rude carts, and horses we had hundreds, to say nothing of
the dozens of buffaloes we carried as live bait for tigers. We should
need fodder by the ton, as well as sheep, fowl, goats, game, and milk;
grain, too, for the crowds of camp-followers; and canned foods and
medicines--including, not least, the store of carbolic acid for
possible tiger-bites and maulings. The water was to be boiled and
filtered, then treated with permanganate of potash. It was regular
army equipment, you see.

I went out myself with the _shikari_ scouts, inspecting jungle-paths,
dry river-beds, and muddy margins of pools. They pointed out to me the
first rudiments in nature's book of signs: first of all the tiger
"pug," and the difference between the footprints of the tiger and the
tigress--the male's square, the female's a clear-cut oval. Here the
great tiger had drunk four days ago. The prints were not clear; in
places they were obliterated by tracks of bear, deer, and porcupine.

But clearly we were in a favorite haunt of both man-eaters. The male
must have passed after dawn, for his tracks overlay those of little
quail, which do not emerge until after daybreak. Then yet more signs:
muddy pools told mute tales of recent visits; high over the hill that
fell sheer to the valley were specks of vultures, hovering over recent
kills. Back to camp we went to report the enemy's presence.

The next move was the setting out of the live bait--the buffaloes.
Twoscore of the slow, ponderous creatures were led out and staked in a
great ring about the tigers, passive outposts about the enemy,
inviting their attack--an attack sure to come during the night. Then
we went back again to wait.

[Illustration: SLAYER OF SEVENTY-SIX NATIVES LAID LOW AT LAST

HE AND HIS MATE RAVAGED A TRACT OF COUNTRY FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY
SQUARE MILES IN EXTENT]

Meanwhile, during the time while scouts were reconnoitering the enemy,
the rank and file had been offering sacrifices to their gods. The
Moslems were less tiresome than the Hindus in this respect. They
merely went in a body to the snow-white _zariat_ (saint-house) on the
hill, and offered up a goat. But the Brahman deity had to be
propitiated, lest all our plans go down to defeat. This god dwelt in a
jungle, attended by an old _jogi_ smeared with wood-ashes and streaked
with paint. Another goat was slain here. The beast was made to bow
comically three times before the hideous image in the shrine, and then
his thro