198 AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 



I read : " The bearer of this, Kazima, has shown me a 

 number of bears, and I can highly recommend him as a 

 capital shikaree," to which was appended the signature of 

 the fortunate man with whom our friend had been shooting 

 bears among the groves of wild fruit-trees in the vale. 

 When I had finished reading, he covered his face with 

 his hands arid laughed immoderately. It was the first 

 shikar testimonial he had ever got. He informed me he 

 was then on his way to Baramoola to try and pick up 

 another sahib of the same sort as his last employer. I 

 wished him good luck as he went on his way rejoicing. 



Several years after, I chanced to meet him again in 

 Srinuggur, looking a mightier swell than ever. He was 

 then in service as a shikaree, and begged me not to divulge 

 his antecedents in that line. His gratitude was freely 

 expressed when I told the good fellow there was little 

 chance of my so doing, and all the less since, for aught I 

 knew, he might now have become quite a proficient in the 

 art of venery. 



