MISSED BY AN INCH! 



A month or two went by, and the tigers, as is their 

 wont, seemed to have abandoned that locality for a while. 

 However, one morning, after a night of heavy rain, a 

 coolie passing by a jungle, discovered some fresh pugs. 

 Another venerable bullock was accordingly procured and 

 tied up in that jungle after sunset near a good-sized tree. 



The luckless beast was killed that night, but little of it 



eaten, and early the next evening G , full of energy and 



hope, took up his position on the tree, from whence the 

 " kill " was visible about twenty yards away. There was 

 still an hour or two of daylight left, and as the place was 

 very solitary and quiet, he hoped the tiger might put in 

 an appearance before the night set in. 



For two long, weary hours he kept his lonely vigil, and 

 the light was now fast fading. Then suddenly there came 

 a rustling in the jungle, immediately behind him, as of 

 some animal cautiously approaching, and about ten minutes 

 later he heard it pass close under him. 



It was now too dark to distinguish objects clearly, but 

 presently he made out a shadowy shape stealing towards 

 the " kill." He knew instinctively it must be the tiger, 

 and, raising his rifle carefully, fired at what he judged to 

 be its shoulder. 



Whether the beast was hit or not it was impossible to 

 tell ; but at the unfamiliar sound breaking so suddenly 

 upon its ears, it sprang high into the air, and, with a loud 

 " Wough ! " of terror or surprise, bounded off into the 

 jungle. 



Half an hour later, his " shikari " and some coolies 



arriving with a lantern, G descended from his perch 



and examined the spot where the tiger had been when he 

 fired, hoping to find some blood. There was none, but a 

 foot beyond this spot and in the line of fire, he found his 

 bullet embedded in a stump, in front of which the animal 

 was passing at the time. An inch lower and the bullet 

 must have crashed through its shoulder ! 



It was tantalizing for the sportsman to find how nearly 

 he had succeeded. However, he was now assured that 

 tigers do sometimes come back to their " kills " a fact 

 his past experience had led him to discredit and he was 

 now keener than ever to carry on the war. 



85 



