"Now, Thompson," said he, "keep your ears open, and when you hear me shoot, turn the dogs loose and come on at your best pace."
A short run over a rocky piece of ground brought Oscar to the foot of one of the hills that composed the range of which we have spoken. There he stopped to take note of the direction of the wind, and to put to practical use one of the hunters' devices of which he had heard while he was on the plains.
He pulled up several handfuls of weeds and grass, and tied them around the crown of his hat in such a way that, when placed on the ground and viewed at the distance of fifteen or twenty steps, his head-piece looked like a luxuriant tuft of herbage that had been stepped on by something or somebody.
"I don't think that sentinel will suspect anything when he sees that," thought Oscar as he placed the hat on his head, picked up his rifle, and made his way toward the top of the hill on his hands and knees. "If it will work in America with so shy an animal as the pronghorn, as I have been assured it will, I do not see why it will not be equally successful here in Africa with a koodoo."
When Oscar reached the top of the hill he found that he was not mistaken in the opinion he had formed when he first caught sight of the sentinel buck. The old fellow still kept his position and stood gazing steadily in the direction in which he had seen Oscar and his after-rider disappear, and near the base of the hill that served him for a lookout station were the rest of the herd—a dozen of them in all—feeding in perfect security, knowing that their sharp-eyed and keen-scented guard would give them due notice of the approach of danger. Oscar could see them all without the aid of his field-glass, although they were fully half a mile away.
If the ground had been level the bare thought of stalking the koodoo under that broiling sun would have been enough to discourage Oscar; but fortunately it was cut up into deep gullies and ravines and covered with hummocks and boulders, which afforded him every opportunity for concealment. He was to leeward of the herd, too, and that was another thing that was in his favor.
"I wouldn't take fifty dollars for my chance of bagging that buck," thought Oscar as he crawled slowly through the grass, keeping his eyes fastened upon the sentinel. "He is looking the wrong way."
Before this thought had fairly been formed in the young hunter's mind the buck faced about and turned his head in Oscar's direction. He seemed to be looking straight at the young hunter, and to suspect something also, for now and then he raised one of his fore feet and stamped it spitefully on the ground.