24 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



coolie wait too until Fuffia did look round. After 

 watching him climb several hundred feet more, he 

 chanced to turn of course we dare not try to attract 

 his attention by any sound and then I signalled to 

 him to come back. I made him hold one end of my 

 khud stick, which answered two purposes, it kept him 

 within range and helped to give me a pull up the 

 mountain. We climbed at a good pace all the same, 

 and when we reached what Fuffia supposed was the 

 bear's level we crept on and looked over the ridge. 

 The bear was feeding quietly about fifty yards away 

 with the cubs playing round her. 



I had panted along behind Fuffia all the way up, 

 was very much out of breath, and simply had to 

 wait to recover it. He, all excitability as usual, 

 kept up a running fire of rather audible whispers : 



" Now shoot ; now wait ; now he is coming nearer ; 

 don't shoot ; now he is moving ; shoot, shoot quickly ; 

 now he is behind a rock; don't shoot," and so on, 

 which was very distracting and a thing of which he 

 never could be cured. It was in his nature, part 

 of him. 



While I was waiting, the bears all disappeared 

 behind some rocks, the old one still quietly feeding. 

 I had found my breath again by the time she reap- 

 peared from the shelter of stones and turned with 

 her head straight towards me. I hit her in the neck 

 and sent her over, rolling down. She got up and I 

 shot her in the shoulder, which knocked her down 

 again. She tried to get up and come for us, which 

 made Fuffia run, but she was too badly hit to come 

 more than a few yards. The young ones ran round 



