A MEMORABLE ELEPHANT HUNT. 195 



requested me to send him all my men, to work for the Government. 

 He claimed that during my absence from the hills, he had made 

 advances of money and clothing to the Mulcers, and therefore their 

 ser\aces properly belonged to the forest department. 



Here was a pretty fix. The loss of the men I had trained to 

 assist me meant nothing less than the destruction of all my plans. 

 When told the contents of the letter and the mission of the Govern- 

 ment peon, my men with one accord declared they would not stir 

 a step, and were faii'ly enraged at the demand. They stoutly as- 

 serted they had received no advances from the Government, and no 

 one save myself had any claims upon them. After careful reflec- 

 tion, I made np my mind as to the course I shovdd pursue. It was 

 risky, but I had faith in its success, and acted immediately. I re- 

 plied to Mr. Gass' letter very politely and respectfully, without ex- 

 pressing any of the indignation I felt, and had all my men except 

 Vera, accompany my communication. But I firmly insisted that the 

 services of the men properly belonged to me, and were only given 

 up that I might avoid even the appearance of doing anything to 

 hinder government work. I also stated that I had made advances 

 of blankets and money to the men, which would therefore be a total 

 loss to me. My gang marched off with the peon, but they privately 

 assured Doraysawmy that after two days, they all intended to run 

 away and come back. 



When my men had gone, I began to review my situation, and 

 calculate the chances of ever getting the skin of a big tusker out of 

 the forest in good condition. I noticed that for some time all 

 things had combined against me, and it made me mad. I repeated to 

 myself my always-encouraging doctrine — the only sure thing about 

 " luck " either good or bad, is, that it is bound to change. A long 

 streak of bad luck always rouses the bull-dog element in my nat- 

 ui'e, and I feel hke fighting it until it gets tired enough to quit. 

 With my fever still burning, and my men all gone but one, I was 

 only able to solemnly declare to Doraysawmy that I would "have 

 an elephant before I left those Hills, or die." A sensible resolu- 

 tion for a sick man ! 



The very next day my run of bad luck came to an end, and 

 from that moment it steadily improved. While I was taking a bath 

 in the river, my Mulcers suddenly ran down the opposite bank and 

 waded across to me in great glee, with a letter from Mr. Gass, in 

 which he reHnquished his claim upon them, and expressed his re- 

 gret at having proposed to deprive me of their services, under the 



