AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



I stepped forward and turned the light full 

 in the face of an innocent-looking tin can. 



In print it may not sound funny, but the elab- 

 orate preparations that had been made and the 

 stealth with which we stalked the supposed ani- 

 mal added to the ridiculousness of the situation, 

 and it was some time before we recovered our 

 composure. I met Kearton in New York three 

 years later and he still clung to the belief that 

 it was a concocted scheme. 



Colonel Roosevelt went out with us one 

 night. He was greatly handicapped by poor 

 eyesight and missed several shots, but he soon 

 caught on to the trick and then had better luck. 



As we groped about in the darkness, the 

 colonel with the gun, Doctor Mearns with a 

 gunny sack in which to put the game, and I 

 with the light, the party had all the earmarks 

 of a chicken-stealing outfit on a raid. When I 

 called the colonel's attention to our appearance 

 he laughed heartily and replied that he hoped 

 no reporters would see him and add another 

 crime to the already long list of which they have 

 accused him. 



Doctor Mearns and I were hunting one mid- 

 night along the base of a series of rocky hills 



