ii THE ELEPHANT 41 



This was immediately accepted, and leaving the elephants to 

 form line, I hurried forward on Nielmoune', keeping in the grass 

 outside the edge of the long jungle. 



I had advanced about three-quarters of a mile, when the 

 character of the jungle changed to tamarisk, and I felt certain that 

 I was near the spot of yesterday. I accordingly ordered the mahout 

 to turn into the thick feathery foliage to the left, in search of the 

 remembered water. There was a slight descent to a long but 

 narrow hollow about 50 or 60 yards wide ; this was filled with 

 clear water for an unknown length. 



I was just about to make a remark, when, instead of speaking, 

 I gently grasped the mahout by the head as I leaned over the 

 howdah, and by this signal stopped the elephant. 



There was a lovely sight, which cheered my heart with that 

 inexpressible feeling of delight which is the reward for patience and 

 hard work. About 120 yards distant on my left, the head and 

 neck of a large tiger, clean and beautiful, reposed above the surface, 

 while the body was cooling, concealed from view. Here was our 

 friend enjoying his quiet bath, while we had been pounding away 

 up and down the jungles which he had left. 



The mahout, although an excellent man, was much excited. 

 " Fire at him," he whispered. 



" It is too far to make certain," I replied in the same xmdertone. 



" Your rifle will not miss him ; fire, or you will lose him. He 

 will see us to a certainty and be off. If so, we shall never see him 

 again," continued Fazil, the mahout. 



"Hold your tongue," I whispered. "He can't see us, the sun 

 is at our back, and is shining in his eyes see how green they are." 



At this moment of suspense the tiger quietly rose from his bath, 

 and sat up on end like a dog. I never saw such a sight. His 

 head was beautiful, and the eyes shone like two green electric 

 lights, as the sun's rays reflected from them, but his huge body 

 was dripping with muddy water, as he had been reclining upon the 

 alluvial bottom. 



" Now's the time," whispered the over-eager mahout. " You 

 can kill him to a certainty. Fire, or he'll be gone in another 

 moment." 



"Keep quiet, you fool, and don't move till I tell yon." For 

 quite a minute the tiger sat up in the same position ; at last, as 

 though satisfied that he was in safety and seclusion, he once more 

 lay down with only the head and neck exposed above the surface. 



" Back the elephant gently, but do not turn round," I whispered. 

 Immediately Nielmonne' backed through the feathery tamarisk 



