258 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



a period of time ; but the peculiar condition of the ground, 

 which had been baked hard by the sun after a heavy 

 thunderstorm, made it almost impossible to track. There 

 was no dust. The covert, though thick along the steep 

 banks of the winding Kokri, was of small extent and had 

 been thoroughly worked through by the elephant. After 

 a couple of hours of hard work it seemed as though we 

 must confess ourselves beaten; and then the light began to 

 wane. 



" The elephant had been discarded, and Jhapoo and 

 I stood in the deep-cut, boulder-paved, dry bed of the 

 Kokri. The sun was dipping low on the horizon, and a 

 comparatively cool air the forerunner of an Indian dusk 

 was barely perceptible in the stifling heat. We had worked 

 up to an elbow in the nullah close to a deep pool and not 

 far from the junction of the Kokri with the broad and 

 sandy Tapti. Jhapoo stood silently thoughtful, a dis- 

 satisfied look on his face as he gently and reflectively 

 scratched himself. Suddenly he spoke in a low voice. 



" ' Send the elephant to camp, sahib} said he ; * there 

 is but one way now ! ' Then to himself he passed a few 

 energetic remarks of the untranslatable kind, reflecting on 

 the character of the female relatives of the beast which 

 had given us the slip so long. 



" Making his preparations with studied deliberation, and 

 posting me on the high bank above, the old Gond stood 

 awhile in the rocky ndla immersed in deep reflection. 

 Night was swiftly falling, and the pale clear light of an 

 almost full moon struggled with the yellow glow of 

 a hot, dusty sunset. Suddenly in the dusk Jhapoo 

 stretched out his hand and gathered some of the broad 

 strong leaves of the crimson-flowered dhdk tree ; and 

 choosing a round and polished stone of about the size 

 of a man's fist from those at his feet, he wrapped it in the 

 leaves until quite hidden. Then he walked out into 

 the dim bed of the dry stream, lifted a heavy boulder, 



