"I've been telling Miss Boland," said Mrs. Roberts, "that a good way to shoot buffaloes—certainly a safe way—would be to climb a tree and shoot from a secure place in the limbs. She answers me that it is not a fair way of fighting, and nowhere near as exciting as the way in which the buffalo is usually hunted. I presume she is right; in fact, I know she is. She is braver than I am, and takes risks in hunting that I am unwilling to take."
"I don't think there can be any question of your bravery, Mrs. Roberts," I replied, "after what I have seen this morning. You certainly took your chances with that buffalo, and I'll warrant you've done the same before. You have dodged behind trees and perhaps have climbed them, just as many a man has done in this African shooting."
"Oh yes," she said, with a laugh, "I'm not by any means without experience in hunting-risks, only I think it would be just as well for all of us if we consulted our safety a little more, and had some regard for the possibilities of getting back to our homes in due course of time."
"Very few people think of safety when they set out on a hunting-excursion," I replied. "Of course they consider the question a little when face to face with big game, and I don't think there would be any difference between men and women on that score. A cool head is requisite at all times, and any one who cannot command that should not venture into the hunting-field where the quarry is a dangerous one."
"I agree with you there," the lady responded, "and that's where our sex is decidedly at a disadvantage."
"How so?" I asked, with an air of wonder and surprise.
"Oh, you know perfectly well," said she, "that it's a habit of women to faint in presence of danger, and what would become of a fainting woman before an infuriated buffalo or elephant? I'm afraid it would be her last hunt."
"Yes, I am afraid of that too," I replied; "but I think you do injustice to your sex. Women generally faint after the danger is over, if they faint at all; as long as the peril is present they are as nervy as the sterner sex. Of course that's not the invariable rule, but I think it's so in the majority of cases."
"Thank you for the compliment," she answered; "perhaps we'll have a chance to discuss this subject further. Here we are at your buffalo."
"I beg pardon, madam; not my buffalo—your buffalo."