152 STALKS ABROAD 



from the quilt and waved languidly to a couple 

 of chairs. 



" Sit down," said a voice in English. " Ouch ! 

 Ouch ! I have a very bad pain for three days ! " 



The arm disappeared and the centre of the quilt 

 heaved. We murmured appropriate condolences. 



It appeared from what I subsequently heard that 

 most of the Rajputs got badly crocked at the begin- 

 ning of the cold weather. 



" Ouch ! Ouch ! " continued the groans. " I will 

 send my shikari with you ! " Then, as Raj Singh's 

 English was not his strong point and our Rajput 

 nil, we cleared. 



Our guide led us all over the gardens, until in 

 an angle of the wall another and most imposing- 

 looking gentleman suddenly made his appearance 

 and thrust a hand upon each of us. He was very 

 courtly. Then he began a flow of remarks in fluent 

 Hindustani. 



We were quite at a loss until a happy thought 

 suddenly struck Robert. He tapped his cartridges. 

 The courtly gentleman shook his head. Then I 

 had a shot. 



" Chinkara ! " said I. 



The surrounding entourage grinned affably and 

 carried on a lengthy conversation among themselves. 

 Robert had another brain-wave. 



" Tonga ! " he exclaimed. We wanted to get 

 after chinkara, not stop talking a language we could 

 not understand. 



