ated over the elephant's head, into,
as it seemed to me, the very jaws of the tiger. A fierce growl and a
suppressed cry of agony proved that the monster had seized his prey;
and I had completely given up my friend for lost, when the elephant,
although greatly alarmed, being urged on by the mahout, took a step
forward, and, twisting his trunk round the top of the young tree, bent
it down across the loins of the tiger, thus forcing the tortured animal
to quit his hold, and affording Slingsby an opportunity of crawling
beyond the reach of its teeth and claws. Forgetting my own fears in the
imminence of my friend's danger, I only waited till I could get a shot
at the tiger without running the risk of hurting Slingsby, and then
fired both barrels at his head, and was lucky enough to wound it
mortally. The other sportsmen coming up at the moment, the brute
received its quietus, but poor Slingsby's arm was broken where the tiger
had seized it with its teeth, and his shoulders and chest were severely
lacerated by its claws, nor did he entirely recover the shock for many
months.{1} And this was my first introduction to a royal tiger, sir.
I saw many of 'em afterwards, during the time I spent in India, but I
can't say I ever had much liking for their society--umph!"

This anecdote brought others in its train--minutes flew by apace, the
wine grew low in the decanters, and it became apparent to me that if
I would not lose the whole evening, and go home with my brains
muddled beyond all possibility of reading, I must take my departure.
Accordingly, pulling out my watch, I reminded Mr. Frampton of my
previous stipulation to be allowed to run away as soon as dinner was
concluded, adding that I had already stayed longer than was altogether
prudent. The reply to this announcement was, "Umph! sit still, sir, sit
still; I'm going to ring for another bottle of port".

1 The main facts of the foregoing anecdote are taken from
Capt. Mundy's very interesting _Pen and Pencil Sketches_.

Finding, however, that I was determined, he gave up the point, adding:
"Umph! well, if you must go, you must, I suppose--though you might refuse
a worse offer;--but, if you really are anxious about your studies
and ~239~~wish to distinguish yourself, I won't be the man to hinder
you--it's few enough of 'em are like you here, I expect"; then, _sotto
voce_, "wish t'other young monkey might be". "You hinted before
dinner at some information I might be