fierce animal, and that he would butt me over, and gore me, to a
certainty.

"I turned my eyes to see what hope there lay in flight. Fortunately
they fell upon an ant-hill--the one I had just emerged from. I saw at a
glance, that by climbing it I would be out of reach of the fierce
wildebeest. Would I have time to get to it before he could overtake me?

"I ran like a frightened fox. You, Hendrik, can beat me running upon
ordinary occasions. I don't think you could have got quicker to that
ant-hill than I did.

"I was not a second too soon. As I clutched at the little turrets, and
drew myself up, I could hear the rattle of the wildebeest's hoofs behind
me, and I fancied I felt his hot breath upon my heels.

"But I reached the top cone in safety; and then turned and looked down
at my pursuer. I saw that he could not follow me any farther. Sharp as
his horns were, I saw that I was safe out of their reach."

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

BESIEGED BY THE BULL.

"Well," continued Hans, after a pause, "I began to congratulate myself
on my fortunate escape; for I was convinced that but for the ant-hill I
would have been trampled and gored to death. The bull was one of the
largest and fiercest of his kind, and a _very_ old one too, as I could
tell by the bases of his thick black horns nearly meeting over his
forehead, as well as by his dark colour. I had plenty of time to note
these things. I felt that I was now safe--that the wildebeest could not
get near me; and I sat perched upon the top of the central cone,
watching his movements with perfect coolness.

"It is true he did everything to reach my position. A dozen times he
charged up the hill, and more than once effected a lodgment among the
tops of the lower turrets, but the main one was too steep for him. No
wonder! It, had tried my own powers to scale it.

"At times he came so close to me in his desperate efforts, that I could
have touched his horns with the muzzle of my gun; and I had prepared to
give him a blow whenever I could get a good chance. I never saw a
creature behave so fiercely. The fact was, that I had hit him with my
bullet,--the wound was there along his jaw, and bleeding freely. The
pain of it maddened him; but that was not the only cause of his fury, as
I afterwards discovered.

"Well. After several unsuccessful attempts to scale the cone, he varied
his tactics, and commenced butting the ant-heap as though he would bring
it down.