a glimpse of the mall above and of the people upon it—­or at least of their heads—­if they are moving near the edge of the path.  I was unaccountably curious this evening, and I dropped a little behind Isaacs, craning my neck and turning back in the saddle as I watched the stream of heads and shoulders, strongly foreshortened against the blue sky above, moving ceaselessly along the parapet over my head.  Before long I was rewarded; Miss Westonhaugh’s fair hair and broad hat entered the field of my vision, and a moment later Lord Steepleton, who must have pushed through the crowd from the other side, appeared struggling after her.  She turned quickly, and I saw no more, but I did not think she had changed colour.

I began to be deeply interested in ascertaining whether she had any preference for one or the other of the two young men.  Kildare’s visit in the morning—­though he had said very little—­had given me a new impression of the man, and I felt that he was no contemptible rival.  I saw from the little incident I had just witnessed that he neglected no opportunity of being with Miss Westonhaugh, and that he had the patience to wait and the boldness to find her in a crowd.  I had seen very little of her myself; but I had been amply satisfied that Isaacs was capable of interesting her in a tete-a-tete conversation.  “The talker has the best chance, if he is bold enough,” I said to myself; but I was not satisfied, and I resolved that if I could manage it Isaacs should have another chance that very evening after the dinner.  Meanwhile I would involve Isaacs in a conversation on some one of those subjects that seemed to interest him most.  He had not seen the couple on the mall, and was carelessly ambling along with his head in the air and one hand in the pocket of his short coat, the picture of unconcern.

I was trying to make up my mind whether I would open fire upon the immortality of the soul, matrimony, or the differential calculus, when, as we passed from the narrow street into the road leading sound Jako, Isaacs spoke.

“Look here, Griggs,” said he, “there is something I want to impress upon your mind.”

“Well, what is it?”

“It is all very well for Ram Lal to give advice about things he understands.  I have a very sincere regard for him, but I do not believe he was ever in my position.  I have set my heart on this tiger-hunt.  Miss Westonhaugh said the other day that she had never seen a tiger, and I then and there made up my mind that she should.”

I laughed.  There seemed to be no essential difference of opinion between the Irishman and the Persian in regard to the pleasures of the chase.  Miss Westonhaugh was evidently anxious to see tigers, and meant to do it, since she had expressed her wish to the two men most likely to procure her that innocent recreation.  Lord Steepleton Kildare by his position, and Isaacs by his wealth, could, if they chose, get up such a tiger-hunt for her benefit as had never been seen.  I thought she might have waited till the spring—­but I had learned that she intended to return to England in April, and was to spend the early months of the year with her brother in Bombay.