“Are they?” asked Archie, excitedly. “Let’s shoot one of ’em,” and, springing from his saddle, he began to unbuckle his halter and hobble his horse, as he had seen the trapper do on a former occasion.
Frank followed his example, and then, securing their rifles, they threw themselves on their hands and knees, and began to crawl toward the game, which was fully a mile and a half distant. But that was no obstacle to the boys then. They would willingly have gone twice that far to have a shot at an antelope, if for nothing more than to show the trapper that they were better hunters than he had supposed. It is true they did not expect to succeed, but the name “antelope killers” was well worth trying for, and they determined to do their best. They crawled along slowly and as carefully as possible, pausing now and then to look over the grass at the animals, which, to their delight, they found were feeding directly toward them.
“I don’t think it is safe to go much further,” said Frank, after they had crawled nearly half the distance in this manner. “Let’s stop and see what we can do.”
“Well,” said Archie. “If you will hold up your handkerchief on your ramrod, I’ll try and shoot one of them, if they come near enough.”
Frank, in compliance with his cousin’s suggestion, drew his ramrod from his gun, fastened his handkerchief to it, and, throwing himself upon his back, carefully raised it above the grass. While in this position he could not, of course, see the movements of the game; but Archie kept vigilant watch, and at length whispered:
“They see it! They’re coming!”
The animals had, in reality, caught sight of the handkerchief, and, after regarding it for a few moments, they began to approach it—a fine large buck leading the way.
Now the boys knew that the hunt began in earnest. The least awkward movement on their part—the exposure of the smallest portion of their bodies, or the slightest noise in the grass—might, as Archie expressed it, “knock the whole thing in the head.” Frank lay perfectly quiet, watching the movements of his cousin; and he could tell, by the expression of his countenance, pretty near what the game was doing. When the antelopes stopped—which they did every few feet—Archie put on an exceedingly long face, as if fearful that they were about to turn and run; and when they approached, the fact would be indicated by a broad grin and a nervous twitching at the lock of his gun. For fully half an hour—it seemed much longer to the impatient boys—they remained in their place of concealment; but at length their patience was rewarded, for the game was within easy rifle range. In an instant Archie’s nervousness all vanished, and Frank almost held his breath when he saw him slowly, inch by inch, raise his gun to his shoulder. He took a long, steady aim, pulled the trigger, and sprung from the ground, shouting:
“I’ve got him! I’ve got him!”