384 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



for the tips of a truculent pair of wide-curving black horns 

 betray his position, and here are we planning how to get 

 the better of his natural wile. 



And a cunningly-chosen position the old bull has taken 

 up ! What wind there is guards the weak spots of his 

 defences. Clear ground to the other spots of the compass 

 gives him a commanding view down-wind, while his post 

 in the slight hollow affords that advantage of forcing an 

 approaching enemy to show himself over the sky-line. If 

 startled now, a few paces would take him among the 

 timber up-wind, and we should not get in that well-placed 

 shot which alone will prevent a pursuit infinitely more 

 arduous than the whole of this long morning's work, or 

 perhaps, indeed, his eventual escape. 



Here, then, is the advantage of a strong binocular glass 

 wherewith to scrutinise our ground and endeavour to 

 eliminate the element of chance. Old speiroceros lies almost 

 facing us ; but his eyes are below the level of our present 

 horizon. No. To creep stealthily in, this time, would not 

 serve our purpose. Time is passing, however, and some- 

 thing must be done. What if the bull should make off, 

 warned by that subtle sense the operation of which 

 we must have noted at times, and is apparently set in 

 motion by the concentration of mind bent on the hunted 

 by the hunter ! What else but this indefinable transference 

 of brain energy can it have been that on certain occasions 

 has caused the originally unconscious, then uneasy game 

 to rise to its feet with vague forebodings, and display a 

 mysterious disquiet unaccountable to the external senses 

 of sight, hearing, or smell ! 



Well, here goes ! 



"Dabbi, my little friend, do thou stop here! I, the 

 slayer, will make a detour across the wind, and come in 

 there, nearly behind of the Barreh, and among the sal 

 trees into which he will make his way when roused. And 

 then, good Dabbi, creep nearer, and show but that tiny 



