CHAPTER XLVIII 



THINGS LOOK BAD 



GLADLY could I have committed suicide at that 

 moment ! 



" Bara, bara markhor," moan the shikaris, as they 

 show their disappointment with many gesticulations. 

 I try hard to justify myself. 



" It was all too sudden, too unexpected, too near. 

 Only fifty feet off. My telescope was set for 

 seventy-five yards. I forgot to aim lower, aimed 

 instead straight at the shoulder, and in that way I 

 only scratched him ; he was only stunned, and is no 

 more wounded than I am." 



All hope is gone ; the markhor have disappeared 

 for ever, at all events so far as I am concerned. All 

 this shooting has driven them away for weeks to come. 



In vain all our work, our efforts, our trouble, our 

 hardships, and all the expense. In vain what a 

 wretched, cheerless word ! 



And I was so sure I had killed him, felt so 

 triumphant, and had even counted on a double 



shot ! 



us 10 



