“The doctor says that you do, and I say that you do,” he continued, smiling; but there was no mistaking his tone. “So you shall go out. We will go out together. You are a great hunter, I know.”
“Oh no,” I said hastily.
“Well, you are fond of hunting.”
“I liked shooting,” I said, as I thought of the end of my last expedition.
“I know you do,” he continued, with a meaning smile. “There is a tiger at the village a little way toward the hills, and he has been taking the poor people’s cows. Yesterday he struck down a woman, and carried her off into the forest. I have had him tracked by the shikaris, and ordered the elephants and beaters to be ready. You shall take me with you, Gil, and give me a lesson in shooting tiger.”
“Then he has not a suspicion,” I thought. And then I asked myself whether I should go or refuse.
“If I go,” I thought, “I shall be serving Brace, for the attack may be made in our absence, and, without their leader, the troops will give way. But if I go with him, knowing what I do, I shall be acting treacherously to the man who saved my life.”
It was a difficult point to decide, and I said hastily—
“I would rather not go.”
“Why?” he asked, with a quick, suspicious look.