the porters halted in charge of John, and after a half hour
reached the crest of the rise, wading through the deep grass and bush.
Here the Bantus made a gesture of caution and carefully parted the grass
ahead of them.

The boys gave a little gasp of surprise. Before them was a plain
scattered with high ant hills and trees. Grazing without thought of
danger were hundreds of antelope-like animals, some with long curving
horns and others with straight spiral ones. As Burt watched them he
found himself trembling with feverish excitement.

"Keep cool, lad!" whispered Captain Mac with a slight smile. "See that
group to the right? Take the bull hartebeest. Ready, Wallace?"

Mr. Wallace and Critch had selected their animals and the former nodded.
Montenay gave the word and all fired together. Burt saw his bull give
one tremendous leap and fall. Critch, who had fired at a small bull, had
poorer luck, for his animal bounded off with the others of the herd and
was gone in an instant. Both Montenay and Mr. Wallace had dropped
hartebeest bucks, and the bearers were jubilant as all ran down the
hill.

"Now, Critch," said Mr. Wallace, "it's up to you! You boys stay here
with the blacks and we'll go back and bring on the porters and the salt.
Keep the heads of that hartebeest of Burt's and mine. We don't want to
fill our empty chop-boxes too fast."

As the tin-lined chop-boxes were emptied they were to be used for
packing heads and skins of game and were thus doubly useful. The Bantus
took out their knives and while Burt transmitted in French the orders of
his chum they set to work. Mr. Wallace and Montenay returned to meet and
bring up the caravan, whose advance was necessarily slow.

The skilled blacks first removed the two heads and skinned them
carefully. Then they laid aside the skulls for boiling and cut up the
three bodies to serve as rations for the porters while the boys stood
looking around them. Although the great herds had bounded off at the
volley, they had only gone a mile or two away and in the thin clear air
seemed half that distance. Burt stood with his eyes glued to his glasses
for a few moments, then saw a jackal a hundred yards to the right,
slinking through the grass. As jackals are invariably destroyed wherever
seen he called Critch and took a gun from the pile dropped by the
bearers. Luckily for him he grabbed up one of the heavy Winchesters in
his haste.

"Come on, Critch! Get over to that ant hill an'