The eagle looked as huge as the gazelle looked graceful and tiny; and each moment the boys made sure that it was struck, but the baffled eagle rose again and again for another swoop,
till, unable to bear it longer, Dick threw himself upon his face, rested his rifle upon the ridge in front, took a careful aim, fired; and Jack shouted “Hurray!” for as the smoke rose, and the echoes died away in the distance, the eagle could be seen lying flapping its wings upon the ground, raising a cloud of dust about it, and the gazelle disappeared round some rocks; while Coffee and Chicory, kiri in hand, were sliding down the rocky face of the precipice, to cross a narrow chasm below, bent upon finishing the monstrous bird’s struggles with the kiris they grasped in their hands.
The place they descended was almost dangerous at times, but the two Zulu boys made nothing of it, and were soon approaching the spot where the bird had fallen.
As it saw them approach, it left off flapping its wings, turned itself upon its back, and struck at them savagely with its powerful talons.
The boys were not daunted though, and making a dash in, Coffee struck at the bird and missed it, receiving, in return for his intended blow, an ugly scratch from the eagle, which was about to bury its beak in his leg when Chicory’s kiri struck it heavily upon the neck, and the fight was over; the bird’s head dropping upon one side, and its powers of doing mischief for ever gone.
Then each seized a wing, and they bore it in triumph to their young leaders, who in turn helped to carry the majestic bird down to where Mr Rogers was waiting, ready to take great interest in their prize, but also eager to hurry them back to the waggon, where they arrived to find all right, and the cattle carefully secured in their kraal.