i8o DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



and small branches, the rifle was loaded and full 

 cocked by my side. 



It was growing chilly after several hours of 

 watching, and I was just trying to put on an extra 

 coat very quietly, when bang went one of the corner 

 ropes, and down I came thump, landing on the back 

 of my head and shoulders (my head seems to be about 

 the toughest part of me I've tested it before) on 

 hard dry ground and roots of the tree. It was a 

 funny feeling falling through the air, and there was 

 just time enough to wonder what was happening as 

 I fell : the v ladder was fourteen feet long and the 

 machan rather above it. I picked myself up and 

 then the rifle, and neither of us seemed to be broken. 

 I stood and wondered for a minute what to do next, 

 when I heard the tiger roar at no great distance. I 

 thought I should have to give it up, as I could not 

 get hold of the broken rope to tie the hammock up 

 again. It was too far to walk back to camp carrying 

 the rifles, which I did not want to leave behind, and 

 staying in the little hut did not appeal to me. 



The tiger began roaring again, so I climbed the 

 ladder, and then I thought I would look and see 

 what could be done for the machan. After all there 

 was no reason I should not continue my watch ii I 

 could only tie it up. There was a strong loop of 

 rope at the broken corner, and I found the short end 

 of a small branch that had been cut off a few inches 

 from the tree-trunk. It was not in quite the right 

 place, but it might do ; the loop slipped over it and 

 seemed fairly secure, if I did not move about too 

 much. I climbed up and down the ladder, groping 



