CHAPTER XV 



THE old man's story took him some time to relate, for 

 much of it was told in quite oratorial style, with pauses 

 here and there to point the tragic portions ; thus, although 

 told in an execrable kind of Billingsgate Hindustani, it 

 was nevertheless an artistic piece of diction. 



When he had concluded, we rewarded him for the 

 entertainment he had given us with a tot of neat brandy 

 which he was rather partial to, and swallowed at a gulp, 

 rubbing the pit of his stomach by way of expressing 

 its agreeable effects, then salaaming to each of us in turn, 

 retired to join his comrades, who had all been seated, 

 listening open-mouthed, outside. 



We sat up for a while after he left, smoking and dis- 

 cussing his strange story, but tired out with our long and 

 arduous journey, the excitement caused by the sudden 

 appearance of the bears had no sooner subsided, than 

 nature reasserted her claims and aided by the silent, 

 soporific nature of our surroundings, we soon dropped off 

 to sleep. The rest of the night passed uneventfully, 

 though later on we were disturbed from time to time by 

 the calls of various animals in the distance the most 

 frequent of them being the peculiar, bell-like sound made 

 by the sambur, and finally by one which, if once heard, 

 can never be forgotten or mistaken for any other. 



It was just as day w T as breaking though still dark 

 as night with us when we were roused from our deepest 

 sleep by this loud, appalling cry a long-drawn, rever- 

 berating roar, which I can only liken to that strange, 

 awe-inspiring sound which generally precedes an earth- 

 quake in the East and makes one wonder what will happen 

 next ! 



Continuing with short intervals for nearly half an hour, 

 122 



