

A BRAVE HOUND. 127 



myself hoarse or black in the face would not have 

 recalled him ; so I pushed on to where I knew I 

 should pick up the spoor of the wounded game. 

 On discovering it, I found the trail so saturated with 

 blood that I knew well the quarry could not be far 

 distant. The brush here had given place almost to 

 a barren flat, over which I cast my eyes, hoping to 

 see the carcass of this beautiful representative of 

 the South African antelopes. About a hundred 

 yards distant, there it lay, but beside it was a large 

 spotted hyaena, enjoying the meal that my rifle had 

 provided. It is bad enough to have your provender 

 wrested from you by a respectable kind of creature, 

 but when such is being done by one of these foul 

 carnivorce, it is unbearable. 



I was about to give the marauder the contents 

 of one of my Express barrels, when Arack, with a 

 rush, passed me, going towards the buck as straight 

 as an arrow. The dog did not appear to see the 

 hyaena till he was within a few paces of it, when, 

 moderating his gait to a slow trot, not unlike a setter 

 drawing after running game, with his lips curled, 

 and showing his fangs, he made direct for the thief. 

 But the night prowler was not thus to be intimi- 

 dated, so turned and faced the enemy, exhibiting 

 his ivories, and assuming a cast of countenance 

 which indicated plainly enough that he considered 

 possession nine points of the law, and was deter- 

 mined to fight to maintain this dictum. I did not 



