alone behind our bush.  As the white people passed me, Vrouw Prinsloo wished me good luck in a cheerful voice, although I could see that her poor old hand was shaking, and she was wiping her eyes with the vatdoek.  Henri Marais, also in broken tones, implored me to shoot straight for his daughter’s sake.  Then came Marie, pale but resolute, who said nothing, but only looked me in the eyes, and touched the pocket of her dress, in which I knew the pistol lay hid.  Of the rest of them I took no notice.

The moment, that dreadful moment of trial, had come at last; and oh! the suspense and the waiting were hard to bear.  It seemed an age before the first speck, that I knew to be a vulture, appeared thousands of feet above me and began to descend in wide circles.

“Oh, baas,” said poor Hans, “this is worse than shooting at the geese in the Groote Kloof.  Then you could only lose your horse, but now—­”

“Be silent,” I hissed, “and give me the rifle.”

The vulture wheeled and sank, sank and wheeled.  I glanced towards the Boers, and saw that they were all of them on their knees.  I glanced towards the Zulus, and saw that they were watching as, I think, they had never watched anything before, for to them this was a new excitement.  Then I fixed my eyes upon the bird.

Its last circle was accomplished.  Before it pounced it hung on wide, outstretched wings, as the others had done, its head towards me.  I drew a deep breath, lifted the rifle, got the foresight dead upon its breast, and touched the hair-trigger.  As the charge exploded I saw the aasvogel give a kind of backward twist.  Next instant I heard a loud clap, and a surge of joy went through me, for I thought that the bullet had found its billet.  But alas! it was not so.

The clap was that of the air disturbed by the passing of the ball and the striking of this air against the stiff feathers of the wings.  Anyone who has shot at great birds on the wing with a bullet will be acquainted with the sound.  Instead of falling the vulture recovered itself.  Not knowing the meaning of this unaccustomed noise, it dropped quietly to earth and sat down near the bodies, pitching forward in the natural way and running a few paces, as the others had done that afternoon.  Evidently it was quite unhurt.

“Missed!” gasped Hans as he grasped the rifle to load it.  “Oh! why did you not throw a stone on to the first heap?”

I gave Hans a look that must have frightened him; at any rate, he spoke no more.  From the Boers went up a low groan.  Then they began to pray harder than ever, while the Zulus clustered round the king and whispered to him.  I learned afterwards that he was giving heavy odds against me, ten to one in cattle, which they were obliged to take, unwillingly enough.