"Easy, easy. Don't I tell you that you can't make anything by
rushing 'round. I want you to learn how to hunt, not to act like a
rattlehead. Now come with me and go slow and quiet, and we'll take a
look."
The two walked forward toward the mountain for a hundred yards or so,
Jack eagerly pressing forward, while Hugh walked slowly. The wind was
now blowing in their faces. At length Hugh pointed to their right and
ahead, and said to Jack, "Now, those antelope are over the ridge
there, lying down on the hillside. Do you want me to go up and find
'em, and then come back and get you, so's you can shoot at 'em, or
would you rather go up yourself and find 'em, and take the shot? You
can do just whichever you like."
"Oh, may I go up alone and do it all myself? That'll be splendid. I'd
rather do that than have any help," said Jack, "Can I start now?"
"Yes," said Hugh. "Go ahead, but mind and be careful, or else the
first thing you know you'll see them antelope a long way off. I'll
set here and smoke till I hear the shot." As he said this, Hugh sat
down on the ground, and putting his rifle beside him, felt in his
pocket for his pipe, while Jack went on towards the hilltop. He
walked very fast, keeping his eyes fixed on the crest of the hill
before him, and before he had come to the top of the ridge he was
breathing pretty fast. As he got nearer to the top, he began to be
still more excited. He remembered what Hugh had said about shooting
at a particular spot on the antelope, and he hoped he could hit it.
If he did, he felt sure that the antelope would drop. It would be
great to take the animal in and be able to say that he had killed it,
and not Hugh. Suddenly, as he was thinking of these things, he heard
a queer noise off to his left, and then he saw that he was on top of
the hill and could see over quite a good deal of the valley in front
of him. He thought that the antelope must be somewhere near here. He
began to look, very carefully, when suddenly he again heard this
curious noise, something like a person blowing his nose, and looking
hard in the direction of the sound, he suddenly saw two buck antelope
running away from him not very far off. They disappeared over a hill,
and in a moment were seen again much further off, running up a high
hill, on top of which they stopped and stood looking at him, again
making that curious sound. He felt sure that they were the antelope
he had been looking for, and he was so disappointed that he felt like
crying, only that would do no good. They were now much too far away
to shoot at. He watched them for a little while, and then began to
walk along the hilltop to make sure that there were no more antelope
there. He soon convinced himself of this, and then turned to go back
to Hugh. Before he had gone far, he saw him coming, riding his own
horse and leading the grey.
"Well," said Hugh, "I saw the antelope run off, and so I brought the
horses. What scared them?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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