148 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



had driven off the brute, and the man had been rescued, 

 only, however, to expire in the village, whither he had 

 been borne. The panther had retreated into the hills. 



I asked to see the victim of this latest outrage, and was 

 led down the central " street " of the Korku village. The 

 cow-herd was lying on a charpai, just as he had died ; 

 some vein in the neck had been severed, and, in spite of 

 a rough bandage, a dark patch of blood was congealing on 

 the ground under the string bedstead. There were the 

 usual deep holes in the throat and on the nape of the neck, 

 and the Belkhera man-eater's mark was there ! A long 

 strip of skin and hair had been torn off and hung from the 

 dead man's scalp ! 



All this time the female relatives of the victim were 

 making the most dreadful and to their mind highly 

 commendable noise as they sat around. One could scarcely 

 make one's self heard ; so I retreated to a distance to in- 

 quire more fully into the circumstances of this last attack 

 the boldest of all. The patel of the village suggested that 

 I should once more make use of the body of the panther's 

 victim. " The whole neighbourhood was terrorised," said 

 he, " and the villagers dared not enter the ramnah for 

 grass, save in compact parties. Their very means of exist- 

 ence was threatened. The sahib must really rid them of 

 this scourge ! " 



To this, however, there was an impediment : the relatives 

 of the dead man would not permit the body to be re- 

 moved ! 



I sat down and waited, while a fearful pandemonium of 

 altercation ensued, through which I could make out the 

 shrill voices of the female relations haggling over a ques- 

 tion of baksheesh. 



Finally, it was settled that I might have the use ol 

 their corpse until dark : after that nothing would induce 

 them to permit it to remain out the shtr might return 

 and eat of it ! 



