ged the huge beasts from their knees to their feet, and we
went swinging off to the forest. The pad elephants, who serve as beaters
and move between the howdah animals, joined us, and presently we went
splashing through the reedy patches of fern, and crashing through the
branches, towards the heart of the jungle.

Mr. Currie Ghyrkins, whose long experience had made him as cool when
after tigers as when reading the _Pioneer_ in his shady bungalow at
Simla, had taken Miss Westonhaugh with him in his howdah, and as an
additional precaution for her safety, the little collector of Pegnugger,
who was a dead shot, only allowed two pad elephants to move between
himself and Ghyrkins. As there were thirty-seven animals in all, the
rest of the party were much scattered. I thought there were too many
elephants for our six howdahs, but it turned out that I was mistaken,
for we had capital sport. The magistrate of Pegnugger, who knew the
country thoroughly, was made the despot of the day. His orders were
obeyed unquestioningly and unconditionally, and we halted in long line
or marched onwards, forcing a passage through every obstacle, at his
word. We might have been out a couple of hours, watching every patch of
jungle and blade of long rank grass for a sight of the striped skin,
writhing through the reeds, that we so longed to see, when the quick,
short crack of a rifle away to the right brought us to a halt, and every
one drew a long breath and turned, gun in hand, in the direction whence
the sound had come. It was Kildare; he had met his first tiger, and the
first also of the hunt. He had put up the animal not five paces in front
of him, stealing along in the cool grass and hoping to escape between
the elephants, in the cunning way they often do. He had fired a snap
shot too quickly, inflicting a wound in the flank which only served to
rouse the tiger to madness. With a leap that seemed to raise its body
perpendicularly from the ground, the gorgeous creature flew into the air
and settled right on the head of Kildare's elephant, while the terrified
_mahout_ wound himself round the howdah. It would have been a trying
position for the oldest sportsman, but to be brought into such terrific
encounter at arm's length, almost, at one's very first experience of the
chase, was a terrible test of nerve. Those who were near said that in
that awful moment Kildare never changed colour. The elephant plunged
wildly in his efforts to shake off the