ey were a buck and doe,--this
he knew because one of them only carried horns. The buck was under two
feet in height, of slender make, and pale tawny colour. He was
white-bellied, with white arches above the eyes, and some long white
hair under the throat. Below his knees were yellowish tufts of long
hair; and his horns--instead of being lyrate, like those of the
springbok--rose nearly vertical to the height of four inches. They were
black in colour, round-shaped, and slightly ringed. The doe was without
horns, and was a much smaller animal than her mate.

From all these marks Hendrik thought the little antelopes were
"ourebis;" and such they were.

He continued to stalk in upon them, until he was as close as he could
get. But he was still more than two hundred yards from them, and of
course far from being within shooting distance with his small rifle.

A thick _jong dora_ bush concealed him, but he dared not go farther else
the game would have taken the alarm. He could perceive that they were
shy creatures.

Every now and again the buck would raise his graceful neck to its full
stretch, utter a slight bleating call, and look suspiciously around him.
From these symptoms Hendrik drew the inference that it was shy game, and
would not be easily approached.

He lay for a moment, thinking what he should do. He was to leeward of
the game, as he had purposely gone there; but after a while, to his
chagrin, he saw that they were feeding up the wind, and of course
widening the distance between them and himself.

It occurred to Hendrik that it might be their habit to browse up the
wind, as springboks and some other species do. If so, he might as well
give it up, or else make a long circuit and head them. To do this would
be a work of labour and of time, and a very uncertain stalk it would be
in the end. After all his long tramping, and creeping, and crouching,
the game would be like enough to scent him before they came within
shot--for it is for this very reason that their instinct teaches them to
browse against, and not with the wind.

As the plain was large, and the cover very distant, Hendrik was
discouraged and gave up the design he had half formed of trying to head
them.

He was about to rise to his feet, and return home, when it occurred to
him that perhaps he might find a decoy available. He knew there were
several species of antelopes, with whom curiosity was stronger than
fear. He had often lured the springbok wi