VENGEANCE OF JHAPOO THE GOND 291 



ing up blanket and waterproof rug, I hugged my rifle 

 close, and cowered under the fury of the elements that 

 swept in a deluge over me, soaking and rocking my slender 

 perch to and fro in the groaning branches, blowing bodily 

 away the screen of leaves and boughs, and loosening the 

 bark lashings to such an extent that the entire structure 

 seemed on the verge of destruction. Presently, however, 

 the raging wind and rain began to slacken, and in a few 

 minutes more it suddenly ceased. A wrack of dirty cloud 

 spun whirling off, and revealed a clear, star-studded sky, 

 with the moon just dipping behind the loom of the tall 

 fort above. The calm air now cool, damp, and refreshed 

 resounded with slow, perpendicular drippings from the 

 neighbouring jungle. And, as I threw off my sodden 

 coverings and stood up in the dismantled machdn, a 

 delicate sheen in the remote east heralded the approach 

 of day. 



And so the tale of Jhcipoo's long-deferred revenge finds 

 its close. With the destruction of this last victim to com- 

 plete his fatal tally of the five khandis for a fine tiger lay 

 dead that morning among the prickly bushes that had 

 checked its spasmodic death-gallop the old G6nd had 

 effected his exit in a manner no doubt as fitting and as 

 soothing to his self-esteem as had been his long-imposed 

 reign of terror over the unfortunate feline race. The rain 

 had washed out every vestige of the night's wild doings ; 

 no amount of careful search on our part sufficed to shed a 

 light on the disappearance of the mysterious paste, the 

 Gondni, or the tigress that had been apparently responsible 

 for that startling conclusion ; and the sole tangible re- 

 mainder was an empty bunniatis chest, overturned, claw- 

 marked, splintered, and containing nothing but two strands 

 of twisted iron wire that had so long retained in position 

 the tibia of a stuffed Gond. 



Whether the ancient lady, his companion, was killed by 

 an indignant tigress which then disposed of the mummy 



