106 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



A consultation elicited the information that there were 

 same caves below those rocks. I then went cautiously 

 forward, and found myself on top of a long terrace of 

 perpendicular sandstone, about twenty feet high, running 

 along the face of the hill. At the foot of this cliff came 

 a narrow ledge, and below this again a sloping face of 

 smooth rock that, becoming ever steeper, at length dropped 

 over the edge of another cliff. At the bottom of this 

 lower cliff was a mass of big boulders, and thorny jungle 

 crept up thus far from the surrounding woods. 



I had previous experience of she-bears, which I had 

 known to come viciously charging up fifty yards of rocky 

 hillside for nothing at all but the sound of a human voice ; 

 so I stood quietly there to elaborate some scheme by which 

 the old lady might be "drawn" without compromising 

 anybody's safety. As I did so, I heard a bear snuffling and 

 grunting, about a hundred yards off, nearer the foot of the 

 hill; so I ran on tiptoe along the rocks to find that the 

 beast, which had evidently become suspicious, was making 

 off into the jungled plain below. I followed the noises 

 for about half an hour without coming up with the bear, 

 then lost them, and returned to the hill, rating the shikdris 

 for not having marked the game down with greater 

 accuracy. 



Since only one bear had been seen, and the hill and caves 

 had been watched from before dawn, it was natural to con- 

 clude that that bear was the one I had heard going away, 

 and that the caves were therefore vacant : so I came 

 climbing up in a slanting direction, and joined the men ; 

 after which we all clambered on to the narrow ledge 

 before described and began looking for marks along it, 

 out of mere curiosity to see the place. 



I had quite given up all hope of any sport that morn- 

 ing, and was ruminating on the shockingly gameless con- 

 dition of the country in which I had already wasted a 

 useless fortnight. I went slowly along the ledge, followed 



