clearing and disappear into the bamboos on the further side.
Taking his rifle from the little Shan he set off in pursuit. It was no
easy task, for the jungle in that neighbourhood was so dense that it was
well nigh impossible to make one's way through it. At last, however,
they hit upon a dried up _nullah_, and followed it along, listening as
they went to the progress the boar was making among the bamboos on their
right. Presently they sighted him, crossing an open space a couple of
hundred yards or so ahead of them. On the further side he stopped and
began to feed. This was Grantham's opportunity, and, sighting his rifle,
he fired. The beast dropped like a stone, well hit, just behind the
shoulder. The report, however, had scarcely died away before the little
Shan held up his hand to attract Grantham's attention.

"What is it?" the other inquired.

Before the man had time to reply his quick ear caught the sound of a
faint call from the jungle on the other side of the _nullah_. Without
doubt it was the English word _help_, and, whoever the man might be who
called, it was plain that he was in sore straits.

"What the deuce does it mean?" said Grantham, half to himself and half
to the man beside him. "Some poor devil got lost in the jungle, I
suppose? I'll go and have a look."

Having climbed the bank of the _nullah_, he was about to proceed in the
direction whence the cry had come, when he became aware of the most
extraordinary figure he had ever seen in his life approaching him. The
appearance Hayle had presented when he had turned up at the Ford two
months before was nothing compared with that of this individual. He was
a small man, not more than five feet in height. His clothes were in
rags, a grizzly beard grew in patches upon his cheeks and chin, while
his hair reached nearly to his shoulders. His face was pinched until it
looked more like that of a skeleton than a man. Grantham stood and
stared at him, scarcely able to believe his eyes.

"Good Heavens," he said to himself, "what a figure! I wonder where the
beggar hails from?" Then addressing the man, he continued, "Are you an
Englishman, or what are you?"

The man before him, however, did not reply. He placed his finger on his
lips, and turning, pointed in the direction he had come.

"Either he doesn't understand, or he's dumb," said Grantham. "But it's
quite certain that he wants me to follow him somewhere."

Turning to the man again, he signed to him to