THE ROAN 



very top of the hill the roan leaped from cover fifty 

 yards away, and with a clatter of rocks dashed off 

 down the ridge. The grass was very high, and I 

 could see only his head and horns, but I dropped the 

 front sight six inches and let drive at a guess. The 

 guess happened to be a good one, for he turned a 

 summersault seventy two yards away. 



Cuninghame and Kongoni came up. The sun had 

 just set. In fifteen minutes it would be pitch dark. 

 We despatched Kongoni for help and lanterns; and 

 turned to on the job of building a signal fire and 

 skinning the trophy. 



The reason for our strangely chopping wind now 

 became apparent. From our elevation we could 

 see piled thunder clouds looming up from the west. 

 They were spreading upward and outward in the 

 swift, rushing manner of tropic storms ; and I saw I 

 must hustle if I was to get my fire going at all. The 

 first little blaze was easy; and after that I had to pile 

 on quantities of any wood I could lay my hands to. 

 The deluge blotted out every vestige of daylight and 

 nearly drowned out my fire. I had started to help 

 Cuninghame with the roan, but soon found that I 

 had my own job cut out for me, and so went back to 

 nursing my blaze. The water descended in sheets. 

 We were immediately soaked through, and very cold. 

 The surface of the ground was steep and covered 



361 



