rmination
of diseases, both in men and animals; and so generally was he believed
in that the colonel ordered that no one connected with the regiment
should consult him, for these predictions very frequently brought about
their own fulfilment; for those who were told that an illness would
terminate fatally, lost all hope, and literally lay down to die.

"However, many of the stories that we heard could not be explained on
these grounds, and the fakir and his doings were often talked over at
mess, some of the officers scoffing at the whole business, others
maintaining that some of these fakirs had, in some way or another, the
power of foretelling the future, citing many well authenticated
anecdotes upon the subject.

"The older officers were the believers, we young fellows were the
scoffers. But for the well-known fact that it is very seldom indeed
that these fakirs will utter any of their predictions to Europeans, some
of us would have gone to him, to test his powers. As it was, none of us
had ever seen him.

"He lived in an old ruined temple, in the middle of a large patch of
jungle at the foot of the hills, some ten or twelve miles away.

"I had been at Jubbalpore about a year, when I was woke up one night by
a native, who came in to say that at about eight o'clock a tiger had
killed a man in his village, and had dragged off the body.

"Simmonds and I were constantly out after tigers, and the people in all
the villages within twenty miles knew that we were always ready to pay
for early information. This tiger had been doing great damage, and had
carried off about thirty men, women, and children. So great was the fear
of him, indeed, that the people in the neighbourhood he frequented
scarcely dared stir out of doors, except in parties of five or six. We
had had several hunts after him, but, like all man-eaters, he was old
and awfully crafty; and although we got several snap shots at him, he
had always managed to save his skin.

"In a quarter of an hour after the receipt of the message, Charley
Simmonds and I were on the back of an elephant, which was our joint
property; our shekarry, a capital fellow, was on foot beside us, and
with the native trotting on ahead as guide we went off at the best pace
of old Begaum, for that was the elephant's name. The village was fifteen
miles away, but we got there soon after daybreak, and were received with
delight by the population. In half an hour the hunt was organized; all
t