ks' is not because itself
breaks, but because--whatever happens to be underneath, you understand."

The floor of protest had dropped away. Skag's face said as much.

"The tailors will need till the rails are safe to get you fitted; and
before the monsoon comes, I suggest that you take your hunter up into
the cheetah hills. Cheetahs are not supposed, by those at Home, to
attack men. Many of them will not; but they are unreliable. The
forfeits they have taken from unbelief have made them a bad reputation,
among the English."

"The cheetahs I have seen in cages have been mild, compared with
tigers."

"Cheetah kittens are snared and broken at once by hard handling;
meaning that it is not the cheetah himself, but what is left of him,
one sees either in the kennels of the princes or in the foreign cages.
You will remember my warning about his character?"

"Thank you, yes."

"Good. I have known men to prefer not . . . Then you will carry
yourself alert in any kind of jungle. If you sight a cheetah, be
prepared; he may _not_ attack. He may. Few men have eyes good enough
to follow him after his first spring. One should be a perfect shot;
are you that?"

"I am a good shot, but I don't like to kill animals."

"Then I am the last man to commend you to the cheetah hills . . . if it
were not for Nels. He is entirely competent to take care of you,
unless in one possible emergency. They sometimes, but rarely, work in
pairs. If ever the dog should be occupied with one and another should
be in _sight_--be sure your unwillingness to kill does not delay you to
the instant of charge."

"You imply that it is necessary to carry a gun in any kind of
jungle--always?"

"Always wise, of _course_; but I consider it less imperative just now,
because the animals are not what we call fighting. They are waiting
for the great monsoon. So--you might take your dog up into the cheetah
hills--"

"I don't see how a dog--"

"He'll break the cheetah's back and cut his throat, before the real
start is made at you. But Bhanah will tell you whatever; and he is
entirely reliable. You may depend upon him, without reservation."

"That's a big thing to know."

"India has many good servants, but Bhanah is a rare man."

The unquenchable fires in Roderick Deal's eyes began to feed upon some
enigma in Skag's own; he endured it a moment and then interruption
became expedient:

"Does the monsoon come on schedule?"

"It does."

"W