FAIRLY IN THE WILDS 133 



till you get well. He is not stingy, my 

 sahib ! Look how he was sorry for poor 

 shikari Gafara, and gave him five rupees 

 and a coat ; and ask Hayard how he nursed 

 him when he had fever, and gave him 

 medicine and his own bedding/ ' (I had as 

 a matter of fact only given him a spare rug 

 and some quinine.) " * Oh, you are all right, 

 he will look after you ! ' That was the last 

 objection anyone made ; I got them over 

 as you know. You've done the wisest thing 

 in the world in being kind to us, because 

 before a shikari goes with a sahib, he always 

 finds out about him, and you'll have no 

 trouble next time. You would be surprised 

 what a lot we know about anyone who has 

 been shooting." 



" Do you know anything about ' Badger ' 

 in my regiment ?" I asked. u He was in 

 the Pir Punjal last year with Rahim." 



" Of course I do. Wasn't he the sahib 

 who walked forty miles into Srinagar with 

 his second shikari, who got mauled by a 

 bear, and gave up a week's shooting to 



