rd, letting him
down, and, when he rose he saw the white tail whisking round a
corner in the reeds. On he dashed down a narrow path, which twisted
and turned so sharply that he could only see a few yards ahead; but
he was never in fault, as when he could not see the game he could
hear it plainly, so he never slackened. The chase went on always
with the prospect of success tantalizingly before him, until at last
he was at fault in a little clearing where the reeds had been beaten
down, and from which there branched several lanes. He stopped to
listen, but the buck had stopped too. Then he searched for the
blood-trail, and, finding it, set off once more, and this time,
after another chase lasting about ten minutes, the buck was
overtaken and despatched. Then he threw himself on his back and
panted for breath. When he had recovered he sat up and wondered, for
his hands and bare arms were bleeding from a number of cuts that
began to smart most painfully. The sharp saw-like edges of the reeds
bad cut into his flesh, and in the excitement he had not noticed the
injuries. Thanks, however, to the regulations enforced by Mr. Hume,
he carried in the pouches of his belt a little store of quinine,
vaseline, and meat lozenges. He rubbed the vaseline on the cuts,
mopped his face, and felt all right. Then he put his hand to his
mouth and gave a "coo-ee." The call was strangled in the reeds. He
called again, fired off his gun, and waited, but he could hear
nothing but a soft whispering. The reeds reached above his head,
and he could see nothing but the matted stems around him and the
blue sky overhead. He gave a grunt of impatience, lifted the buck,
hoisted the body on his shoulder, brought the fore legs round on one
side, the hind legs on the other side, and secured them before him
with his handkerchief. Then he stooped for his rifle, and plunged
into a path with the object of tramping straight through to the
outer edge, when he would get his bearings for the camp.

This was more easily intended than carried out; for the reeds closed
in so as to hamper his movements, and in a short time the path ran
into other tracks, which doubled here and there without any decided
direction, and led him into little dens. In one of these there was
the bleached skull of a buffalo, and he sat down on this to
consider.

He got the direction of the sun from the shadows, made a rough guess
at the points of the compass, and then started off again, pic