Cricket 1914

M a y 2, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 97 With Prince Ranjitsinhji in India. S ome of m y big gam e experiences w ith P rince R an ji— eh, w ell, I am n atu ra lly of rath er a m odest disposition, in spite of a n yth in g th e y m ay tell yo u to the con trary. B u t I do th in k it is a p ity th e cinem a cam era had n ot been in ven ted in those days. W hy, m y efforts w ith th e rifle, could th e y be p u t on th e screen, w ould qu ite cast into the shade th e exploits of Mr. W alter W inans and Sir Thom as D ew ar. W e had been in cam p a w eek ; and, a t the end of th at week, w ho w as it th a t alw ays rode to th e fu rth est kill, som etim es covering 40 or 50 m iles in the d a y — w h o stood in th e open, w ith on ly a friend ly sword-bearer, and w ith previous experience lim ited to glass bottles and w ater-rats, aw aitin g th e fierce rush (that n ever came, th an k heaven !) of the biggest p anther in all Ind ia— who sa t o v er a dead donkey, killed th a t morning (they said) u ntil said D .D .’s odour n early bu rst th e rifle— who w as accused of sneezing or coughin g when (as alw ays) no kill to ok place, and some excuse had to be given b y the shikari in charge— who never tickled trigger th e w hole of th a t week ? W h y , A rchie, every tim e ! I don ’t m ind tellin g you, boys, th a t I w as fed up w ith the business. A t last I hied m yself to the M ah araja’s tent, and to ld him in m y blu n test m anner w h at I th ou gh t of the beaters who arrived, w ith torn togas and reddened eyes, at d ayb reak , vow in g th a t a big panther had w alked off w ith a n yth in g betw een a goat and a h a y stack from some neighbouring village. T h e y found sport for the Huzoor (i.e., H is Highnecs) ; bu t th e En glish Sahib— “ he no cou n t.” I knew their game, and th ey go t in to hot w ater later on. I t w as agreed, then, th a t I should go out w ith the M aharaja. H ith erto a know ing nephew had been stickin g v e ry tig h tly to him , for he knew— oh, yes, he knew !— who w ould get th e sport, and his d a ily song was : " I ’m going w ith U n cle.” Off; w e w ent. I knew I w as on a good w ick et this tim e ; or perhaps I had b etter sa y I th ou gh t I knew . The w retched g o at-victim w as tied up, and th e M ah araja and I settled ourselves in a m ach an h a lfw ay up a tree. He h ad a view rig h t down th e gu lly ; I had m y b ack to it, and faced th e goat. I was to h ave first shot, for th e M ah araja had made half-a-dozen kills in the previous w eek, and I had y e t to pull trigger. T h e instructions given me were m ost exp licit — no governm en t m ysteries h e r e ! W hen he saw the panther he w ould place his finger on m y k n e e ; when he w ithdrew it I w as to shoot. B u t a b ove all I w as to bew are of shooting before the panther had knocked the go at over and had sucked its blood. A fter a good deal of bleating, Mr. G o a t comm enced to n ibble th e undergrow th ; b u t before v e ry long I saw him stan d a t atten tion , terror-stricken. T h e M ah araja’s breath ­ ing becam e more audible, and th en— h ey presto !— a yellow flash, a rifle-crack, and a fine panther rolled over, felled in m id-air during his leap. T he go at w as now gallopin g in a circle like a good’uu, the panther h avin g done no more— b u t th a t w as enough— than tear his le ft ear. " Good heavens, man, w h y d id n ’t you shoot ? ” “ Shoot ? ” I screamed, poin ting to the goat. " I was to w a it until the panther had sucked his blood— w h y, if y o u ’ve entered him for n ex t y e a r’s D erb y h e’ll b a lly well w in it ! ” W ith th a t I slid down the tree to an accom panim ent of “ B ravo, S ah ib ! B ravo, Sahib ! ” from A D C .’s and others who th ou gh t th e kill m ine— as if I hadn ’t had enough for one day, and needed it rubbing in ! W e had broken up our first cam p ; b u t I had to ride back