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"But suppose you should come across a tiger, for they have been found here, though I hardly think you will see one," said one of the officers. "What would you do then?" "Shoot him, of course," replied Scott. "What are our guns for?" "But you may fire half a dozen balls into him without disabling the beast," added Khayrat, the principal officer.
Two tigers were killed, and Louis Belgrave had the honor of shooting one of them. Felix brought down a couple of cobras; and killing them seemed to be his forte. Khayrat invited the party to witness a battle between his mongoose and a couple of cobras his hunters had caught; and he killed them both, one at a time.
"Go 'way with you, Milesian, and don't tell any fish stories!" replied Scott, continuing to blackguard him while the servants were putting the deer on the top of the wagon. "Do you want to carry those snakes back to the palace?" asked Khayrat. "What snakes?" asked Scott.
He waited a full hour for them, when Louis returned first, with a very handsome deer slung on a pole with Khayrat carrying the other end. Morris came in with a monkey, which the officers would not have permitted him to kill if they had been near him. Scott came in last with only a couple of birds. "Did ye's mate ony cobrys, Musther Scott?" asked Felix.
"I brought out my mongoose, but the little rascal has left me." "There he is, just ahead of us," replied Louis. "He seems like a kitten, he is so tame." "He is my pet, and I am very fond of him, for I think he saved my life once. I was just on the point of stepping on a cobra when Dinky attacked the snake and killed him after a fight," added Khayrat.
If they approached the foothill of the Vindya Mountains, which he pointed out to them, they might find tigers. With this warning, the "Big Four" separated, and struck into the jungle. Khayrat followed Louis, for he had been informed that he was the most important person in the quartet. Adil, the other officer, kept near Scott, who appeared to be the most reckless of the four.
He sprang upon the neck of the cobra, placing his fore-paws on him, and then crushed his spine with his sharp teeth. The serpent was dead, after writhing an instant. The fight was ended, and Khayrat caressed the victor. Louis declared that the mongoose was a friend worth having, and immediately made a bargain with the huntsman to procure him a couple of them, and send them to Calcutta.
"But why did Khayrat tell me I ought not to have shot a monkey?" asked Morris. "Because monkeys are harmless, and the Hindus consider them sacred. Before you get to Calcutta you will find them housed in temples. Besides, the natives are very tender of all animals," replied Sir Modava.
"Tiger-hunting is dangerous sport, and you can't be too careful." But the boys were very confident, and all of them were good shots; but they had never tried any hunting of this kind. Khayrat said there was plenty of deer in the vicinity, and they had better confine their attention to them.
Felix protested that a little fellow like that couldn't do anything with such a cobra as he had shot the day before, for the snake was a trifle more than five feet long. They had gone but a short distance farther before Khayrat stepped out from a tree which had concealed him. "There's a cobra in here somewhere," said the officer, who was one of the king's huntsmen.
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