thrust the spear he held deep into the animal's neck. At
the same moment the Doctor fired again, and the tiger, shot through the
head, fell dead, while, with a start, Bathurst lost his balance and fell
over the elephant's head onto the body of the tiger.

It was fortunate indeed for him that the ball had passed through the
tiger's skull from ear to ear, and that life was extinct before it
touched the ground. Bathurst sprang to his feet, shaken and bewildered,
but otherwise unhurt.

"He is as dead as a door nail!" the Doctor shouted, "and lucky for you
he was so; if he had had a kick left in him you would have been badly
torn."

"I should never have fallen off," Bathurst said angrily, "if you had not
fired. I could have finished him with the spear."

"You might or you might not; I could not wait to think about that; the
tiger had struck its claws into the mahout's leg, and would have had him
off the elephant in another moment. That is a first rate animal you were
riding on, or he would have turned and bolted; if he had done so you and
the mahout would have both been off to a certainty."

By this time the shouts of some natives, who had taken their posts in
trees near at hand, told the beaters that the shots they had heard had
been successful, and with shouts of satisfaction they came rushing
down. The Doctor at once dispatched one of them to bring up his trap and
Bathurst's horse, and then examined the tiger.

It was a very large one, and the skin was in good condition, which
showed that he had not taken to man eating long. The Doctor bound up the
wound on the mahout's leg, and then superintended the skinning of the
animal while waiting for the arrival of the trap.

When it came up he said, "You might as well take a seat by my side,
Bathurst; the syce will sit behind and lead your horse."

Having distributed money among the beaters, the Doctor took his place
in his trap, the tiger skin was rolled up and placed under the seat,
Bathurst mounted beside him, and they started.

"There, you see, Doctor," Bathurst, who had not opened his lips from the
time he had remonstrated with the Doctor for firing, said; "you see it
is of no use. I was not afraid of the tiger, for I knew that you were
not likely to miss, and that in any case it could not reach me on the
elephant. I can declare that I had not a shadow of fear of the beast,
and yet, directly that row began, my nerves gave way altogether. It was
hideous, and yet, th