310 The Hunting Grounds 



illumine his expressive face as he raised both hands 

 over his eyes as if to get a better view of something. 

 At this moment I caught sound of the light crackling 

 of a twig, and a rustling as if some animal was moving 

 amongst dry leaves, and again was heard Googooloo's 

 low grunt as he pointed to the bush which had before 

 attracted his attention, whispering beneath his breath, 

 " Bagh hy !" (there is a tiger !). I cocked both barrels 

 of my rifle, moved noiselessly forward, and kept it 

 pointed in the direction indicated, but nothing was to 

 be seen, although we waited for many moments in 

 anxious suspense. 



Chineah, who twigged the noise this time, now 

 took the Yanadi's right hand and pressed it to his 

 own forehead, a silent acknowledgment that he had 

 been in the wrong, and from the satisfactory smile 

 that passed over Googooloo's face, I could see that 

 peace was made between the two -friends and rivals in 

 " forest lore." 



u Do you think it was a tiger, Hal ?" whispered 



B . "I rather suspect it must have been a 



jungle-fowl scratching up the ground, or a snake 

 gliding amongst the leaves." 



" It might have been the latter," I replied, " but 

 jungle-fowl are all gone to roost by this time, and I 

 have often heard a tiger or a panther steal along with 

 as little noise." 



For a time an intense quiet reigned, not a leaf 



