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The great kite, no longer held in poise against the wind, commenced darting hither and thither; at each turn descending lower and lower until by one last swoop, in which it seemed to concentrate all its failing strength, it came down towards Ossaroo like a gigantic bird of prey descending upon its victim!
In a few minutes the three hunters had lost sight of one another, Karl and Caspar proceeding round the lake by opposite sides, but both keeping under cover of the bushes; while Ossaroo wended his way along the bottom of the cliff thinking he might have a better chance in that direction. The game which Caspar expected first might fall in his way was the "kakur," or barking-deer.
Not only does the lower part of its trunk exhibit the phenomenon of great cavities, but holes are found high up in its main shaft or in the larger limbs. The tree in question stood within a few yards of that on which Karl, Caspar, and Ossaroo were perched.
A simple shadow would not have made such a commotion as that? "Sahibs!" said Ossaroo, in a tone of mysterious gravity, "he be one ob two ting. He eider be de god Brahma, or " "Or what?" demanded Caspar. "An ole rogue." "An old rogue?" said Caspar, repeating the words of the shikaree. "What do you mean by that, Ossy?" "What you Feringhee, sahib, call rogue elephant."
Though only a "mild Hindoo," Ossaroo was possessed of a high degree of courage; and, most of his life having been spent as a shikaree, he had become well inured to the risk of losing it.
The most careful calculations often prove erroneous not that in the present instance there was any unforeseen error: for from the very first, Karl had been distrustful of his data; and they were now to disappoint, rather than deceive him. It was not written in the book of destiny that Ossaroo should ever set foot in that wicker car or ever make an ascent by that balloon.
The number of eel-skins on hand, though very considerable, would not be near enough for covering a balloon; and therefore Ossaroo went to work with his hooks and lines to catch a few hundreds more. Karl was able to tell how many it would take; or he could at least make an estimate sufficiently exact for the purpose.
Karl and Caspar thought this would be a sufficient test; but Ossaroo was of a different opinion. A better plan according to the shikaree's way of thinking was one which had generated in his oriental brain; and which, without heeding the remonstrances of the others, he proceeded to make trial of.
To Caspar, as before, the chase was entrusted; while Ossaroo attended to the fishing; as he, better than either of the others, understood the management of hooks, lines, and nets.
Ossaroo knew that the animal was the "wha," a name derived from its ordinary call; and that it was sometimes known as the "chetwa," and also the "panda." Karl, on hearing Ossaroo's name for it, and indeed, on hearing it pronounced by the creature itself, was able to identify the animal, and to give it still another name that which has been bestowed upon it by Frederick Cuvier ailurus.
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