A COOL HAND. 69 



On reaching the poor woman, we found her lying there with 

 her head and back all lacerated and bleeding, and speechless 

 with fright and pain. Having arranged for her being carried 

 to the village, we at once proceeded with the beat, all of us 

 vowing vengeance against the brute for this its second cruel 

 performance of the day. 



After beating, as we imagined, most thoroughly through 

 the rice-fields, we reached a bushy ravine, in which we all, 

 with one exception, thought the brute must have concealed 

 itself. The exception was a tea-planter who had joined the 

 party. He was one of the best mountain-hunters, and about 

 as cool a hand as I ever met, and quite a character in his 

 way. Originally in the army, his predilection for wild sport 

 had been the cause of his leaving it and taking to tea-planting 

 and shooting in the hills. He now expressed his opinion that 

 the leopard was still lurking somewhere in the rice-fields, and 

 his intention of taking his chance alone of finding it there 

 whilst we beat through the ravine. We had just begun 

 driving it when I heard him shouting to us. Supposing he 

 had seen the leopard and was calling us back, I at once ran 

 up towards where he was standing with the butt of his rifle on 

 the ground. To my astonishment and concern, on reaching 

 him I saw that he was profusely bleeding from a wound on his 

 face, and that his coat was all torn and bloody. With his 

 characteristic coolness he quietly remarked, " He's boned me " ; 

 but from the expression and pallor of his face, I could see he 

 was more injured than he cared to allow. It appeared that 

 after our leaving him he had but just commenced wandering 

 about in search of the leopard, when it suddenly sprang on 

 him from behind, making its teeth meet in the upper part of 

 his arm, and driving one of its claws into his fnce within an 

 inch of his eye, and before he had time to use his rifle, even 

 h;nl he been able to do so, the beast had bounded away :m<l 

 was out of sight in a moment. 



Afu-r bandaging up the tea-planter's wounds and arranging 



