MILITA RY AD VENTURES. 251 



chance I should have with the long gun. 

 This gun was my mainstay, for when once 

 it was discharged, I had nothing for it but 

 to trust to the talwar and knife, not 

 pleasant weapons to attack so formidable 

 and fierce an enemy as mine was likely to 

 prove ; but it was too late now to think 

 of the danger of the conflict, so I looked 

 at my priming, and stepped behind a tree 

 which was so situated that I could over- 

 look the den where the brute lay con- 

 cealed, for, though I could hear him 

 breathe, I could not see him ; if I had 

 been able to do so, I should soon have 

 planted a bullet in his head. 



" I think I must have stood behind the 

 tree for the best part of an hour, when I 

 heard a twig crack and knew the fierce 

 battle was about to begin. He came out 

 very quietly and I could see his broad, 



