.

"Pig," said the doctor unconcernedly; and as I watched the grass I could
see it undulate and wave where the little herd of wild swine was making
its way onward.

"No sign of a tiger," I said aloud; and, to my surprise, a reply came
from Brace, whose elephant was shuffling along not many yards away, and
I could, as he spoke, just see his face through the tops of the tall
reedy grass.

"No," he said; "but very likely one of them is creeping and gliding
along just ahead of us, so keep a sharp look-out."

Just then I began thinking of Brace instead of the tigers, for it seemed
so painful to be at odds with him, and to go on in the distant way we
had kept up lately, because I looked upon him as a coward. I cannot
explain my feelings. All I know is that I felt that I did not like him
a bit, and all the time I was drawn towards him and was hurt when I
spoke coldly to him, and more hurt when he gave me one of his half-sad,
penetrating looks, and then spoke distantly.

"I think I could like him," I said to myself, "if he had not proved such
a coward." And then I thought that under the circumstances I should
have had no hesitation in going out and fighting Barton. As I arrived
at this pitch, I felt uncomfortable, for something within me seemed to
ask the question--

"Wouldn't you?"

Just then an elephant again uttered his harsh grunting squeal known as
"trumpeting," and an electric thrill ran through me, for I had learned
enough of tiger-shooting to know that the great animal had scented his
enemy, and the strange cry was taken up by another of the elephants.

Orders were passed along to right and left for us to keep in a steady
line, and the men between the elephants grew every moment more excited.
For the action of the animals proved that it was no false alarm, and in
the momentary glances I had from right to left, I saw that the rajah and
Brace were waiting, with finger on trigger, for a shot at the striped
monster creeping on up the valley.

"Keep cool," said the doctor to me in a whisper; "and if you get a good
chance at him, fire at the shoulder, but don't throw away a shot. A
slight wound may do more harm than good--make the brute break back
through the line, perhaps, and we should lose him."

"I'll be careful," I said huskily.

"That's right. I want for us to get one tiger, and not the rajah. He
has plenty of chances."

"Keep a sharp look out, doctor," came from Brace, in a loud voice, which
told