124 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



said he had to throw it up in the air ; if the chicken 

 dropped down, then it showed the devil was still 

 there and the cook would die; if it was able to 

 fly upwards it would drive Shaitan away, and the 

 cook would recover. We all looked on with the deepest 

 interest. The small fowl was thrown upwards and 

 I must say it was a very close thing; it was just 

 big enough to fly. It rose a very little in the air 

 and then fluttered down. It seemed, however, that 

 was sufficient to qualify. In a voice of relief we 

 were all relieved the man said all was well and the 

 boy would not die. 



He didn't, but, as I rather callously, perhaps, 

 seem to have written in my diary, " for all the good 

 he is to me he might as well have done." He was 

 rather a poor cook. 



I managed to change cooks as I was stopping at 

 a town on the way to my shoot near Balod, though it 

 did not turn out to be much for the better. I had 

 sent the new cook on ahead in a cart with my tent 

 so as to be ready at the next camp when I arrived. 

 As I followed, several men came up to me on the road 

 and one of them showed a very much swollen arm, 

 and they all had various bruises and marks about 

 them. They said they were travelling and had 

 several bottles of arak with them, and the cook and 

 chaprassi had fought them to get it. My men had 

 stolen and broken some of their things, drunk all 

 the liquor and were now lying dead drunk on the top 

 of the cart, which was only a mile or so in front, 

 where I rode on and found them. As the local 

 people were so angry about it, I thought some 



