hat arose. One hand was fully occupied with the
reins, the other with holding the child, and it was impossible to
disengage his spear while going at this pace, though the handle
collided with half the trees they passed, and threatened to jerk
Kharrak Singh from his grasp.

"Hold fast, little brother!" he called out.

"Not your little brother!" The words reached him faintly, and he
smiled, for at least the child was not much hurt. Venturing to glance
round to see whether the boar was continuing the chase, he found that
it had given up, but to his astonishment all the hunt, mounted and on
foot, were pursuing him with wild cries. "Maro! maro!" [1] they
yelled, and two of the Komadans, who were drawing ahead of the others,
had one of them a spear in rest, and the other his sword drawn. Like a
flash of lightning it broke upon Gerrard that to a distant observer his
action must have had all the appearance of a peculiarly cold-blooded
murder, and that before he could explain to these avengers that his
spear had merely lifted the child by his girdle, they would have cut
him down from behind. To check his horse was impossible, for the
sounds of pursuit stimulated it continually to fresh efforts, and he
had no means of defending himself while he explained matters, since his
spear was still entangled in Kharrak Singh's golden waistbelt.

A second time the pleasing sense of proving Somwar Mat a false prophet
came over Gerrard as he jerked his horse violently to the right, where
an irrigation channel, leading from the swamp, crossed his course. The
pursuers evidently thought it would prove an insurmountable barrier,
for he could hear by their shouts that the two foremost were separating
so as to ride against him from either side, when he would be caught
between them and the main body behind. But his horse was a noted
jumper, and that fact saved him. He felt it rise to the leap, and
though the channel was too broad, and it fell on its knees on the slope
of crumbling earth at the farther side, he contrived to twitch himself
and Kharrak Singh out of the saddle in time to prevent its slipping
back into the muddy water. Once on his feet, he was able to disengage
the spear without difficulty, and as the horse also struggled up he
caught it and set Kharrak Singh in the saddle, then turned to confront
his astonished pursuers. They had halted in sheer amazement, and were
gazing at him with various expressions of stupefaction, old