THE TRAIL OF THE SANDHILL STAG 



behind them seemed hanging in the 

 air while these wingless birds were 

 really sailing over some deep gully* 



Yan stood intensely gazing until 

 they were out of sight, and it never 

 once occurred to him to shoot. 



When they were gone he went to 

 the place where they had begun their 

 play. Here was one track; where 

 was the next ? He looked all around 

 and was surprised to see a blank for 

 fifteen feet ; and then another blank, 

 and on farther, another: then the 

 blanks increased to eighteen feet, 

 then to twenty, then to twenty-five 

 and sometimes thirty feet. Each 

 of these playful, effortless bounds 

 covered a space of eighteen to thirty 

 feet* 



