CHAPTER I
A merry party were sitting in the veranda of one of the largest andhandsomest bungalows of Poonah. It belonged to Colonel Hastings, colonelof a native regiment stationed there, and at present, in virtue ofseniority, commanding a brigade. Tiffin was on, and three or fourofficers and four ladies had taken their seats in the comfortable canelounging chairs which form the invariable furniture of the veranda ofa well ordered bungalow. Permission had been duly asked, and grantedby Mrs. Hastings, and the cheroots had just begun to draw, when MissHastings, a niece of the colonel, who had only arrived the previous weekfrom England, said: "Uncle, I am quite disappointed. Mrs. Lyons showedme the bear she has got tied up in their compound, and it is the mostwretched little thing, not bigger than Rover, papa's retriever, and it'sfull grown. I thought bears were great fierce creatures, and this poorlittle thing seemed so restless and unhappy that I thought it quite ashame not to let it go."
Colonel Hastings smiled rather grimly.
"And yet, small and insignificant as that bear is, my dear, it is aquestion whether he is not as dangerous an animal to meddle with as aman eating tiger."
"What, that wretched little bear, uncle?"
"Yes, that wretched little bear. Any experienced sportsman will tell youthat hunting those little bears is as dangerous a sport as tiger huntingon foot, to say nothing of tiger hunting from an elephant's back, inwhich there is scarcely any danger whatever. I can speak feelingly aboutit, for my career was pretty nearly brought to an end by a bear, justafter I entered the army, some thirty years ago, at a spot within a fewmiles from here. I have got the scars on my shoulder and arm still."
"Oh, do tell me all about it," Miss Hastings said; and the request beingseconded by the rest of the party, none of whom, with the exceptionof Mrs. Hastings, had ever heard the story before--for the colonel wassomewhat chary of relating this special experience--he waited till theyhad all drawn up their chairs as close as possible, and then giving twoor three vigorous puffs at his cheroot, began as follows:
"Thirty years ago, in 1855, things were not so settled in the Deccan asthey are now. There was no idea of insurrection on a large scale, but wewere going through one of those outbreaks of Dacoity which have severaltimes proved so troublesome. Bands of marauders kept the country inconfusion, pouring down on a village, now carrying off three or fourof the Bombay money lenders, who were then, as now, the curse of thecountry; sometimes making an onslaught upon a body of traders; andoccasionally venturing to attack small detachments of troops or isolatedparties of police. They were not very formidable, but they were verytroublesome, and most difficult to catch, for the peasantry regardedthem as patriots, and aided and shielded them in every way. Theheadquarters of these gangs of Dacoits were the Ghauts. In the thickbush and deep valleys and gorges there they could always take refuge,while sometimes the more daring chiefs converted these detached peaksand masses of rock, numbers of which you can see as you come up theGhaut by railway, into almost impregnable fortresses. Many of thesemasses of rock rise as sheer up from the hillside as walls of masonry,and look at a short distance like ruined castles. Some are absolutelyinaccessible; others can only be scaled by experienced climbers;and, although possible for the natives with their bare feet, areimpracticable to European troops. Many of these rock fortresses were atvarious times the headquarters of famous Dacoit leaders, and unless thesummits happened to be commanded from some higher ground within gunshotrange they were all but impregnable, except by starvation. When drivento bay, these fellows would fight well.
"Well, about the time I joined, the Dacoits were unusually troublesome;the police had a hard time of it, and almost lived in the saddle, andthe cavalry were constantly called up to help them, while detachments ofinfantry from the station were under canvas at several places along thetop of the Ghauts to cut the bands off from their strongholds, and toaid, if necessary, in turning them out of their rock fortresses. Thenatives in the valleys at the foot of the Ghauts, who have always beena semi-independent race, ready to rob whenever they saw a chance,were great friends with the Dacoits and supplied them with provisionswhenever the hunt on the Deccan was too hot to make raids in thatdirection.
"This is a long introduction, you will say, and does not seem to havemuch to do with bears; but it is really necessary, as you will see. Ihad joined about six months when three companies of the regiment wereordered to relieve a wing of the 15th, who had been under canvas at avillage some four miles to the north of the point where the line crossesthe top of the Ghauts. There were three white officers, and littleenough to do, except when a party was sent off to assist the police.We had one or two brushes with the Dacoits, but I was not out on eitheroccasion. However, there was plenty of shooting, and a good many pigsabout, so we had very good fun. Of course, as a raw hand, I was very hotfor it, and as the others had both passed the enthusiastic age, exceptfor pig sticking and big game, I could always get away. I was supposednot to go far from camp, because in the first place, I might be wanted;and, in the second, because of the Dacoits; and Norworthy, who was incommand, used to impress upon me that I ought not to go beyond the soundof a bugle. Of course we both knew that if I intended to get any sportI must go further afoot than this; but I merely used to say 'Allright, sir, I will keep an ear to the camp,' and he on his part neverconsidered it necessary to ask where the game which appeared on thetable came from. But in point of fact, I never went very far, andmy servant always had instructions which way to send for me if I waswanted; while, as to the Dacoits, I did not believe in their having theimpudence to come in broad daylight within a mile or two of our camp. Idid not often go down the face of the Ghauts. The shooting was good, andthere were plenty of bears in those days, but it needed a long day forsuch an expedition, and in view of the Dacoits who might be scatteredabout, was not the sort of thing to be undertaken except with a strongparty. Norworthy had not given any precise orders about it, but I mustadmit that he said one day:
"'Of course you won't be fool enough to think of going down theGhauts, Hastings?' But I did not look at that as equivalent to a directorder--whatever I should do now," the colonel put in, on seeing afurtive smile on the faces of his male listeners.
