d pull up, my poor old
tired horse was floundering in a quicksand up to the girths; I threw
myself off and tried to wheel him round. H. was behind us, and we
cried to him to halt where he was. I was sinking at every movement up
to the knees, when the syce came to my rescue, and took charge of the
horse. F.'s syce ran to extricate his master and horse; the two peons
kept calling, 'Oh! my father, my father,' the horses snorted, and
struggled desperately in the tenacious and treacherous quicksand; but
after a prolonged effort, we all got safely out, and rejoined H. on
the firm ridge.

We now hallooed and shouted for the boatmen, but beyond the swish of
the rapid stream to our right, or the plash of a falling bank as the
swift current undermined it, no sound answered our repeated calls. We
were wet and weary, but to go either backward or forward was out of
the question. We were off the path, and the first step in any
direction might lead us into another quicksand, worse perhaps than
that from which we had just extricated ourselves. The horses were
trembling in every limb. The syces cowered together and shivered with
the cold. We ordered the two peons to try and reach the ghat, and see
what had become of the boats, while we awaited their return where we
were. The fog and darkness soon swallowed them up, and putting the
best face on our dismal circumstances that we could, we lit our pipes
and extended our jaded limbs on the damp sand.

For a time we could hear the shouts of the peons as they hallooed for
the boatmen, and we listened anxiously for the response, but there was
none. We could hear the purling swish of the rapid stream, the
crumbling banks falling into the current with a distant splash.
Occasionally a swift rushing of wings overhead told us of the arrowy
flight of diver or teal. Far in the distance twinkled the gleam of a
herdsman's fire, the faint tinkle of a distant bell, or the subdued
barking of a village dog for a moment, alone broke the silence.

At times the hideous chorus of a pack of jackals woke the echoes of
the night. Then, at no great distance, rose a hoarse booming cry,
swelling on the night air, and subsiding into a lengthened growl. The
syces started to their feet, the horses snorted with fear; and as the
roar was repeated, followed closely by another to our left, and
seemingly nearer, H. exclaimed 'By Jove! there's a couple of tigers.'

Sure enough, so it was. It was the first time I had heard