Not any part of them was seen to move, except the long hair of their tails that waved slightly in the breeze; but this only excited the curiosity of the antelopes to a greater degree.
The leader of the herd seemed all at once to grow bolder.

He was a stout old buck--what had _he_ to fear?
Why should _he_ dread such creatures as these, without heads, or teeth, or claws, and evidently incapable of moving themselves?
No doubt they were inanimate objects.
He would soon decide that question, by simply stepping up and laying his nose upon one of them.
He was instigated, moreover, by a species of pride or vanity.

He wanted to show off his courage before his followers, who were mostly does; many of them his wives too--for the old antelopes are shocking polygamists.
It would never do to appear timid in the eyes of the fair does; and he was determined to cut a swagger.

Under this impulse, he walked boldly up, until his sharp snout touched the hair of one of the wolves.
The latter, who had been all the time peeping from under his tail, waiting for just such an opportunity, now sprang to his feet, and launched himself upon the throat of the antelope.

His comrades, uncoiling themselves at the same instant, followed his example; and the next moment the prong-horn was dragged to the ground, and worried by the whole pack! The frightened herd wheeled in their track and scattered right and left.
Some ran in the direction of the hunters; but so swiftly did they bound past, that the shots of the latter, aimed in haste, whistled idly over the prairie.