Horns 



momentary expectation of seeing a giant form get 

 up in front. 



We had now dipped into a little valley, and 

 begun to breast a rocky hill. The marks were so 

 fresh that we all fully expected to see the beast 

 when we reached the summit, which we ap- 

 proached on our stomachs. To say that I was 

 excited is to put the matter mildly. I thought 

 they could all hear my heart going like a sledge- 

 hammer against my ribs. 



On reaching the crest I found that the ground 

 dipped away into a valley covered with a thick 

 vegetation, and careful observation showed that 

 the bison's tracks led straight down into this 

 valley. We went quietly down the slope, entered 

 the dense jungle, and proceeded cautiously. 



In every thicket I thought I saw the horns of a 

 bison, and for the next hour and a half as we 

 followed the tracks down the valley my senses 

 were kept on the qui vive. 



The tracks of the bull were so fresh that 

 Bishu thought we should run into him at any 

 moment, and my hopes were high of at last satis- 

 fying my ambition and meeting a bull bison face 

 to face. 



I had been so intensely interested in the tracking 

 work that I had paid scant attention to anything 

 else, and had not noticed the change in the weather. 

 A loud clap of thunder first drew my attention to 

 the fact that the sun had disappeared, and that 



"7 



