134 



CHAPTER XXI. 



A TRYING SEARCH. 



A patient search rewarded us with the discovery 

 of the spoor, but after following it for a hundred 

 paces or more, it became entirely lost. However, 

 we were confirmed in our belief that, so far, we had 

 followed the right course, for on it we picked 

 up the poor lad's girdle of cats'-tails, evidently 

 dragged from his body by the thorn bushes. A 

 little further we discovered drops of blood upon 

 some prostrated herbage, a clear indication that the 

 murderer had here rested with the victim. Another 

 compulsory halt was a great source of disappoint- 

 ment to my followers. They, as well as myself, 

 knew the urgency of haste, but that haste could 

 only be productive of good if made in the right 

 direction, and which now was the right direction no 

 one could tell. To the front, right, and left we 

 made repeated casts to recover the spoor, but 

 neither a broken twig, crushed blade of grass, nor 

 tell-tale " pug " could be discovered. That our 

 work was dangerous, all knew, for my followers 

 were only armed with assegais, scarcely the weapons 

 to be selected for meeting the onslaught of a lion 

 about to be deprived of its prey. But they never 



