10 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



antelope had almost supernatural powers, and that it 

 would be an extremely difficult feat to shoot one, es- 

 pecially with Mudge's carbine. Dyche, however, an- 

 nounced his intention of trying to get one, and for an 

 hour endured the gibes and jokes of the whole party. 

 He started early next morning, and late in the even- 

 ing, just as old Jim was beginning to prepare supper, 

 he returned carrying a fifty-pound load of antelope on 

 his back and dragging the old carbine after him. 

 He was tired, but after a good supper of antelope 

 steak was able to tell the story of the day's adven- 

 tures as they all sat around the camp-fire. 



" I tried all the forenoon to crawl near enough to the 

 antelope to get a shot at them, but they always saw 

 me long enough beforehand to run a mile or two away 

 by the time I started to crawl to them. About one 

 o'clock, a band of seven came down a ravine and 

 went behind a knoll about three hundred yards from 

 where I was sitting. My shoes were off in an instant 

 and I made a rush to intercept the animals as they 

 rounded the knoll. I made a good race, but found 

 that the jarring of my feet on the ground had alarmed 

 the antelope, and I got to the mouth of the ravine 

 just in time to see the seven tawny-yellow creatures 

 racing away about one hundred and fifty yards off. 

 I sent two bullets after them, and in less time than it 

 takes to tell it, those animals were going over the top 

 of a hill fully half a mile away. They stopped on 

 the top of the hill for a few seconds, looking back and 

 evidently wondering what it was that was following 

 them. My blood was up now, and I determined to 

 follow the band. I travelled two miles, and then saw 



