e shot instead of me. It makes
no difference, so that we don't lose our supper; for," he added,
dismally, "the dinner is already gone."

When another half-hour had passed, he was sure his chum was on the other
side of the herd.

"There must be a break pretty soon. Suppose that instead of coming
toward me," added Jack, giving expression to a dread that had not
occurred to him until then, "they dash off into the mountains on either
side. Then we shall be doomed to starvation!"

He thought that with the aid of his glass he would be able to follow
Fred as he stole down the side of the valley, since the position of the
spectator was much more elevated than that of the antelope. It would
require sharp scrutiny even with the aid of the instrument to do this,
and, look as keenly as he might, he could discover nothing that
suggested anything of that nature.

When three o'clock went by without any evidence of alarm among the
animals browsing in the middle of the valley, Jack Dudley began to
wonder what it could mean.

"Fred was sure that a single hour was enough to place himself on the
further side of them, and double that time has passed. He ought to be
well down the slope, but I can see nothing of him."

One fact, however, was apparent: the antelope were steadily though
slowly working toward the ridge on which the young man lay. At the rate
they were advancing it would not be long before it would be safe to try
a shot.

This progress could not be laid to any alarm coming from the other side.
If the animals received fright they would be off with the speed of the
wind, instead of inching along in the fashion they were now following.

"It begins to look as if I am to secure the meal, after all," thought
Jack, forgetting his slight uneasiness for his friend in his growing
excitement.

The following minute gave proof of the timidity of the American
antelope. With all the care possible, the youth extended his gun in
front of him over the slope, but the herd took the alarm on the instant,
though it seemed impossible that they should have seen or heard
anything. The leader raised his head, and whirling to one side, started
at a swift gallop toward the other end of the valley, the rest of the
animals being hardly a second behind him.

The peculiar panic and stampede of the creatures gave Jack Dudley the
best possible target, though the shot was a long one. He did not aim at
the leader, but at a smaller animal that immediate