VI 
THE TIGER 
239 
I now perceived Berry advancing towards me, 
he having left his place of concealment in the clump 
of trees. “ Did you see him ? ” he exclaimed, as 
he approached within hearing distance. ‘‘ See 
what?” I replied; “have you wounded a boar?” 
“A boar! No; I did not fire at a boar, but 
at a tiger, the biggest that I ever saw in my ex¬ 
perience ! He passed close by me, within 20 yards, 
at the same time that the herd of pigs broke covert ; 
and I fired right and left, and missed him with both 
barrels; confound it.” 
This was a most important announcement, and 
I immediately dismounted from my elephant to 
examine the spot where the tiger had so recently 
appeared. It must indeed have been very close to 
Berry, as I had not seen the beast, my line of view 
being limited by the intervening jungle to the 
portion of the glade across which the pigs had 
rushed. 
I now measured the distance from Berry’s 
position to the tracks of the tiger, which we dis¬ 
covered after some few minutes’ search. This was 
under 20 yards. The question now most important 
remained—Was the tiger wounded ? A minute 
investigation of the ground showed the mark of a 
bullet, but we could find no other. This looked 
as though it must have struck the tiger, but Berry 
was very confident that such was not the case, as he 
declared the tiger did not alter his pace when fired 
at, but, on the contrary, he walked majestically 
across the narrow glade with his head turned in the 
