52 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



were not more than two hundred yards away, and the 

 wolf made straight for them. Panic-stricken at the 

 sight of their hereditary enemy followed by the roaring 

 car, they scattered wildly and then swung about to 

 cross our path. The wolf dashed into their midst and 

 the herd divided as though cut by a knife. Some turned 

 short about, but the others kept on toward us until I 

 thought we would actually run them down. When not 

 more than fifty yards from the motor they wheeled 

 sharply and raced along beside the wolf. 



To add to the excitement a fat, yellow marmot, which 

 seemed suddenly to have lost his mind, galloped over 

 the plain as fast as his short legs could carry him until 

 he remembered that safety lay underground; then he 

 popped into his burrow like a billiard ball into a pocket. 

 With this strange assortment fleeing in front of the 

 car we felt as though we had invaded a zoological gar- 

 den. 



The wolf paid not the slightest attention to the an- 

 telope for he had troubles of his own. We were almost 

 on him, and I could see his red tongue between the 

 foam-flecked jaws. Suddenly he dodged at right an- 

 gles, and it was only by a clever bit of driving that 

 Charles avoided crashing into him with the left front 

 wheel. Before we could swing about the wolf had 

 gained five hundred yards, but he was almost done. 

 In another mile we had him right beside the car, and 

 Coltman leaned far out to kill him with his pistol. The 

 first bullet struck so close behind the animal that it 

 turned him half over, and he dodged again just in time 



