88 RIFLE AND SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



his absence no one had authority to pay for a fowl 

 which a villager brought for sale. Its owner conse- 

 quently declined to give up possession, and, tying a 

 string round its leg, sat down to warm himself by the 

 kitchen fire. This was more than the much-tried cook 

 could stand, and seizing an alpenstock he fell on his 

 adversary. Again the camp joined in the fray, and the 

 chicken, availing itself of the opportunity to escape, flew 

 up a tree. At last all sat down to argue the matter 

 out (rather an Irish parliament, in which sticks repre- 

 sented the major arguments) when a simple peasant 

 happening to pass by, absently picked up the chicken, 

 and concealing it inside his clothes, continued his way 

 homewards. He was quickly stopped by our chuprassie 

 and brought before Alan, red-handed with the theft. 



He pleaded that domestic fowls do not live in trees, 

 and chancing to see what he imagined to be a wild 

 animal belonging to nobody, he naturally took it. Alan 

 ordered the (chicken) bone of contention to be restored 

 to its proper owner, who in an excess of gratitude placed 

 it at his feet, and departed salaaming, after having 

 accepted some four times its value. I could not un- 

 derstand what they were saying, but this is what I 

 gather from my ayah's extremely vivid and verbose 

 account. 



Except when any game is shot, chickens form our 



