384 The Hunting Grounds 



voured by the survivors who remained howling and 

 shrieking round the hut until the night of the second 

 day, when a violent storm arose and they took them- 

 selves off in the dark, much to the relief of the six 

 survivors, who, seeing the coast clear, made the best 

 of their way to their homes. 



" Allah kereem (God be merciful), but you had a 

 wonderful escape !" exclaimed the old colonel, when 

 the Illori chieftain had finished his story. "I thank 

 Kismut (fate) that I was not with you on that day, 

 or I should have stood but a poor chance in your 

 desperate race for life (he weighed at least eighteen 

 stone), and a shudder comes over me when I think of 

 it ; and if I were you, oh ! Ingleese Bey (so he 

 termed me), I should give up all idea of rambling 

 about this desolate country, where one sees nothing 

 but mountains, trees, rivers, and mud ; may go a 

 moon's journey without falling in with a cafe, and 

 where fighting comes oftener than one's dinner. Be 

 advised, and embark at once for Stamboul, where you 

 may enjoy your " kieff" (a dreamy state of listless idle- 

 ness, peculiar to the Turks), and smoke your chibouk, 

 surrounded with dark-eyed beauties, whose voices are 

 more melodious than the cries of jackals, whose kisses 

 are more desirable than the bites of wolves, and whose 

 embraces are preferable to the hugs of bears. Heigh 

 Allah ! when shall I see the blessed place again ? " 



"Shabash! (Bravo!) Bey Effendi !" I exclaimed; 



