"Yes," replied Biff, stepping over to the jeep. "I can."
"Then pile your packs on board," the man invited, "and take the wheel. I'm dog-tired and I need some sleep, but I still have to get somewhere tonight."
Despite the man's English speech and manner, he had something of an Oriental look, and when Biff met his gaze, he felt a fleeting recollection of having seen the man before. Then Biff was smiling at the way he had let his own memory trick him. Naturally, he'd seen the man before—twice when they'd caught up with the jeep—three times when it had gone by Biff and his companions.
The man was already moving from behind the wheel, so Biff took over and waved for Chandra and Kamuka to get in back, which they did, packs and all. Neatly, Biff zigzagged the jeep in among the dispersing cows and stepped up to a twenty-mile-an-hour rate that seemed a break-neck speed after a day of plodding on foot. The owner of the jeep evidently approved of Biff's driving, for he promptly drifted into a satisfied doze.
Slowdowns and halts were frequent, of course, and during those intervals, Biff took a closer look at the sleeping man. He noted that the man's hair was dark and shocky, his complexion tawny, his features broad but smooth, except when he let his chin slump down too far; then, his jowls looked heavy. Most noticeable were his ears, which spread out quite widely from his head. Otherwise, he was handsome, in a rugged way, and he looked vigorous for his age, which Biff placed somewhere in the forties.
Before an hour was up, Chandra spoke from the back seat. "We are getting near Supari now!" he said. At the sound of the strange voice, the broad-faced man woke up and was immediately alert. Only for an instant did he appear puzzled at seeing Biff at the wheel of the jeep. Then, with a broad smile, he said. "Supari. That is not far from Keewal, the place where I am going."
"You are going to the old game preserve?" inquired Chandra politely.
"Yes," the man replied. "The head shikari has invited me to a tiger hunt there." He turned to Biff. "Take the next side road, and I will drop you off near Supari. I can then go on to Keewal."
It was more than a mile to the side road, and Biff would have missed it if Chandra hadn't pointed it out, for it was merely ruts, like the road they had followed earlier in the day. And such ruts! At times they disappeared in grass so thick that Biff had to guide the jeep by the clearing in the low, scrubby trees ahead.
All the while, the broad-faced man smiled approvingly at the way Biff handled the jeep, while Biff himself was glad that he was not driving a more conventional type of car. At one place, the ruts reappeared, to turn themselves into a bridge consisting of two tree trunks, smoothed to form treadways only about a foot in width. But Biff rode over them perfectly, although the slightest sideslip would have dumped the jeep and its occupants into a ten-foot gully.