IN THE JUNGLE 11 



and knew also that there was not even a native hut 

 for miles. Then the idea first came to me that I had 

 heard the devil-bird, which I had heard spoken of 

 before. With that idea I comforted myself and rode 

 slowly on. 



If I have not given the reader any idea of the 

 horribleness of the thing, it is because I believe it 

 impossible for mere description to do it. If anything 

 further were needed to prove its efPect on a heedless 

 youngster of twenty, the proof lies in the fact that 

 half an hour later I nearly shot my own groom from 

 pure nervousness and — fear. For, noting that I was 

 followed — stealthily, as I thought — by a native, I 

 pulled up, and, covering him with the revolver, 

 challenged him. 



" Sir, sir, do not shoot ! " cried the suspicious figure, 

 and I at once recognised the voice of my groom. It 

 appears he had lost his way, and stopped at some 

 native huts till he should hear me ride past on my 

 return. Many years have passed since then, but the 

 memory of that occurrence is as fresh in my mind 

 as ever. 



One more mystery of the jungle — and one to which 

 I have never been able to get the slightest explanation 

 — and I have done with horrors. 



Some months had elapsed, and I was no longer alone 

 in the little bungalow on the hill, having taken into 

 partnership another officer, who, however, did not 

 belong to my own regiment. On the night I am 

 about to speak of my chum was dining out, and I was 

 alone. It may have been ten o'clock or later, and I 

 was lying in a China long-chair reading. 



Before I go further I must give a brief description 

 of the bungalow itself, so that what follows may be 



