n me, and I was fighting for life. My hunting-knife
was out, and with my left hand I had the beast by the throat; while with
my right I tried to drive my knife into its ribs. My bullet had gone
through his chest. The impetus of his charge had knocked me over, and we
rolled on the ground, he tearing with his claws at my shoulder and arm,
I stabbing and struggling, my great effort being to keep my knees up so
as to protect my body with them from his hind claws. After the first
blow with his paw, which laid my shoulder open, I do not think I felt
any special pain whatever. There was a strange faint sensation, and my
whole energy seemed centered in the two ideas--to strike and to keep my
knees up. I knew that I was getting faint, but I was dimly conscious
that his efforts, too, were relaxing. His weight on me seemed to
increase enormously, and the last idea that flashed across me was that
it was a drawn fight.

"The next idea of which I was conscious was that I was being carried. I
seemed to be swinging about, and I thought I was at sea. Then there was
a little jolt and a sense of pain. 'A collision,' I muttered, and opened
my eyes. Beyond the fact that I seemed in a yellow world--a bright
orange-yellow--my eyes did not help me, and I lay vaguely wondering
about it all, till the rocking ceased. There was another bump, and then
the yellow world seemed to come to an end; and as the daylight streamed
in upon me I fainted again. This time when I awoke to consciousness
things were clearer. I was stretched by a little stream. A native woman
was sprinkling my face and washing the blood from my wounds; while
another, who had with my own knife cut off my coat and shirt, was
tearing the latter into strips to bandage my wounds. The yellow world
was explained. I was lying on the yellow robe of one of the women. They
had tied the ends together, placed a long stick through them, and
carried me in the bag-like hammock. They nodded to me when they saw I
was conscious, and brought water in a large leaf, and poured it into my
mouth. Then one went away for some time, and came back with some leaves
and bark. These they chewed and put on my wounds, bound them up with
strips of my shirt, and then again knotted the ends of the cloth, and
lifting me up, went on as before.

"I was sure that we were much lower down the Ghaut than we had been when
I was watching for the bears, and we were now going still lower.
However, I knew very little Hindustani