A CHAPTER OF MISTAKES 65 



in the dark. Then he gave a spring, walked 

 under my tree, too directly underneath for me 

 to fire, and was gone. 



Again I slept, and the whole proceeding was 

 repeated. I would not fire at the obscure outline 

 in the dark, and so I never got him. This was 

 my wife's panther, and I wish I had fired. 



" Sahib, at any rate do fire, even if you miss," 

 said the younger shikari. He was right : rifles 

 that are never fired kill the enthusiasm of one's 

 people. 



The scene of interest then shifted back to the 

 plateau. Going round one morning, we missed 

 seeing a tiger who appeared to the men coming 

 to untie the tie-up just after we had left. 



There was then a kill in wild country on the 

 edge of a stream with deep ravines. A sambhur 

 " belled " at 1 a.m., and I was ready and waiting 

 when the tiger loomed up in the moonlight. He 

 gave the kill a tremendous tug and started eating. 

 I turned the weak torch on to him, but it mingled 

 with the moonlight and showed me nothing clearly. 

 However, I risked a shot. 



The tiger dashed off. I heard a heavy fall 

 and a groan, and then all was still. Next morning 

 we found much blood where the tiger had fallen 

 in a faint, but no tiger. We followed up through 

 awkward ground. The tracks emerged into the 

 stream bed, which was some ten yards wide. 

 Grass a couple of feet high grew in it. I believed 

 the tiger was sneaking forward : I was convinced 

 the grass was too low to hold him. Therefore 

 I told the men to follow the tracks while I ran 

 along the edge of the grass to a little bluff ahead. 



