A BRILLIANT RUN, 



563 



and right arm, if soon enough employed, formed a 

 very effective guard. So far the ground had been 

 quite open, but now a narrow belt of timber occurred, 

 with a fallen tree riglit in the course that the game 

 was i^ursuing. It looked rather formidable, but the 

 giraffes straddled over it — not jumped it — in a very 

 ludicrous, still effective, manner. So I got my 

 " skimmel " well in hand, and resolved to risk the 

 fencing qualities of my nag, for jump he could, and 

 that right well, when in the mind to do so. Within 

 ten or fifteen strides of the tree, I almost regretted 

 my decision, but it was too late to change my re- 

 solve, so, with a touch of the spur and a steadying 

 hold of the head, I drove my nag straight at it. 

 Phew ! he cleared it like a bird, with a good foot to 

 spare. A few yards more, and we were again in the 

 open country, and plenty of it before us, so I made 

 the best of this advantage, soon passed the old bull 

 — already giving evidence of being blown — singled 

 out a grand cow, and drove her to the right hand 

 away from her companions. I knew, of course, that 

 I had the ''heels of her," still her speed was not 

 to be trifled with, for she looked as fresh as at the 

 start, while the long, ungainly legs measured their 

 strides with the regularity of clockwork. Here 1 

 determined not to fire till I was well up to the 

 cow's flank, and a trifle or so behind the line of her 

 shoulders. A touch of the spur brought me there, 

 so, thrusting my smooth-bore at the game as if it 

 had been a spear I was handling, I pulled the trigger 

 when the muzzle was six feet fron: the game, and, 

 simultaneously with the report, the loftiest of all 

 existing animals lay hopelessly struggling on the 

 ground. Vaulting from my saddle, and reversing my 

 reins, so that my horse would not give me the slip — 

 a trick he had once playeu me — I approached the 

 giant beast. Its struggles to rise were terrible to 

 witness, so I put an end to the pain that the poor 





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