28 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



panting up the hill, and there was Rum John with 

 his black umbrella, looking very warm, but smiling 

 as usual. He made salaam and said, by God's great 

 goodness we had secured a bear. 



" Thanks to Devi, we have killed our bear/' 

 Fuffia said. 



The cook said it was Kismet. Fuffia said that the 

 night before he had promised a sheep to Devi if he 

 gave us sport. 



" Perhaps God in his goodness will give us another 

 one, on the way home/' said Rum John. 



" If Devi sees fit, we shall surely get one/' retorted 

 Fuffia. 



Of course the khansamah, Rum John, is a Moham- 

 medan and the shikari a Hindu, but on whatever 

 other points they might differ, they both talked 

 about Kismet. 



Fuffia and the coolie could not skin or even touch 

 a bear on account of caste, so I thought that per- 

 haps the cook and I could give the carcase a start 

 and let it roll down the hill; or we might send for 

 low caste men from the village. But the khansamah, 

 as usual, was prepared for any emergency ; he opened 

 his bag, took out a carving knife and set to work 

 skinning. In about an hour it was all finished, and 

 we started back with the skin, which, in that con- 

 dition, the coolie was permitted to handle. 



Devi did not see fit to give us another bear, and 

 it was a sad homecoming, as I found Will, sitting in 

 his tent door, with his foot up and Punchi and the 

 servant bathing it. He had sprained his ankle badly. 

 He and Punchi and Dass had gone to the top of the 



