ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 321 



luck of the Chdta Sahib must indeed be evil, for, as your 

 honour sees, the tiger " 



" Don't mention it, Daghabdz Khan ! " came from aloft, 

 the confounding accents of the delighted Chdta Sahib him- 

 self. "Verily art thou the prince of shikaris; and, for 

 this my success to-day will I bestow on thee a testimonial 

 transcending in its flattering terms all those already in thy 

 possession ! " 



We now begin to see some of the difficulties likely to 

 beset the path of the undesired visitor on tigers intent. 



Although it is very tempting, the writer feels that too 

 much space has already been devoted to this subject to 

 allow of further anecdote exemplifying the working of the 

 wiles employed. The reader is therefore referred to the 

 Appendix, to the obscurity of which the disclosure of these 

 depravities is relegated. 



Most of the dodges therein revealed were picked up by 

 the writer sadly, regretfully, one by one, as they were 

 traced to one Jhoot Singh, a handsome, apostle- featured 

 shikari of Rajput descent, once deputed to accompany his 

 camp after the manner of the confidential gillie who leads 

 the deluded guest into a Scottish deer forest with tacit 

 instructions to " show " a few stags. 



Gifted with a most prepossessing exterior, and a cool 

 stout heart, such a past master of the arts of humbug and 

 chicane was Jhoot Singh that it was not until a year or two 

 later that his true character transpired, when, bit by bit, 

 the puzzle of his subtleties was pieced together. So clever 

 had he been that a handsome "douceur" had changed 

 hands on the occasion of our parting which was accom- 

 panied by expressions of mutual esteem. 



The manner of Jhoot Singh's exposure was thus. The 

 writer had met the very *Dipty Sahib * who had then been 

 in charge of that district a man of a somewhat jealous, 

 ardent nature and he had been so goaded by a delicate 

 reference to the success that the writer had forced, in spite 

 Y 



