He Had Gone
Down Wind; It Would, Therefore, Be Impossible To Follow Upon His
Tracks.
Our only resource was to make another circuit, when,
should his tracks not have crossed the arc, we should be sure
that he was to windward.
Accordingly, we described half a circle
of about five hundred yards. No tracks had crossed our path; the
ground was stony and full of hollows, in which grew a few
scattered mimosas, while the surface of the earth was covered in
many places with dark brown masses of basalt rock. We carefully
stepped over this uneven ground, lest some falling stone might
give the alarm, and we momentarily expected to be in view of the
enemy as we arrived at the edge of each successive hollow. Sure
enough, as I glanced down a sudden inclination covered with
scorched mimosas, I perceived him standing on the slope beneath
a tree within five-and-thirty paces; this was close enough, and
I took a steady shot behind the shoulder. The instant that I
fired, he whisked sharply round, and looked upon all sides for
the cause of his wound. I had taken the precaution to kneel down
immediately after firing, and I now crouched close to a rock
about two feet high, with which my brown blouse matched exactly,
as well as my skin-covered hunting-cap. For a few moments he
sought upon all sides for an enemy, during which I remained like
a block of stone, but with my finger on the trigger ready for the
left-hand barrel should he charge.
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