Af Sf. Marys 



degree taking aim. The frightened but 

 unhurt animals had disappeared ; and we 

 now found ourselves looking at each other 

 in a dazed sort of way, not just realizing 

 for a second what had taken place. But 

 it dawned on "us soon enough. 



Hardeman broke the silence. 



" Why, they were not more than fifty 

 yards away," said he in an incredulous 

 tone ; then, as the full extent of the calam- 

 ity broke upon him, he shrieked, "Great 

 Heavens, man ! We have missed them ! 

 We have missed them, I tell you." I was 

 aware of this, and made no reply, but re- 

 mained sitting where I was, elbows on my 

 knees, and head between my hands. I was 

 trying to puzzle out /low we had missed 

 them. 



" And they were not over fifty yards," 

 said Hardeman, his voice taking on a dis- 

 couraged tone of conviction. " Not an 

 inch over fifty yards, and we missed them, 

 we — missed — them." He fell to musing 

 again. 



We had forgotten the existence of our 

 guide until now, but we were made aware 

 of it by hearing a subdued chuckling as 

 he appeared from behind the rock where 

 we had left him. His chuckling was not 

 well-timed, and I reached for my rifle. 



293 



