han this; but I merely used to say 'All right,
sir, I will keep an ear to the camp,' and he on his part never
considered it necessary to ask where the game which appeared on the
table came from. But in point of fact, I never went very far, and my
servant always had instructions which way to send for me if I was
wanted; while as to the Dacoits I did not believe in their having the
impudence to come in broad daylight within a mile or two of our camp. I
did not often go down the face of the Ghauts. The shooting was good, and
there were plenty of bears in those days, but it needed a long day for
such an expedition, and in view of the Dacoits who might be scattered
about, was not the sort of thing to be undertaken except with a strong
party. Norworthy had not given any precise orders about it, but I must
admit that he said one day:--

"'Of course you won't be fool enough to think of going down the Ghauts,
Hastings?' But I did not look at that as equivalent to a direct
order--whatever I should do now," the colonel put in, on seeing a
furtive smile on the faces of his male listeners.

"However, I never meant to go down, though I used to stand on the edge
and look longingly down into the bush and fancy I saw bears moving
about in scores. But I don't think I should have gone into their country
if they had not come into mine. One day the fellow who always carried my
spare gun or flask, and who was a sort of shekarry in a small way, told
me he had heard that a farmer, whose house stood near the edge of the
Ghauts, some two miles away, had been seriously annoyed by his fruit and
corn being stolen by bears.

"'I'll go and have a look at the place to-morrow,' I said, 'there is no
parade, and I can start early. You may as well tell the mess cook to put
up a basket with some tiffin and a bottle of claret, and get a boy to
carry it over.'

"'The bears not come in day,' Rahman said.

"'Of course not,' I replied; 'still I may like to find out which way
they come. Just do as you are told.'

"The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at the farmer's spoken of,
and there was no mistake as to the bears. A patch of Indian corn had
been ruined by them, and two dogs had been killed. The native was in a
terrible state of rage and alarm. He said that on moonlight nights he
had seen eight of them, and they came and sniffed around the door of the
cottage.

"'Why don't you fire through the window at them?' I asked scornfully,
for I had seen