I certainly heard the Major talking, and I distinctly heard what he said.
"What the devil are you doing, you damned young fool? Drop that head and come away. How do you know he's dead?"
I took no notice. I couldn't. I was terrified, hypnotised. I could do nothing but stare and stare.
No doubt the lion was dead, but the light in his eyes was not. It was dying, not dead. It was a blazing, vivid, blinding light—as it were, the light of an untamed spirit reluctantly taking leave of a mighty body.
When at length I let that rugged head fall, the light had faded; I stood shivering, feeling little and mean, as one who had looked upon something not meant for him to see.