Having carefully marked the position of the different herds, the hunters drew silently back down the ridge, and following in the lead of the colonel made a detour of a mile or more, in order to reach some hillocks on the leeward side of the game, under cover of which they could approach some hundreds of yards nearer to the spot on which they were grazing.
On reaching this place of concealment, they dismounted for a few minutes to tighten their saddle-girths, arrange their lassoes and look to their revolvers; and, when everything was ready for the exciting chase that was to follow, they rode out on the plateau and showed themselves to the antelope.
The actions of the animals, who were thus disturbed at their quiet repast by the sudden appearance of enemies whose presence they had never suspected, astonished Oscar.
Instead of setting off in full flight at once, as he had expected they would, they one and all made a few “buck-jumps”—that is, sprang straight up and down in the air; and then, running together in a group, stood and stared at the intruders.
But when the colonel, with a wild Indian yell and a wave of his hat, dashed toward them at the top of his speed, they scattered like leaves before a storm, and made off at their best pace.
Oscar followed close at the colonel’s heels, the gallant little black on which he was mounted easily keeping pace with the officer’s more bulky horse; and presently he saw a full-grown doe, with a couple of fawns at her side, break away from the others and direct her course across the plateau toward the lower prairie that lay beyond.
“There’s your chance, Preston!” shouted the colonel. “Shoot the doe and lasso the youngsters. You’ll never find finer specimens if you hunt until your hair is as white as mine. Go it, now, and don’t forget that the louder you yell the more fun you’ll have!”
The hubbub that arose behind him made Oscar believe that the other members of the party must be of the same opinion.
The chorus of whoops and howls that rent the air when the game was seen in full flight was almost enough to raise a doubt in his mind as to whether his hunting companions were friendly white men or hostile Indians.