"However, I never meant to go down, though I used to stand on the edgeand look longingly down into the bush and fancy I saw bears moving aboutin scores. But I don't think I should have gone into their country ifthey had not come into mine. One day the fellow who always carried myspare gun or flask, and who was a sort of shikaree in a small way, toldme he had heard that a farmer whose house stood near the edge of theGhauts, some two miles away, had been seriously annoyed by his fruit andcorn being stolen by bears.
"'I'll go and have a look at the place tomorrow,' I said; 'there is noparade, and I can start early. You may as well tell the mess cook to putup a basket with some tiffin and a bottle of claret, and get a boy tocarry it over.'
"'The bears not come in day,' Rahman said.
"'Of course not,' I replied; 'still I may like to find out which waythey come. Just do as you are told.'
"The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at the farmer's spoken of,and there was no mistake as to the bears. A patch of Indian corn hadbeen ruined by them, and two dogs had been killed. The native was in aterrible state of rage and alarm. He said that on moonlight nights hehad seen eight of them, and they came and sniffed around the door of thecottage.
"'Why don't you fire through the window at them?' I asked scornfully,for I had seen a score of tame bears in captivity, and, like you, Mary,was inclined to despise them, though there was far less excuse for me;for I had heard stories which should have convinced me that, small ashe is, the Indian bear is not a beast to be attacked with impunity. Uponwalking to the edge of the Ghauts there was no difficulty in discoveringthe route by which the bears came up to the farm. For a mile to theright and left the ground fell away as if cut with a knife, leaving aprecipice of over a hundred feet sheer down; but close by where I wasstanding was the head of a water course, which in time
had graduallyworn a sort of cleft in the wall, up or down which it was not difficultto make one's way. Further down this little gorge widened out and becamea deep ravine, and further still a wide valley, where it opened upon theflats far below us. About half a mile down, where the ravine was deepestand darkest, was a thick clump of trees and jungle.
"'That's where the bears are?' I asked Rahman. He nodded. It seemed nodistance. I could get down and back in time for tiffin, and perhaps baga couple of bears. For a young sportsman the temptation was great. 'Howlong would it take us to go down and have a shot or two at them?'
"'No good go down. Master come here at night, shoot bears when they comeup.'
"I had thought of that; but, in the first place, it did not seem muchsport to shoot the beasts from cover when they were quietly eating,and, in the next place, I knew that Norworthy could not, even if he werewilling, give me leave to go out of camp at night. I waited, hesitatingfor a few minutes, and then I said to myself, 'It is of no use waiting.I could go down and get a bear and be back again while I am thinking ofit;' then to Rahman, 'No, come along; we will have a look through thatwood anyhow.'
"Rahman evidently did not like it. 'Not easy to find bear, sahib. Hevery cunning.'
"'Well, very likely we shan't find them,' I said, 'but we can tryanyhow. Bring that bottle with you; the tiffin basket can wait here tillwe come back.' In another five minutes I had begun to climb down thewatercourse--the shikaree following me. I took the double barreled rifleand handed him the shotgun, having first dropped a bullet down eachbarrel over the charge. The ravine was steep, but there were bushes tohold on by, and although it was hot work and took a good deal longerthan I expected, we at last got down to the place which I had fixed uponas likely to be the bears' home.
"'Sahib, climb up top,' Rahman said; 'come down through wood; no goodfire at bear when he above.'
"I had heard that before; but I was hot, the sun was pouring down, therewas not a breath of wind, and it looked a long way up to the top of thewood.
"'Give me the claret. It would take too long to search the woodregularly. We will sit down here for a bit, and if we can see anythingmoving up in the wood, well and good; if not, we will come back againanother day with some beaters and dogs.' So saying, I sat down with myback against a rock, at a spot where I could look up among the trees fora long way through a natural vista. I had a drink of claret, and then Isat and watched till gradually I dropped off to sleep. I don't know howlong I slept, but it was some time, and I woke up with a sudden start.Rahman, who had, I fancy, been asleep too, also started up.
