The man could have fired and stopped the charge
at once; but for some reason, since he had seen the girl's face,
he hesitated. Could it be that he did not care to save her? Or,
did he prefer, if possible, to remain unseen by her? It must have
been the latter cause which kept the trigger finger of the steady
hand from exerting the little pressure that would have brought the
great beast to at least a temporary pause.
Like an eagle the man watched the race for life the girl was making.
A second or two measured the time which the whole exciting event
consumed from the moment that the lion broke into his charge. Nor
once did the rifle sights fail to cover the broad breast of the
tawny sire as the lion's course took him a little to the man's left.
Once, at the very last moment, when escape seemed impossible, the
hunter's finger tightened ever so little upon the trigger, but
almost coincidentally the girl leaped for an over hanging branch
and seized it. The lion leaped too; but the nimble Meriem had
swung herself beyond his reach without a second or an inch to spare.
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