A bait had been placed near the tree where I was stationed and I had some hopes of seeing, if not killing, a lion.

Night had already fallen, but there was still a trace of twilight in the air as I walked through the low scrub trees that lay between our camp and the tree, a mile and a half away.

As I was walking along I heard a loud screaming to my left, and, looking across, I saw an oribi trying to beat off two jackals that had seized her young baby oribi.

The jackals paid little attention to her and she was frantic in her efforts to save her little one.
It was too dark to see my sights plainly, but I shot at both of the jackals and sent them slinking away.

I didn't go over to see if the little oribi was still alive, for I was certain that it had been killed.
If it were dead I didn't want to see it and could not help either it or its mother; if it were alive its mother could get it safely away from the jackals.