"Why, the fennec--the same I saw last night--yonder it is, though you can't see it with the naked eye. I can barely make it out with the glass. It is up close by the nest of the ostriches, and appears busy about something." "The eggs, I warrant," suggested Groot Willem. "A fox-chase! a fox-chase!" exclaimed Hendrik, partially recovering temper. "A fox-chase!" echoed Klaas and Jan. "A fox-chase be it then," assented Hans; and all six set their horses in motion, whistling to the buck-dogs to follow. They headed directly for the ostriches' nest. They were not going to make a circuit for such an insignificant creature as the little fennec. They knew that it could only escape them by getting to a hole, as they had dogs that could trail and run it down go where it would. It was probable that its burrow was not very near. It had evidently strayed away from home, and "dogged" the ostriches to their nest, so as to get at their eggs. Swartboy alleged that such was its habit--that it was fonder of eggs than any other food--and that the eggs of the great bird were its particular favourites. That it was constantly roving about in search of ostrich-nests; and as these are very difficult, even for a fox to find, the fennec, when it suspects that the ostriches are laying, will follow them for miles to discover the nest--just as Hans had seen this one do. Swartboy had given all this information on the preceding night, which, of course, explained the mystery of such a small creature running upon the trail of the great ostriches. It was not _them_, but _their eggs_, it wanted. Now there was still a mystery Swartboy had not explained; and that was, how this animal, when it found the eggs, was able to _get at their contents_? The shell of the ostrich-egg is thick and strong. It requires a considerable blow with some hard weapon to break it, and how a puny creature, like the little fennec, could effect a breach was a mystery to all, but especially to the naturalist Hans. The fennec was no stranger to him. He had seen many of them in captivity. He knew something of their anatomy. He knew that their skulls were destitute of the ridge in which the temporal muscles are inserted, and that consequently they were weak-jawed animals--much more so than the common fox. It was not possible for them to have broken the shell of an ostrich-egg with their jaws. He knew that it was equally impossible for them to effect that purpose with the claws of their feet--the soles of which are covered with soft wool, as in the Arctic fox--a peculiarity considering that the fennec is an inhabitant of the hottest climes, and one quite unexplained by naturalists! From the strength and structure of the animal, Hans believed it could no more have got at the contents of an ostrich-egg than it could have eaten its way into the heart of a bomb-shell.