'make after'

Posted by Smokey Stover on July 30, 2006

In Reply to: 'make after' posted by S. Raghunandana on July 30, 2006

: Does the phrase 'make after' mean 'follow', as in, 'And I too make after him happily, and head home in the cool of the night'?

Yes, pretty much. That's what it means in the sentence that you provided. "Head after," "chase after" and "make after" all mean approximately the same thing as the OED explanation of "make after."
OED: "76. intr. to make after [--]. To go in pursuit of, pursue, follow. Cf. sense 70b.
a1592 R. GREENE Orpharion 32 Acestes..made after the King of Lidia, as fast as his men were able to march. 1600 ABP. G. ABBOT Expos. Jonah 177 When they were so pursued and made after by the chariots and horsemen of the Egyptians. 1688 J. BUNYAN Heavenly Foot-man 148 There is never a poor soul that is going to heaven, but the devil, the law, sin, death and hell makes after that soul. 1748 Anson's Voy. III. v. 336 His people made after them, in hopes of finding out their retreat. 1856 R. A. VAUGHAN Hours with Mystics I. VI. vii. 285 As he flounders about, out tumbles the book; he lets go his staff, and makes after it. 1895 K. GRAHAME Golden Age 177 Selina..thought he was going down to the pond to catch frogs..and made after him. 1938 R. FINLAYSON Brown Man's Burden 49 He made after the old man to bargain for the horse. 1953 M. TRAYNOR Eng. Dial. Donegal 179 To make after, to follow, pursue hastily."
Don't be misled by the word "pursue." It doesn't necessarily imply some hostile or sinister purpose. In your sentence, it means, probably, "follow closely enough to keep in sight."
SS