I forgot to say that as
the tiger broke out one of the village shikarees had fired at and,
he declared, wounded him.
"It was already getting late in the afternoon, and it was hopeless
to attempt to beat the jungle that night. We therefore sent off
a runner with a note to the colonel, asking him to send the work
elephants, and to allow a party of volunteers to march over at
night, to help surround the jungle when we commenced beating it in
the morning.
"We based our request upon the fact that the tiger was a notorious
man eater, and had been doing immense damage. We then had a talk
with our shikaree, sent a man off to bring provisions for the
people out with us, and then set them to work cutting dry sticks
and grass to make a circle of fires.
"We both felt much uneasiness respecting the fakir, who might be
seized at any moment by the enraged tiger. The natives would not
allow that there was any cause for fear, as the tiger would not
dare to touch so holy a man. Our belief in the respect of the tiger
for sanctity was by no means strong, and we determined to go in
and warn him of the presence of the brute in the wood. It was a
mission which we could not intrust to anyone else, for no native
would have entered the jungle for untold gold; so we mounted the
Begaum again, and started.
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