The Rear Of The Column Was
Brought Up By A Magnificent Old Bull, And My
Heart Jumped For Joy As I Watched Him From The
Shelter Of The Bushes Behind Which I Lay
Concealed.
The next thing to be done was to decide
on a plan of attack, and this had to be
Thought of
without loss of time, for the wind was blowing
from me almost in the direction of the eland,
who would certainly scent me very soon if I
did not get away. Quickly noting the
direction in which they were moving, I saw that
if all went well they ought to pass close to a
little hillock about a mile or so off; and if I
were very sharp about it, I thought I could make
a circuit through the wood and be on this rise,
in a good position for both wind and cover,
before the herd could reach it. Accordingly I
crept away with the object of finding my mount,
but to my delight - just behind me and well
hidden - stood the undefeated Landaalu, who in
some mysterious way had followed me up, found
the pony where I had left it tied to a tree, and
brought it on to me. With a bright grin on his
face he thrust the reins into my hand, and I was
up and galloping off in an instant.
I soon discovered that I had further to go than
I expected, for I was forced to make a big detour
in order to keep out of sight of the herd; but on
halting once or twice and peeping through the
trees I saw that all was going well and that they
were still calmly moving on in the right direction.
The last quarter of a mile had to be negotiated
in the open, but I found that by lying flat down
on my pony's back I was completely hidden from
the advancing herd by an intervening swell in
the ground.
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