"The noise which had aroused us was made by a rolling stone striking arock: and looking up I saw some fifty yards away, not in the wood, buton the rocky hillside on our side of the ravine, a bear standing, asthough unconscious of our presence, snuffing the air. As was natural,I seized my rifle, cocked it, and took aim, unheeding a cry of 'No, no,sahib,' from Rahman. However, I was not going to miss such a chance asthis, and I let fly. The beast had been standing sideways to me, and asI saw him fall I felt sure I had hit him in the heart. I gave a shout oftriumph, and was about to climb up, when, from behind the rock on whichthe bear had stood, appeared another, growling fiercely; on seeing me,it at once prepared to come down. Stupidly, being taken by surprise, andbeing new at it, I fired at once at its head. The bear gave a spring,and then--it seemed instantaneous--down it came at me. Whether it rolleddown, or slipped down, or ran down, I don't know, but it came almost asif it had jumped straight at me.
"'My gun, Rahman,' I shouted, holding out my hand. There was no answer.I glanced round and found that the scoundrel had bolted. I had time, andonly just time, to take a step backwards, and to club my rifle, when thebrute was upon me. I got one fair blow at the side of its head, a blowthat would have smashed the skull of any civilized beast into pieces,and which did fortunately break the brute's jaw; then in an instant hewas upon me, and I was fighting for life. My hunting knife was out, andwith my left hand I had the beast by the throat; while with my right Itried to drive my knife into its ribs. My bullet had gone through hischest. The impetus of his charge had knocked me over, and we rolled onthe ground, he tearing with his claws at my shoulder and arm, I stabbingand struggling; my great effort being to keep my knees up so as toprotect my body with them from his hind claws. After the first blow withhis paw which laid my shoulder open, I do not think I felt any specialpain whatever. There was a strange faint sensation, and my whole energyseemed centered in the two ideas--to strike and to keep my knees up.I knew that I was getting faint, but I was dimly conscious that hisefforts, too, were relaxing. His weight on me seemed to increaseenormously, and the last idea that flashed across me was that it was adrawn fight.
"The next idea of which I was conscious was that I was being carried. Iseemed to be swinging about, and I thought I was at sea. Then there wasa little jolt and a sense of pain. 'A collision,' I muttered, and openedmy eyes. Beyond the fact that I seemed in a yellow world--a brightorange yellow--my eyes did not help me, and I lay vaguely wonderingabout it all, till the rocking ceased. There was another bump, and thenthe yellow world seemed to come to an end; and as the daylight streamedin upon me I fainted again. This time, when I awoke to consciousness,things were clearer. I was stretched by a little stream. A native womanwas sprinkling my face and washing the blood from my wounds; whileanother, who had with my own knife cut off my coat and shirt, wastearing the latter into strips to bandage my wounds. The yellow worldwas explained. I was lying on the yellow robe of one of the women.They had tied the ends together, placed a long stick through them, andcarried me in the bag-like hammock. They nodded to me when they saw Iwas conscious, and brought water in a large leaf, and poured it into mymouth. Then one went away for some time, and came back with some leavesand bark. These they chewed and put on my wounds, bound them up withstrips of my shirt, and then again knotted the ends of the cloth, andlifting me up, went on as before.
"I was sure that we were much lower down the Ghaut than we had beenwhen I was watching for the bears, and we were now going still lower.However, I knew very little Hindustani, nothing of the language thewomen spoke. I was too weak to stand, too weak even to think much; andI dozed and woke, and dozed again until, after what seemed to me manyhours of travel, we stopped again, this time before a tent. Two or threeold women and four or five men came out, and there was great talkingbetween them and the young women--for they were young--who had carriedme down. Some of the party appeared angry; but at last things quieteddown, and I was carried into the tent. I had fever, and was, I suppose,delirious for days. I afterwards found that for fully a fortnight I hadlost all consciousness; but a good constitution and the nursing of thewomen pulled me round. When once the fever had gone, I began to mendrapidly. I tried to explain to the women that if they would go up to thecamp and tell them where I was they would be well rewarded; but althoughI was sure they understood, they shook their heads, and by the fact thatas I became stronger two or three armed men always hung about thetent, I came to the conclusion that I was a sort of prisoner. This wasannoying, but did not seem serious. If these people were Dacoits, or, aswas more likely, allies of the Dacoits, I could be kept only for ransomor exchange. Moreover, I felt sure of my ability to escape when I gotstrong, especially as I believed that in the young women who had savedmy life, both by bringing me down and by their careful nursing, I shouldfind friends."
"Were they pretty, uncle?" Mary Hastings broke in.
"Never mind whether they were pretty, Mary; they were better thanpretty."
"No; but we should like to know, uncle."
"Well, except for the soft, dark eyes, common to the race, and the goodtemper and lightheartedness, also so general among Hindu girls, andthe tenderness which women feel towards a creature whose life they havesaved, whether it is a wounded bird or a drowning puppy, I suppose theywere nothing remarkable in the way of beauty, but at the time I knowthat I thought them charming."