CHAPTER II.
A young man in a suit of brown karkee, with a white puggaree wound round his pith helmet, was just mounting in front of his bungalow at Deennugghur, some forty miles from Cawnpore, when two others came up.
"Which way are you going to ride, Bathurst ?" "I am going out to Narkeet; there is a dispute between the villagers and a Talookdar as to their limits.

I have got to look into the case.

Why do you ask, Mr.Hunter ?" "I thought that you might be going that way.

You know we have had several reports of ravages by a man eater whose headquarters seem to be that big jungle you pass through on your way to Narkeet.

He has been paying visits to several villages in its neighborhood, and has carried off two mail runners.