At him they rode till Mr. Clifford, who was a little ahead of his daughter, drew almost alongside.  Then the poor maddened brute tried its last shift.  Stopping suddenly, it wheeled round and charged head down.  Mr. Clifford, as it came, held out his rifle in his right hand and fired at a hazard.  The bullet passed through the bull, but could not stop its charge.  Its horns, held low, struck the forelegs of the horse, and next instant horse, man, and wilderbeeste rolled on the veld together.

Benita, who was fifty yards behind, uttered a little cry of fear, but before ever she reached him, her father had risen laughing, for he was quite unhurt.  The horse, too, was getting up, but the bull could rise no more.  It struggled to its forefeet, uttered a kind of sobbing groan, stared round wildly, and rolled over, dead.

“I never knew a wilderbeeste charge like that before,” said Mr. Clifford.  “Confound it!  I believe my horse is lamed.”

Lamed it was, indeed, where the bull had struck the foreleg, though, as it chanced, not badly.  Having tied a handkerchief to the horn of the buck in order to scare away the vultures, and thrown some tufts of dry grass upon its body, which he proposed, if possible, to fetch or send for, Mr. Clifford mounted his lame horse and headed for the waggon.  But they had galloped farther than they thought, and it was midday before they came to what they took to be the road.  As there was no spoor upon it, they followed this track backwards, expecting to find the waggon outspanned, but although they rode for mile upon mile, no waggon could they see.  Then, realizing their mistake, they retraced their steps, and leaving this path at the spot where they had found it, struck off again to the right.

Meanwhile, the sky was darkening, and at about three o’clock in the afternoon a thunderstorm broke over them accompanied by torrents of icy rain, the first fall of the spring, and a bitter wind which chilled them through.  More, after the heavy rain came drizzle and a thick mist that deepened as evening approached.

Now their plight was very wretched.  Lost, starved, soaked to the skin, with tired horses one of which was lame, they wandered about on the lonely veld.  Only one stroke of fortune came to them.  As the sun set, for a few moments its rays pierced the mist, telling them in what direction they should go.  Turning their horses, they headed for it, and so rode on until the darkness fell.  Then they halted a while, but feeling that if they stood still in that horrible cold they would certainly perish before morning, once more pushed on again.  By now Mr. Clifford’s horse was almost too lame to ride, so he led it, walking at his daughter’s side, and reproaching himself bitterly for his foolishness in having brought her into this trouble.

“It doesn’t matter, Father,” she answered wearily, for she was very tired.  “Nothing matters; one may as well die upon the veld as in the sea or anywhere else.”