CHAPTER XII. 



NIGHT. 

 Lost Outwitted A Trap. 



AN aard-vark is not a "sonsie" animal, nor is it a 

 pretty one, and, as it appears, it is not a desirable one 

 to try to capture ; still it is good food in the eyes of 

 the natives, so my followers had made the attempt to 

 dig this one out. And dig they did, for soon they 

 made an excavation big enough for cellars to an ordinary 

 cottage, if not for a house. I arrived at the critical 

 moment when they had succeeded in getting a rheim 

 round one of the unfortunate's hind legs, which my 

 Zulu, two voorlopers and several outsiders were hanging 

 to ; but, in spite of this immense amount of human 

 energy, I expect they would have been worsted (for 

 these creatures dig into the soil as fast as a mole), 

 if it had not been for that irrepressible pointer and 

 ''old bull" making a dash into the cavity, where each 

 obtained a hold upon the poor beast's flanks, which 



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