TIGERLAND 



whispered the " shikari," with the confidence born of his 

 knowledge of the cat tribe and their ways ; and he was right, 

 for presently they perceived a dense grey fog rising from 

 the valley and coining up rapidly with the wind. 



Here was a fresh difficulty to contend with, for the 

 panther, though possibly within range, was still too far 

 to make certain of a hit. Jones, fairly puzzled for the 

 time, resolved at length to wait and chance its coming 

 nearer before the mist came up. But he had under- 

 estimated the extraordinary cunning and keen senses of 

 these animals, for as he stood waiting, the beast becoming 

 suddenly suspicious turned quickly round and galloped 

 off into the jungle. 



" We shall not see him any more to-day, sahib," 

 whispered the " shikari " again ; and Jones, knowing he was 

 right, now turned his attention once more to the bucks, 

 and to make quite sure of them as some consolation for 

 the panther he had lost, tried to improve his position ; 

 but in his attempt to do so ran into some outlying does 

 he had not noticed. These gave the alarm at once, and 

 the next moment the whole herd ran off at lightning speed. 



Fortunately the buck ran all together in a bunch, and 

 Jones, hurriedly bringing up his rifle, fired into the group, 

 getting off four barrels before they were out of range. 

 And then a strange thing happened, an incident probably 

 hitherto unparalleled in the history of sport to wit the 

 strange proceeding of a hunter being assisted in his hunt 

 *by one of the animals he was hunting ! 



The incident referred to happened in this way. As 

 the ibex in the first rush of their alarm made off, they took 

 the direction of the jungle in which the panther had just 

 entered; but winding this beast almost immediately or 

 perhaps catching sight of it pulled up with one accord. 

 Then, finding themselves as it were between two fires, 

 completely lost their heads, and running to and fro from 

 one point of danger to the other, were evidently too 

 bewildered to decide which of the two impending perils 

 it was most expedient to avoid. 



Meanwhile Jones, taking full advantage of the assistance 

 so opportunely given, and caring little at the moment how 

 or whence it came, loaded and fired as rapidly as he could 

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