XI A COUPLE OF TIGERS 129 



which lent itself to the adventure later on. For 

 some unaccountable reason Kurrama, the herds- 

 man, was positive the tiger lurked between these 

 two rocks, and we were not more than twenty 

 yards off in an ugly position below them. Madha 

 cUmbed a sapling, and I watched his countenance, 

 which I had learned was most expressive. He 

 very shortly began imitating loud breathing and 

 pointed to the rocky knoll, then getting fright- 

 fully excited, gesticulated towards the grass. I 

 looked, and, lo and behold, from out those rocks 

 stepped Stripes. What with the grass and the 

 fact that his head and shoulders had already 

 disappeared behind another stone, I could only 

 get in a snapshot far back, but the shock of the 

 •375 bullet was so great that I saw his hind- 

 quarters and tail swirl over and disappear behind 

 the rock, from whence came angry mutterings. 

 I then saw some gymnastics worth looking at ! 

 Madha, who is an extremely lengthy individual, 

 was swinging on a sapling much too low in his 

 opinion to be safe ; suddenly I saw a long leg 

 stretched out, followed by an equally long arm 

 towards a Matti tree. His limbs just touched the 

 trunks, not sufficient to get a grip, so throwing 

 back his whole weight the sapling rebounded, 

 bringing him within grip, and next moment the 

 plucky tracker was thirty feet above ground. 



I looked round and found only Kurrama, the 

 herdsman, on foot, holding my spare rifle (a 12- 

 bore shot and ball) rigidly in front of him and 

 pointing straight for the small of my back. I 

 glanced at it to see if the safety catch was all 

 right, as I did not want a bullet through my vitals. 



K 



