es to the course it had been hitherto pursuing.

Arend was astonished, but soon discovered the cause of this eccentric
action, in the presence of a huge black rhinoceros,--the borele--which
was making a straight course across the plain, as if on its way to the
river.

The runaway horse had shied out of its way; and it would have been well
for the horseman if he had shown himself equally discreet. But Arend
Von Wyk was a hunter,--and an officer of the Cape Militia,--and as the
borele passed by him, presenting a fine opportunity for a shot, he could
not resist the temptation to give it one.

Pulling up his horse, or rather trying to do so, for the animal was
restive in the presence of such danger, he fired. The shot produced a
result that was neither expected nor desired. With a roar like the
bellowing of an angry bull, the monster turned and charged straight
towards the horseman.

Arend was obliged to seek safety in flight, while the borele pursued in
a manner that told of its being wounded, but not incapacitated from
seeking revenge.

At the commencement of the chase, there was but a very short distance
between pursuer and pursued; and in place of suddenly turning out of the
track, and allowing the monster to pass by him,--which he should have
done, knowing the defect of vision natural to the rhinoceros,--the young
hunter continued on in a straight line, all the while employed in
reloading his rifle.

His mistake did not originate in any want of knowledge, or presence of
mind, but rather from carelessness and an unworthy estimate of the
abilities of the borele to overtake him. He had long been a successful
hunter, and success too often begets that over-confidence which leads to
many a mischance, that the more cautious sportsman will avoid.

Suddenly he found his flight arrested by the thick scrub of thorny
bushes, known in South Africa as the "wait a bits", and the horse he was
riding did wait a bit,--and so long that the borele was soon close upon
his heels.

There was now neither time nor room to turn either to the right or left.

The rifle was at length loaded, but there would have been but little
chance of killing the rhinoceros by a single shot, especially with such
uncertain aim as could have been taken from the back of a frightened
horse.

Arend, therefore, threw himself from the saddle. He had a twofold
purpose in doing so. His aim would be more correct, and there was the
chance of the borele