Antlers 



happy, and, as remarks were snapped at him over 

 the old man's shoulder, would have certainly pre- 

 ferred any lowlier station to his exalted but at 

 present extremely undesirable position. This 

 unhappiness was mingled with alarm on my un- 

 expected appearance. It is not always convenient 

 to have awkward outsiders at these deliberations. 

 Their evidence might be eminently undesirable 

 in that it so obviously conflicts with, and throws 

 doubt on, the wisdom of the policy already decided 

 upon, and which the assembly of the panchayit 

 is a mere formal matter to satisfy troublesome 

 thinking monkey minds. Also, it is not well that 

 the methods by which the panchayit finally comes 

 to an unanimous opinion should be witnessed 

 by outsiders, who might subsequently ask strange 

 questions. The members melted away like snow 

 into the adjoining forest on my appearance. But 

 I was not watching them. The Old Man, I noted, 

 was in far too great and royal a rage to care just 

 then for me or any one else. I noticed this. But 

 the face to watch was that of the chief secretary. 

 He did not dare to move before his chief, and yet 

 to his intense alarm H.H. was not moving. All 

 the alternations of hope, appeal, disgust, pain, 

 fear, etc., passed in a conflicting manner across his 

 countenance, but finally fear chased the rest away, 

 and with a last glance of agonized appeal at his 

 chief he emitted a screech in which respect, 

 entreaty and apology were all commingled, and 



95 



