mong a patch if mimosa trees, were the
buffaloes--six of them--an old bull with a splendid head, three cows, a
heifer and a calf about four months old. Neither the wind nor the nature
of the veldt were favourable for them to stalk the game from their
present position, so they made a detour of half a mile and very
carefully crept towards them up the wind, slipping from trunk to trunk
of the mimosas and when these failed them, crawling on their stomachs
under cover of the tall _tambuti_ grass. At last they were within forty
yards, and a further advance seemed impracticable; for although he could
not smell them, it was evident from his movements that the old bull
heard some unusual sound and was growing suspicious. Nearest to Hadden,
who alone of the party had a rifle, stood the heifer broadside on--a
beautiful shot. Remembering that she would make the best beef, he lifted
his Martini, and aiming at her immediately behind the shoulder, gently
squeezed the trigger. The rifle exploded, and the heifer fell dead, shot
through the heart. Strangely enough the other buffaloes did not at once
run away. On the contrary, they seemed puzzled to account for the sudden
noise; and, not being able to wind anything, lifted their heads and
stared round them.

The pause gave Hadden space to get in a fresh cartridge and to aim
again, this time at the old bull. The bullet struck him somewhere in the
neck or shoulder, for he came to his knees, but in another second was up
and having caught sight of the cloud of smoke he charged straight at it.
Because of this smoke, or for some other reason, Hadden did not see him
coming, and in consequence would most certainly have been trampled or
gored, had not Nahoon sprung forward, at the imminent risk of his own
life, and dragged him down behind an ant-heap. A moment more and the
great beast had thundered by, taking no further notice of them.

"Forward," said Hadden, and leaving most of the men to cut up the heifer
and carry the best of her meat to camp, they started on the blood spoor.

For some hours they followed the bull, till at last they lost the trail
on a patch of stony ground thickly covered with bush, and exhausted by
the heat, sat down to rest and to eat some _biltong_ or sun-dried flesh
which they had with them. They finished their meal, and were preparing
to return to the camp, when one of the four Zulus who were with them
went to drink at a little stream that ran at a distance of not more