394 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



tion remained stock still, the zebras staring, we 

 hoping fervently they would decide to go down 

 the valley and not up it, the roan dozing under 

 his distant tree. 



By luck our hopes were fulfilled. The zebra 

 turned downstream, walking sedately away in 

 single file. When we were certain they had all 

 quite gone, we resumed our painful descent. 



At length we dropped below the screen of 

 trees, and could stand upright and straighten 

 the kinks out of our backs. But now a new com- 

 plication arose. The wind, which had been the 

 very basis of our calculations, commenced to 

 chop and veer. Here it blew from one quarter, 

 up there on the side hill from another, and 

 through the bushes in quite another direction 

 still. Then without warning they would all 

 shift about. We watched the tops of the grasses 

 through our binoculars, hoping to read some 

 logic into the condition. It was now four 

 o'clock our stalk had thus far consumed two 

 hours and the roan must soon begin to feed. 

 If we were going to do anything, we must do 

 it soon. 



Therefore we crept through a very spiky, noisy 

 jungle to its other edge, sneaked along the edge 

 until we could make out the tree, and raised 



