202 THE EASTERN HUNTERS. 



aiid given utterance to the howl under the impres- 

 sion that the tiger was on the top of him. 



" It was a tiger or panther," replied Norman. " I 

 couldn't make out which. I rolled him over, but he 

 recovered himself and bolted into the jungle beyond 

 your tree." 



" Confound it, and this brute, Bappoo, must have 

 been fast asleep. You were asleep, you scoundrel, 

 you know you were," said Mackenzie, turning to the 

 slumber-loving sentinel. '' Just wait till I get down, 

 111 give it you." 



" But what is to be done now ? " asked Hawkes. 

 " I can't see the beast anywhere." 



" It will soon be dawn," replied Noraian. " I 

 suppose we must wait till it is light," and he turned 

 to Kugonauth and consulted him on the subject. 



" Yes, Sahib, we must wait," he said. " It is no 

 good looking for the beast in the dark. It would be 

 madness. He eat the bullets well, and is badly 

 wounded ; but we had better be quiet," continued 

 the cautious old shikaree. " Something else may 

 come. Will the Sahib be pleased to speak to the 

 gentlemen in the other tree and tell them to be 

 silent." 



Norman did so, and quiet was soon restored ; the 

 whole party now remaining on the gui-vive. Ere 

 long a gentle gurgling sound was wafted across to 



