362 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



" Heave ! Heave, heave, ye land-lubbers ! Heave ! " 

 They heaved. The K6rku's head reappeared the eyes 

 starting forward in a scandalised but mute remonstrance, 

 the great blubberous lips twisted agonisingly under that 

 relentless grasp on his scalp-raised hair ! But, noble youth, 

 he stuck to his part of the job. Painfully was he drawn 

 up, scraping over the rough rock. His hand emerged, 

 twisted into a black and white banded tail. The tail was 

 followed by the bedraggled hinder extremities of its 

 spotted owner. There was a wild rush of naked feet and 

 helping hands ; a last heave ; and I had landed my first 

 and last panther in the Mungbung District. 



