, aiming for a small clump of bush that stood
solitary at a distance of about fifty yards from a wide-open space which
the leopard must needs cross on his way to the village. Behind this we
all three posted ourselves, to await the arrival of the brute, for the
position was an excellent one in every respect, the bush being between
us and the spot where we supposed the leopard to be, while what little
wind there was blew from that direction toward us, and in front
stretched a wide, open, grassy space, with the stream trickling through
its midst.

We had scarcely settled ourselves behind the bush when our Basuto guide
gently touched me on the arm and silently pointed between the branches
toward a spot where the grass seemed to be swaying a little more
strongly than the soft breathing of the wind alone would account for;
and, looking intently, I presently perceived that this peculiar swaying
motion of the grass was stealthily progressing across the open space, as
though something hidden by the tall growth were cautiously moving there.
Apart from the peculiar motion of the grass, however, nothing was to be
seen, which was not surprising, since the growth down there was
breast-high; but a little farther on, where the village herd had been
turned out to graze, it was not so long. The oxen were there now, at
the far side of the patch of short grass, lying down asleep in charge of
a couple of boy herds, and it seemed to me that the mysterious movement
in the grass was progressing toward them. Presently one of the oxen
suddenly flung up his head, seemed to sniff the air for a few moments,
and then, with a low moan, rose to his feet, switching his tail from
side to side. The movement aroused the rest of the herd, who in turn
scrambled to their feet and stood, switching their tails, and all facing
the same way, namely, toward the spot where I had observed the
suspicious motion of the grass. But the motion had ceased now, and for
nearly a quarter of an hour we all stood there tense, waiting and
watching.

Then suddenly I detected anew the curious quivering and swaying of the
tufts, though so slight was it that for at least a couple of minutes I
could not be sure that my senses were not deceiving me. At length,
however, the movement grew sufficiently pronounced to convince me that
the leopard was once more creeping forward, and a few minutes later it
reached the spot where the grass had been kept comparatively short by
the gr