fifteen minutes through my binoculars.
They were feeding in a vast semicircle, entirely unconscious of my
presence. Suddenly every head went up; they stared fixedly toward
the west for a moment, and were off like the wind. About five
hundred drew together in a compact mass, but a dozen smaller herds
scattered wildly, running in every direction except toward me. They
had seen the lama before he had succeeded in completely encircling
them, and the drive was ruined.

The Mongols kill great numbers of antelope in just this way. When a
herd has been located, a line of men will conceal themselves at
distances of two or three hundred yards, while as many more get
behind the animals and drive them toward the waiting hunters.
Sometimes the gazelles almost step on the natives and become so
frightened that they run the gantlet of the entire firing line.

I did not have the heart to race again with our exhausted ponies,
and we turned back toward the carts which were out of sight. Scores
of antelope, singly or in pairs, were visible on the sky line and as
we rode to the summit of a little rise a herd of fifty appeared
almost below us. We paid no attention to them; but suddenly my pony
stopped with ears erect. He looked back at me, as much as to say,
"Don't you see those antelope?" and began gently pulling at the
reins. I could feel him tremble with eagerness and excitement.
"Well, old chap," I said, "if you are as keen as all that, let's
give them a run."

With a magnificent burst of speed Kublai Khan launched himself
toward the fleeing animals. They circled beautifully, straight into
the eye of the sun, which lay like a great red ball upon the surface
of the plain. We were still three hundred yards away and gaining
rapidly, but I had to shoot; in a moment I would be blinded by the
sun. As the flame leaped from my rifle, we heard the dull thud of a
bullet on flesh; at the second shot, another; and then a third.
"_Sanga_" (three), yelled the lama, and dashed forward, wild with
excitement.

The three gazelles lay almost the same distance apart, each one shot
through the body. It was interesting evidence that the actions of
working the lever on my rifle and aiming, and the speed of the
antelope, varied only by a fraction of a second. In this case, brain
and eye and hand had functioned perfectly. Needless to say, I do not
always shoot like that.

Two of the antelope were yearling bucks, and one was a large doe.
The lama took th