He kept below the crest of the ridge and walked fast, until he had gone even farther than told to go. Finally he crept up the slope, and like his director, removed his hat and cautiously looked over the summit of the ridge. He as well as the antelope was in sight all the time, and Shagbark and Alden did not allow any of his movements to escape them. They saw him pass slowly over the top of the elevation and down the other side, where it was not so easy to trace him, because of the abundance of grass which screened the amateur hunter. “Sometimes I think he isn’t such a big fool as he looks,” said the guide, after Jethro had begun worming his way through the vegetation. “I couldn’t do any better than he’s done so fur, but it’s best to wait to see how he makes out.” “That is my opinion――helloa! what’s up now?” The largest of the animals, evidently a buck, was cropping the grass a few yards nearer the negro than were the other two animals. The three remained thus employed for some time after Jethro had left the base of the ridge. That which caused the exclamation of Alden was the action of the buck. He suddenly stopped grazing, threw his head high in air and stared in the direction of the invisible hunter. “He seems to be alarmed over something; it can’t be he has scented Jethro.” “I might think so, for it’s easy to do that with _him_, if it warn’t that the wind blows the wrong way. But they’re mighty cute critters, and the buck is scared over something. Now’s the time when the darky oughter stop.” “He seems to have done that. He is half hidden by the grass, but I don’t think he is stirring.” From their elevation the couple by using care could peer over the crest without drawing the attention of the game to themselves. Looking down on the colored youth, as he was partly revealed, it was evident he had noticed the action of the prongbuck. Jethro had ceased moving, and sank so flat on the ground that the game became invisible to him. Waiting thus a few minutes, he slowly raised his head, parting the spears in front until once more he saw the game. The two had not stopped grazing for a moment, and the buck now lowered his head and resumed feeding. If he had been alarmed his fears quickly left him. Jethro resumed his painstaking progress and kept it up until within two hundred yards of the group, no one of which raised a head. The distance was too great for a shot, though he might have succeeded in his aim. Seeming to think he had gone far enough, the youth now resorted to the usual trick, which has been described. Drawing his ramrod from its place under the barrel of his rifle, he placed his hat over one end and pushed the other down in the ground so hard that it stood upright without aid from him. That which followed was beyond the comprehension of either Shagbark or Alden.