eappeared,--but this time in an altered form. Something about it
glanced brightly under the sun, and this glancing quite fascinated the
buck, so that he could not stir from the spot, but stood eyeing it
steadily.

Fatal fascination! It was his last gaze. A bright flash shot up--
something struck him through the heart, and he saw the shining object no
more!

The doe bounded forward to where her mate had fallen, and stood bleating
over him. She knew not the cause of his sudden death, but she saw that
he was dead. The wound in his side--the stream of red blood--were under
her eyes. She had never witnessed death in that form before, but she
knew her lover was dead. His silence--his form stretched along the
grass motionless and limber--his glassy eyes--all told her he had ceased
to live.

She would have fled, but she could not leave him--she could not bear to
part even from his lifeless form. She would remain a while, and mourn
over him.

Her widowhood was a short one. Again flashed the priming,--again
cracked the shining tube--and the sorrowing doe fell over upon the body
of her mate.

The young hunter rose to his feet, and ran forward. He did not,
according to usual custom, stop to load before approaching his quarry.
The plain was perfectly level, and he saw no other animal upon it. What
was his surprise on reaching the antelopes, to perceive that there was a
_third_ one of the party still alive!

Yes, a little fawn, not taller than a rabbit, was bounding about through
the grass, running around the prostrate body of its mother, and uttering
its tiny bleat.

Hendrik was surprised, because he had not observed this creature before;
but, indeed, he had not seen much of the antelopes until the moment of
taking aim, and the grass had concealed the tiny young one.

Hunter as Hendrik was, he could not help feeling strongly as he regarded
the _tableau_ before him. But he felt that he had not wantonly
destroyed these creatures for mere amusement, and that satisfied his
conscience.

The little fawn would make a famous pet for Jan, who had often wished
for one, to be equal with his sister. It could be fed upon the cow's
milk, and, though it had lost both father and mother, Hendrik resolved
that it should be carefully brought up. He had no difficulty in
capturing it, as it refused to leave the spot where its mother lay, and
Hendrik soon held the gentle creature in his arms.

He then tied the buck and doe tog