SMALL GAME IN INDIA 157 



much alarmed and moved slowly away. Seeing that 

 his signalling had been understood, Robert was off 

 again after his buck, leaving Burton in pursuit of 

 the other. 



I watched him crawling forward, though it was 

 clear from his spasmodic jerks that he was not getting 

 much fun out of his position. His subsequent " pluck- 

 ing" rendered his contortions explicable. The buck 

 was out of sight, but just where the pani grass began 

 I saw some does watching. Presently they moved 

 out of sight and simultaneously the stalker stood 

 and fired. 



Robert and his quarry were hidden by a rise 

 in the ground, but almost as the shot rang out the 

 former showed again, standing like a rock with his 

 rifle up. It seemed ages till the motionless figure 

 framed in the .round disc gave a little shudder and 

 the crack reached me. The bullet told loudly. 

 Robert rushed forward, stood again, there was 

 another crack and he waved his arm wildly. The 

 shikari grunted " Good, Sahib ! Good, Sahib ! " the 

 only English he knew, as he pounded along, and 

 there lay a beautiful buck dead among the grasses. 

 It was a splendid shot, for the antelope was fully a 

 hundred and seventy yards off at the first shot, and 

 to hit an animal the size of a blackbuck "off the 

 shoulder" at this distance requires no little skill. 

 His horns measured twenty-four inches, a very 

 good length nowadays. 



Burton arrived at last very much out of breath 



