HARD LUCK. 261 



punkah, which never stops, we were able to keep the 

 temperature of our bungalow down to about eighty- 

 five degrees at noon. Of course the rooms were 

 nearly dark.) We were even thinking whether we 

 might not dispense with the punkah at night shortly. 

 Still, it was hot enough. 



One morning my shikari returned from an expe- 

 dition in search of game. I may remark that most 

 of these expeditions in search of game are apocryphal, 

 the shikari merely spending two or three days in the 

 bosom of his family, and trusting to bazaar rumours 

 for news of game. 



"Well/' I said, " where have you been?" 



" Danta jungles, sahib." 



" What khubber (intelligence) have you brought?" 



" Bot nilghai hi, sahib, ek burra byle hi" (There 

 are many nylghai there, sahib, there is one big 

 bull.) 



Nylghai are not much sought after as a rule, but I 

 had nothing particular on hand, so I determined to try 

 for this bull. After a dispute with the shikari on the 

 number of beaters necessary, which I cut down to a 

 dozen, I dismissed him, promising to meet him at 

 Danta next morning. 



Accordingly, having discussed my early tea, I 

 mounted my horse and cantered off to the rendezvous, 

 which was only some four miles away. Here I found 

 the shikari and his beaters, some of whom had seen 

 the bull, accompanied by four cows, leaving the jungle 

 at daylight. They had entered a jungle-covered valley 

 in the mountain, from which they had not been seen 



