He had apparently abdicated.

He had vanished so completely that I thought he had escaped toward some low hills a mile farther on.

The disappointment of seeing a lion and not getting it, or at least shooting at it, was keen to a degree that actually hurt.
[Drawing: _Game Was Plenty for a Minute or Two_] There was nothing left but to resume our chase after the wounded rhino.
It was like going back to work after a pleasant two weeks' vacation.

We presently found him on a far distant hill, and after an hour's tramp in the sun we came up to him in the middle of the rolling prairie.

There was not a tree for a mile, nor a single avenue of escape in case he charged.