“I saw the sergeant of the jungle,” Little Shikara said after one of these excursions.  And this made no sense at all.

“There are none of the King’s soldiers here,” the brown village folk replied to him.  “Either thou liest to us, or thine eyes lied to thee.  And didst thou also see the chevron that told his rank?”

“That was the way I knew him.  It was the black bear, and he wore the pale chevron low on his throat.”

This was Little Shikara all over.  Of course he referred to the black Himalayan bear which all men know wears a yellowish patch, of chevron shape, just in front of his fore legs; but why he should call him a jungle-sergeant was quite beyond the wit of the village folk to say.  Their imagination did not run in that direction.  It never even occurred to them that Little Shikara might be a born jungle creature, expatriated by the accident of birth—­one of that free, strange breed that can never find peace in the villages of men.

“But remember the name we gave him,” his mother would say.  “Perhaps he is only living up to his name.”

For there are certain native hunters in India that are known, far and wide, as the Shikaris; and possibly she meant in her tolerance that her little son was merely a born huntsman.  But in reality Little Shikara was not named for these men at all.  Rather it was for a certain fleet-winged little hawk, a hunter of sparrows, that is one of the most free spirits in all the jungle.

And it was almost like taking part in some great hunt himself—­to be waiting at the gate for the return of Warwick Sahib.  Even now, the elephant came striding out of the shadows; and Little Shikara could see the trophy.  The hunt had indeed been successful, and the boy’s glowing eyes beheld—­even in the shadows—­the largest, most beautiful tiger-skin he had ever seen.  It was the great Nahar, the royal tiger, who had killed one hundred cattle from near-by fields.

Warwick Sahib rode in his howdah, and he did not seem to see the village people that came out to meet him.  In truth, he seemed half asleep, his muscles limp, his gray eyes full of thoughts.  He made no answer to the triumphant shouts of the village folk.  Little Shikara glanced once at the lean, bronzed face, the limp, white, thin hands, and something like a shiver of ecstasy went clear to his ten toes.  For like many other small boys, all over the broad world, he was a hero-worshipper to the last hair of his head; and this quiet man on the elephant was to him beyond all measure the most wonderful living creature on the earth.

He didn’t cry out, as the others did.  He simply stood in mute worship, his little body tingling with glory.  Warwick Sahib had looked up now, and his slow eyes were sweeping the line of brown faces.  But still he did not seem to see them.  And then—­wonder of wonders—­his eyes rested full on the eyes of his little worshipper beside the gate.