A PROTRACTED CHASE 101 



my rifle on a niche in the rock, and with 

 my left hand held the butt steady to my 

 shoulder. Up came No. 5, and was gone. 

 " Next one, sahib," said Lassoo. In a 

 couple of seconds up strolled my friend, 

 the bead was true on him, the trigger 

 steadily pressed . . . bang! "Just over 

 his back ! " came from Lassoo with a mut- 

 tered curse, while the whole herd went 

 flying down the hill with huge bounds ; the 

 snow spurting up through their cloven hoofs 

 as they pitched into it, sometimes dropping 

 twenty feet at a time I should think. In a 

 moment they were out of sight and gone. 



We were all too mortified to say much, 

 and few words passed between us. " Some- 

 thing wrong about the range that time," I 

 said, "as I was quite steady." Now this 

 was putting the blame on to Lassoo, who 

 was responsible for the distance, and it 

 "drew" him. He answered, "I could 

 have killed him with my old Cashmeri 

 rifle, and if yours isn't good enough for a 

 shot like that, I'd sling it down the khud if 



