THE ALARM 123 



Hendrick had reached the limit of his arc; 

 then the springbuck marked him and evidently 

 realised that there \vas danger. Apprehension 

 touched them; a quiver ran through the herd; 

 they lifted their heads and gazed ; they moved 

 to and fro. So far it was not fear that they 

 feltj for they knew their own fleetness and had 

 trust in it. Then, suddenly, terror seemed 

 to strike them like a blast, for as dead leaves 

 are caught by a wind-eddy and whirled in a 

 spiral, these imponderable-seeming, ethereal 

 desert creatures swerved over an area resemb- 

 ling in form the sweep of a fan, and then 

 streamed forth like a handful of white rose- 

 petals before a gale. 



Why is it, I wonder, that during the fore- 

 noon springbuck in the desert appear to be 

 white? For this is literally the casej these 

 animals seemed to be as white as snow, as im- 

 ponderable as thistle-down. The fawn-tint of 

 their necks and flanks, the broad, brown pat- 

 ches on their sides, the black, lyre-formed 

 horns, all were drowned in the milky foam 

 of the dorsal manes. These were expanded 

 laterally to their fullest extent; each long sil- 

 very hair stood erect and quivering. 



The creatures' heads were depressed almost 

 to the level of their feet. With backs deeply 



