TTTE IZZATID 'Mir, 



TIktc was a \vi\ etkl liuck wliicli iiilialjiLcil llic 

 EscLisan, a broken lid^o al)ov(^ BoikIktu. W c constantly 

 wont in ]inr>iiit of liim, I ml lie as often (■ln(l(Ml ns, as lie 

 had done in the case of many other sportsmen, native and 

 foreio-u. I had been first told of liis existence 1)\' Sir 

 Victor Brooke who had known him tor tour or live years 

 before 1 did, and he was (jnite a veteran when he was 

 first observed. He had been christened by that sportsman 

 "the Uld Soldier," for he had oid\' three leijs and a short 

 stump, as if he had just come out of Noah's Ark, the 

 rest of that limb 1ia\inL;' been left behind in a ])revious 

 encounter; but he knew very well how to make the best 

 use of this limited number, and there was no fit homing 

 his craft. His horns were unusually long, and the hooks 

 had been partly worn or broken away. No wonder it 

 the natives regarded him with semi-superstitious awe, for 

 he had been repeatedK' shot at, and seemed to bear a 

 charmed life. It would lill this volume if T detailed all 

 the attempts we made to scenic this child of the mist, 

 ami tlie shifts and expedients he used, to make himself 

 invisible at critical moments, but I will Imrrow froiii 

 Gerald's notes the account of the last serious attempt 

 that we made to secuiv his venerable head. That was 

 three years after 1 had made his ac(piaiiilaiii-e. ;iiid he cm 

 scarcely have been less than twelve years old when i hrst 

 es])ied him. 



■■ We went up the Escusan where we spied se\'.Mi izxards 

 under the l)ig "lill". Wr ouglit to luive got up to them if 

 Geute had not made a mistake about thf wind, which cost 

 us this chance. Ihit we were on the look-out for iIm' ' ( )ld 

 Soldier' and cared verv little for this, or lor aiiotliei' lot 



