that he was evidently excited.

In a few minutes we were through the dense thicket of grass, and in a
rocky bottom, dotted sparely with tufts of bush and loose stones; and,
as I ran my eye over this, I turned to the doctor despairingly.

"There is nothing to hide him here," I said. "We must have passed him
in the thick grass."

"Nothing to hide him!" cried the doctor; "why, the gorge is full of
hiding-places. I call this good cover."

"Is that something moving?" I said suddenly; and I pointed to some thin
yellowish-brown grass, about fifty yards ahead.

"Eh, where? By George!"

His rifle was to his shoulder in a moment, there was a flash, a sharp
echoing report, and the mahout shouted "_Bagh! Bagh_!" while, as the
smoke rose, I had a faint glimpse of a great striped animal bounding out
of sight, a hundred and fifty yards ahead.

"Clever miss," said the doctor, reloading, as inquiries came from right
and left. "No doubt about the tigers now, Vincent," he added to me.

"I thought I saw something moving, but I could hardly tell it from the
stems of the dry grass."

"I suppose not Nature has been pretty kind to tigers that way. It is
almost impossible to see them amongst grass or reeds, so long as they
keep still. Bah! that was a wretched shot. But it's easier to miss
than hit, Vincent."

"I wish I had seen him," I said, in a disappointed tone.

"Why, you did see him, lad, and missed a good chance. Your rifle ought
to have been up to your shoulder the moment he moved."

"But I thought it was grass," I said.

"Ah, you will not think it was grass again. Capital practice this in
decision, my lad. You've had a splendid lesson."

We pressed on as fast as the roughness of the ground would allow, for it
was so open now that, in all probability, the tiger would have gone on
some distance, and with the elephants plainly in view and the mounted
and dismounted men between them, we made quite a goodly show. But the
heat was terrific. It seemed as if the rocks were glowing and
reflecting the sun's rays, so that at any other time we should have
declared it unbearable, but now excitement kept us going.

As we passed the spot where we had seen the tiger disappear, our ranks
were closed up, and we went on watchfully. In my eagerness now, I was
ready to turn tufts of grass and blocks of stone into tigers; and had
taken aim at one with my ears singing with excitement, when the doctor
laid his hand on mine.