ded, openly smiling, "I
should almost dare to fancy you were--well, shall we say not
annoyed?--to see me."

"Annoyed!" she laughed, still struggling with an outrageous desire to
cry.

He looked at her critically. "You haven't grown any plumper since I saw
you last, fair lady. Do you live on air in these parts? You will be
flattered to hear that your resemblance to the great Nick is more
pronounced than ever. Where is he, by the way? I hope he hasn't been
eaten by a tiger, though I scarcely think any tiger, would be such a
fool as to expect to find any nourishment in him."

"Oh, don't be horrid!" she said, laughing more naturally. "That's too
gruesome a joke after what happened this afternoon."

"I wasn't joking," said Max. "I'm a serious-minded person. And what did
happen this afternoon--if it isn't indiscreet to ask?"

She raised her eyes to his in astonishment. "But you were there!" she
said.

"Who told you so?" demanded Max.

"I saw you myself, I spoke to you. I told you about--about Noel being in
the temple--with the tiger." She halted a little over the explanation.

Max smiled at her--a curious smile that seemed to express relief. "I
didn't think you recognized me in a helmet," he said. "Yes, I was there.
I'd been on the brute's track since daybreak. I'm told that it's the
proper thing to let natives do all the stalking in this country. But to
my mind that's half the fun. Gives the tiger a sporting chance, too."

"You were actually hunting it all by yourself!" said Olga, with a quick
shudder.

Her hand still lay in his; he gave it a sudden sharp squeeze. "Don't
shiver like that! It's a sign of too vivid an imagination. Yes, I was
all on my own, and enjoyed it. It was my first tiger too. I've learned
quite a lot about the Indian jungle to-day. What made Nick choose the
haunts of a man-eater for his Christmas party? Was it one of his little
jokes?"

"We didn't believe in the man-eater," said Olga, beginning to make
subtle efforts to recover possession of her hand. "There hadn't been one
so near for years, and Nick said he thought it was bunkum."

"There," said Max, "he did not display his usual shrewdness of
intelligence. Where is the little god by the way?"

"He's following on with Noel. They stopped behind to finish packing."

Max's fingers closed more firmly upon hers, so that without open
resistance she could not free herself. "Noel seems to have developed
into quite a picturesque cavalier," he