Sporting Trips of a Subaltern 



across at my companion, he shook his head, and 

 presently the stag walked slowly into the forest. 

 We were just rising when, with a crash, another 

 stag gave us a fleeting glimpse of a magnificent 

 head as he bounded across the ride and disappeared 

 in the jungle. 



Camp was moved after a few days to a place 

 which a man-eating tiger was said to frequent; 

 perhaps a tiger that had killed men would better 

 express him, as no tiger could be much of a man- 

 eater in these unfrequented forests. There was a 

 pool about two miles down a ride from camp, 

 and report said that a huge tiger crossed the ride 

 every evening to drink. I thought I would be 

 very clever and steal a march on every one, so 

 directly we arrived in camp, which was not till late, 

 as we had shot all day, I slipped away and started 

 alone down this ride. I went along for more than 

 two miles without hearing or seeing a thing, and 

 as it was rapidly getting dark, I thought I had 

 better turn back ; also, I must own the shadows of 

 evening, the death-like stillness of the forest, and 

 the feeling that though I could only see a yard or 

 two on each side of the path, yet something might be 

 watching me all the time, combined to make me 

 feel a bit uncomfortable. No sooner had I turned 

 than it suddenly seemed to get much darker, weird 

 shadows fell across the ride, birds began to make 

 most thoughtlessly sudden noises in fact, I say 



10 



