A MISCALCULATION. 1 39 



picture, skimming, with the speed of the wind, across the plain. Two, after edging 

 farther and farther from the horseman, finally circled still more, so as to double on 

 their own trail, and ran back toward the spot where they had been grazing a short time 

 before, only to be still further terrified by Dick Brownell, who sent them skurrying 

 down the stream on a line which, if followed, must carry them clear of the 

 grove. 



But the male, who was evidently the leader of the small family party, showed an 

 unwillingness to be driven in that fashion. He bent his line of flight, to keep out 

 of the way of the horseman trying so determinedly to head him off, but he would 



neither turn back nor veer so much as to follow the other two, that were making for 

 the grove. 



" I'll see whether you can't be stopped," muttered Bob, compressing his lips 

 and urging his steed to the utmost. 



Never was the lad more astonished at the speed of any animal than at that of 

 the oryx. With his head thrown back, so that the points of his long horns seemed 

 to be resting on his haunches, he fairly flew over the ground, his graceful legs 

 doubling beneath his body with a swiftness that rendered it almost impossible for 

 the eye to perceive them. 



Since his course converged with that of his pursuer, the male steadily bore to 



