CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
DECOYING AN ANTELOPE.
They had not rested more than five minutes, when their attention was again attracted to the prairie.

Another herd of antelopes! Strange to say, it was; and, like the former, these were making directly for the spring.

The hunters knew they were not the same; for this herd was much larger, and there were several males in it, easily distinguishable by their forked horns.
The guns were again loaded, and Marengo was called up--lest he might frighten them off.
These, like the others, marched in order, in single file--led by a large buck.

There appeared to be about thirty or more in this herd.

They had, no doubt, been pasturing all day on some far plain, and were now on their way to the water, determined to have a good drink before going to rest for the night.
When they had arrived within four or five hundred yards of the spring, they turned slightly to the left.