216 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



"What's that you say," I inquired, "abductor of 

 women ? " 



" Oh yes, sahib. The old blackguard ! Doesn't he just ! 

 Didn't a bear carry off a woman of our village and shut 

 her up in a cave all the rainy season ? " 



" When ? " 



" Oh, years ago, when I was a bachcha / ' 



"You seem to know a lot about it," said I. "But 

 perhaps the lady was a relative of yours, eh ? " 



" Nay, sahib, ham kaisa " But his abashed protes- 

 tations were drowned in the ill-suppressed cachinnations 

 of the other Korkus and an explosive and spirituous 

 choking from Lallu, a vagabond old bacchanalian, who 

 acted as my shikari at that time. 



Bdna, or " The Bear," became that luckless fellow's nick- 

 name thenceforth. It is curious how widespread is this 

 native notion regarding these ursine amourettes. 



One of the funny bits of this morning's work was the 

 look of startled surprise on the face of another sportsman, 

 who had received news of the same bear, but from another 

 source, and had ridden cheerfully six miles out, when he 

 suddenly met Bhdtii coming home in a cart ! 



To descend to sport of a somewhat tamer kind than 

 that which has been already described, there were plenty 

 of antelope within easy reach of Junglypur. 



By taking a tiffin-basket and spending the morning and 

 afternoon out in the plains, with a midday halt under some 

 shady grove of trees, a complete and healthy change was 

 to be had from the dull routine of station life ; while a 

 light tent and a slightly more elaborate arrangement of the 

 commissariat and transport enabled one to extend one's 

 range so as to include our one and only snipe and duck 

 ground, which lay some twenty-four miles to the eastward, 

 and in the vicinity of which the buck were numerous and 

 carried somewhat better heads than was the rule nearer 

 civilisation. In those parts a black buck bearing horns 



