It knew it was not swift enough to run them down, but it might get close enough to spring upon them.

It was favoured to some extent by the ground; for, although it was open prairie, the white withered grass of the previous year rose here and there over the new growth in tufts, large enough to conceal its body as it squatted.
Nearly in a direct line between the lynx and the hares grew a solitary tree, of the _pecan_ species, with spreading limbs; and almost under it was a little patch or thicket of briars, weeds, and high grass--no doubt where some old log, or the carcass of an animal, had mouldered away, and fertilised the soil.

For this the lynx was making on one side, and towards it the hares were feeding on the other.
The latter had got very near it, and near, too, to the boys, who could now distinguish their long, erect ears, slender limbs, and graceful motions--resembling, in fact, those of the common hare.

Their colour, however, was different.

It was a rusty fern, lighter underneath, but in no part--not even under the tail--did any white appear.