A NARROW ESCAPE 11 



were armed with spears, one of which they car- 

 ried in the right hand ready for instant use. 



It was an anxious few minutes for the unfor- 

 tunate hunter. He was in plain sight and dared 

 not move for fear of attracting their attention. 

 There he lay, expecting at any moment to be 

 discovered, and wondering if he would have to 

 shoot them to prevent their returning to the 

 village and giving the alarm. They were so in- 

 tent on looking for his footprints, which they 

 had for the time lost, that they did not see him, 

 and in their efforts to find them passed out of 

 sight. S. then jumped to his feet and, skulking 

 through the tall grass, managed to escape again. 



Late in the afternoon he began to feel hungry, 

 for he had had nothing to eat since the evening 

 before. Game was not very abundant, but he 

 searched about for an antelope and finally came 

 across one, a solitary old wildebeest. After care- 

 fully manoeuvring he managed to sneak up be- 

 hind the only bush that afforded shelter. He 

 found that even then he was too far away to risk 

 one of the four cartridges that must last him 

 throughout the journey. He had abandoned all 

 hope of killing the animal when, as though de- 

 liberately wishing to sacrifice itself, it walked 



