"
He went, still wondering, and a few minutes later returned, his face and
head dripping, and whispered:
"Give me the gun. There is a reed buck standing close by. I saw it through
the mist; we'll have a jolly breakfast off him."
She handed him the _roer_, and crept after him out of the cave. About
thirty yards away to the right, looming very large through the dense fog,
stood the fat reed buck. Richard wriggled towards it, for he wanted to
make sure of his shot, while Rachel crouched behind a stone. The buck
becoming alarmed, turned its head, and began to sniff at the air, whereon
he lifted the gun and just as it was about to spring away, aimed and
fired. Down it went dead, whereon, rejoicing in his triumph like any other
young hunter who thinks not of the wonderful and happy life that he has
destroyed, Richard sprang upon it exultantly, drawing his knife as he
came, while Rachel, who always shrank from such sights, retreated to the
cave. Half an hour later, however, being healthy and hungry, she had no
objection to eating venison toasted upon sticks in the red embers of their
fire.
Their meal finished at length, they reloaded the gun, and although the
mist was still very dense, set out upon a journey of exploration, as by
now the sun was shining brightly above the curtain of low-lying vapour.
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