word of English.

Jerry mounted with an ill-suppressed groan and rode back to the party,
leaning very much forward in the saddle, while Dikkop followed, showing
the white teeth in his dirty black visage from ear to ear.

Rivers soon afterwards returned with a springbok behind him, but there
was no appearance of Considine or Hans. As, however, the latter was
known to be an experienced traveller, no anxiety was felt for them, and
the main party proceeded on its way. When night came they found that a
well, on which they had counted, was dried up, and were therefore
obliged to lie down without water. Several shots were fired after dark
to guide the absent ones, but no reply was made. Still, those in camp
felt no anxiety, knowing that Hans was quite able to take care of
himself.

And so he was, truly, but he could not take care of a hot-headed youth
who was as eager as Jerry in the chase, and much more daring.

At first he and Considine ran together after the springboks; then Hans
got near enough, dismounted, and shot one. While he was busy fastening
the carcass on his horse, Considine continued to pursue the others;
going at full speed, he was soon far away on the horizon. Still Hans
would have been able to see him if he had not got among some scattered
groups of mimosa-bushes, which were sufficiently large to conceal him.
When he remounted and looked around, his friend was not to be seen. He
saw a few springboks, however, racing on the horizon in the direction in
which Considine had galloped, and concluded somewhat hastily that they
were pursued by his friend. Away he went, therefore, but soon
discovered that he was mistaken. He turned then, and rode quickly back,
blaming himself for not having followed the footprints of his friend's
horse. This he now did, and at last came up with him, but at so late an
hour, and at such a distance from the line of march, that a bivouac in
the plain was inevitable.

"Oh, Hans," he said, "I'm so glad you've found me! I had no idea that
one could get so easily lost in an open plain."

"You've had enough experience too, one would think, to have remembered
the vastness of the karroo," said Hans, dismounting and making the
fastenings of the springbok more secure, "A man soon dwindles to the
size of a crow in plains like this, when you gallop away from him. Men
not accustomed to them misjudge distances and sizes in a wonderful way.
I remember once being out hunting with a fel