xvi EVERYTHING SEEMED A RED BLUR 289 



shots missed ; but the third time I fired, having 

 held well ahead of the fleeing antelope, as it swerved 

 suddenly inwards, I heard the thud of my bullet 

 that meant a hit, and soon after this the wounded 

 animal began to slacken its pace very sensibly. 

 Then the hunted beast led me into hard ground 

 of limestone formation, heading straight down an 

 open valley leading to a thickish grove of mimosa 

 thorns, and exactly facing the great fiery disc of 

 the setting sun, now very near the horizon. Gather- 

 ing up the reins and encouraging my good horse 

 with voice and spur, I pressed it to its utmost speed 

 on the hard ground, and raced up to within thirty 

 yards of the gemsbuck, whose strength was now 

 evidently failing fast. 



I ought to have galloped right past it, as I could, 

 no doubt, very easily have done ; but I foolishly pulled 

 in to get a shot before it got in amongst the mimosa 

 trees towards which it was heading. When I raised 

 my rifle to fire, the red glare of the setting- sun 

 was full in my eyes, but I thought that as I pressed 

 the trigger the foresight of my rifle was just on the 

 black patch above the gemsbuck's tail. Then every- 

 thing seemed a reel blur, and for some few moments 

 after I had remounted and again galloped forwards 

 amongst the trees which the wounded antelope had 

 just reached as I fired, I could see nothing dis- 

 tinctly. Not having heard my bullet thud, I did 

 not know whether I had hit or missed, but galloped 

 straight ahead through the open forest, and soon 

 rode out into a broad valley quite free from trees 

 or bush for a distance of several hundred yards. 

 No gemsbuck was in sight, and as 1 knew that 

 the wounded animal I was looking lor could not 

 have crossed this open piece of ground whilst 1 was 

 riding through the narrow belt of thorn trees, I 

 thought it must have turned either to the right or 

 left in the shelter of the wood. 



