HEADED OFF 125 



the movement of their limbs; distance died 

 beneath the lightning of their feet. 



The reins fell upon my horse's neck, I 

 pressed my spurless heels to his sides ; he knew 

 what was required of him. We dashed for- 

 ward to cut the herd off. While we had to 

 cover a thousand yards the springbuck had to 

 cover nearly two — yet it was clear that they 

 must win the race. When the springbuck runs 

 his best the speed he attains is almost incred- 

 ible. There remained but one thing to be 

 done. 



After having altered my course so as to 

 reach some slightly higher ground, I rolled 

 from the saddle on to the soft sand and began 

 firing — not at the bucks, but so that my bullets 

 would strike some twenty or thirty yards in 

 front of the leaders of the herd. Bullet after 

 bullet scarred the ground, sending up spouts 

 of red sand — now here, now there. The herd 

 faltered in bewilderment, whirled round in a 

 half-circle to the left, and headed straight for 

 the ambush. 



A distant shot — another; several in rapid 

 succession. It was the rifle of Andries speak- 

 ing. It was Man taking toll of Nature, im- 

 posing his age-long tribute of blood and pain. 

 It was Death eliminating Beauty become obso- 



