ungle into the sunlit glade before me came a
large panther.

I put up my rifle. It saw me, and crouched head on in some long, dry
grass. It was a difficult shot, but I hazarded it.

The beast turned and went up the bank to my right. "Missed," thought I,
and let it have my left barrel as it was moving past. "Missed again," I
thought, and growled inwardly.

I caught another glimpse of the brute as it went behind me, and to my
relief a crimson patch had appeared on its right side. I howled to the
beaters, who had now approached, to be careful, as a wounded panther was
in front of them, and, Blake joining me, we made them all sit down to
keep them out of harm's way.

Accompanied by the two Sikhs, Blake and I began to stalk the wounded
animal. Where had it gone? Into that dense bit of jungle in front,
apparently. So we began to cast around among the leaves. They at first
yielded no betraying footmarks, but at last a leaf was found with a
large spot of frothy blood, showing the animal's injury to have been
through the lungs.

"Put a man up that tree," I said; "the animal is badly hit and cannot
have gone far." But my advice was ignored.

Then from a spot over which I had walked not a minute before there came
a rush and a roar. Swinging round, I saw ten paces off Blake raise his
rifle and fire two barrels, but, alas! apparently without result. Down
he went before the savage rush of the beast, which began to worry him.

Blake had fallen back on his elbows, and in the curve of his neck and
right shoulder I could just see, though so near, the dark-spotted body
of the panther. There was no time to lose. "Can I hit it without killing
Blake?" I thought in an agony of uncertainty, but the hazard followed
quick upon the thought, and bang, bang, went my two barrels. At the same
time the Sikh dafadar, Gopal Singh, with all the characteristic bravery
of this magnificent race, ran in and beat the animal about the head with
the butt-end of Blake's shot-gun, which he was carrying at the time.

All this was too much for the panther, who then left Blake and shambled
away. I threw down my own rifle and ran to Blake's assistance, when the
panther stopped and half turned towards us.

"He's coming at me again," Blake cried, and covered his face with his
hands. We were all unarmed; like a fool I had left my rifle ten paces
behind me, the Sikh's shot-gun was smashed to splinters, and Blake's
rifle had fallen nobody knew where during the _