o Chapter One []<br > The great， blazing ball of the sun shifted imperceptibly<br >from magenta， through red， to hot white as it rose majesti-<br >.caUy above the eastern horizon. Far out on the Northern<br >7_alambian plain， a herd of Grant s Zebra grazed， glancing<br > nervously at the cough of a lion.<br > "Simba， his is Dik-Dik. The whispery voice spoke mat-<br >ter-of-factly， seemingly from the empty African veldt. After<br >a moment s hesitation a small， tinny， equally disembodied<br >answer came.<br > "Ah... good on you， Old Boy，" the unmistakably British<br >inflection continued after exchanging call signals. "Our<br >friends should be along shortly. As I read this bloody map，<br >we re some three hours from your position and on a hot<br >spoor. Able is fairly panting， don t you know? Simba is<br >ovah and out." Only the faintest hint of Matabele accent<br >clung to the African s words.<br > Grass trembled slightly， then moved restlessly， as beneath<br >it Jason Trowbddgc cased a hand forward to press a little red<br >plastic plunger and snap up the tight-fitting dust cover from<br >the rear， then the objective， lens of the big Lcupold scope.<br >Hc snuggled into the buttstock of his lovingly rebuilt 1917<br >Enfield and began to sight in on various irregularities<br ><br >