CROSSING A SMALL STREAM.
"'I shall fire at the least thing, whether suspicious or not,' was his reply. 'If I hear a leaf rustling when I think it should not do so, I shall fire, and I hope not to be punished for it.'
"The captain said he might do exactly as he liked; and with this understanding he went to his post.
"The relief had been gone nearly an hour when the report of his gun was heard. The guard immediately went to see what was the trouble; and as they reached the place they saw the soldier dragging the body of a Bari, which was partially dressed in the skin of a hyena.
"The mystery was explained. Hyenas are so common in this part of Africa that nobody pays any attention to them, and a soldier on duty would never dream of discharging his gun at one of these beasts. The negroes had taken advantage of this circumstance to kill the guards around the camp.
"The soldier said that the relief-guard was not out of sight before he saw a hyena come over the crest of the hill close by and look in his direction. He thought nothing of the circumstance, as the hyenas were constantly prowling around the camp in search of food; the intruder imitated perfectly the motions of the creature, and he never suspected it was anything else.
"'They will laugh at me,' he said to himself, 'if I shoot at a hyena, and I shall be ridiculed all through the camp. The captain gave me permission to shoot in case a leaf rustled, or there was the least sound more than ordinary, and I should do so. But a hyena is so ordinary, and such a common sight around the camp, that I won't throw away a shot on him.'