74 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



of the pitheya dor ays (mad gentlemen). It was just 

 dusk when I got to within a mile of the head of 

 the ghat. A bright moon was soon shining, so 

 objects were clear enough. I dismounted and sent 

 back my pony and began my tramp towards the 

 jungle, shaking my bells as I went. I had two 

 miles in all to go before reaching the machan. 

 The first mile was in comparatively open ground ; 

 after that the forest deepened and but little 

 of the roadway could be seen. I had started 

 my tramp in a careless mood, thinking more of 

 my ludicrous disguise than of any danger to myself. 

 As I descended the declivity I began to realise my 

 position. Supposing the tiger actually attacked me, 

 what was I to do ? I was wholly unarmed with 

 the exception of the wooden staff, but what was 

 that when matched against a tiger ! I felt more 

 than half-inclined to turn back and concoct some 

 tale as to my return. But what of Provis ? Could I 

 shout to him from where I was ? Might not this very 

 shouting attract the tiger ? To turn back then 

 was perhaps as dangerous as to go forward, for 

 the tiger might already be behind me. A glance 

 backward sent a cold shiver all over me, and I set 

 off at a sharp trot to join Provis. The jingling 

 of the bells seemed to reassure me, and I went along 

 for a few hundred yards. Suddenly I came to a 

 stop, my heart beating furiously. There was a 

 dark object standing by the road. The tiger ! 

 Should I run from it ? My sudden stopping evi- 

 dently alarmed the beast and it scampered off into 

 the jungle, with the unmistakable lope of a jackal. 



