midnight
I fired several shots when I did think of it ; but we had agreed on no system of signals , and instead of coming to find me at once , the other two cursed me for wasting time shooting at leopards in the dark instead of scouting for the track . I used twenty cartridges before they came to see what sort of battle I was waging , and with the last shot I nearly blew Brown 's helmet off as he stooped over the hole to look down in . Then there were more precious minutes wasted while someone cut a long pole for me to swarm up , and at the end of that time , when I stood on firm ground at last and wiped the blood from hands and knees , we were no wiser about the proper direction to take . The next accident was a little before midnight . Will Yerkes was leading , I following , next the boys , and Brown bringing up the rear -LRB- for in those wild hills there is never a good track wide enough for two men to march abreast . Even the cattle proceed in single file unless driven furiously . -RRB- Will came on a leopard devouring its kill , a fat buck , in the midst of the track in the moonlight , and the brute resented the interruption of his meal .