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diff --git a/38289-h/38289-h.htm b/38289-h/38289-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c00fdd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/38289-h/38289-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8251 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Sa'-Zada Tales, by William Alexander Fraser. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; } + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; } + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + +p.title { text-align: center; text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.1em; + line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 3em; } + +p.title2 {text-align: center; text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; font-size: 2em; + line-height: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em; } + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; } + +hr.chap {width: 65%} +hr.full {width: 95%;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li { margin-top: 1.1em; } + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; } + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; } + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; } + +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; } + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; } + +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Sa'-Zada Tales, by William Alexander Fraser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Sa'-Zada Tales + +Author: William Alexander Fraser + +Illustrator: Arthur Heming + +Release Date: December 13, 2011 [EBook #38289] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SA'-ZADA TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Darleen Dove, Shannon Barker, Diane Monico, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<h1>The Sa'-Zada Tales</h1> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 308px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="308" height="450" alt="(cover)"/> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a name="BOOKS_BY_W_A_FRASER" id="BOOKS_BY_W_A_FRASER"></a>BOOKS BY W. A. FRASER</h2> + +<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Published by</span> CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="books"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Sa'-Zada Tales.</span> Illustrated by Arthur Heming</td> +<td align="right">$0.00</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mooswa and Others of the Boundaries.</span> Illustrated by Arthur Heming</td> +<td align="right">$2.00</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Outcasts.</span> Illustrated by Arthur Heming.</td> +<td align="right">$1.25 <i>net</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Blood Lilies.</span> Illustrated by Frank Schoonover</td> +<td align="right">$1.50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Brave Hearts.</span> With Frontispiece</td> +<td align="right">$1.50</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 412px;"> +<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/i_fpc.jpg" width="412" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">SA'-ZADA HAD GATHERED ALL HIS COMRADES ... FOR THE EVENING +OF THE BIRD TALK ...<br /><br /> + +<small>(SEE PAGE <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.)</small></span> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<h1> +<small>THE</small><br /> +SA'-ZADA TALES<br /> +<br /></h1> + +<p class="title"><big>By W. A. FRASER</big><br /> +<br /> +<i>Illustrated by</i> ARTHUR HEMING +</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 37px;"> +<img src="images/006.png" width="37" height="40" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="center">CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS<br /> +<i>NEW YORK ... MDCCCCV</i><br /> +</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<p class="center"><small> +<i>Copyright, 1905, by</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Charles Scribner's Sons</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Published September, 1905</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">J. F. Tapley Co.<br /> +New York</span><br /> +</small></p> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>Contents</h2> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="toc"> +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The White, Yellow, and Black Leopard</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hathi Ganesh, the White-eared Elephant</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gidar, the Jackal, and Coyote, the Prairie Wolf</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Raj Bagh, the King Tiger</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Tribe of King Cobra</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Story of the Monkeys</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Story of Birds of a Feather</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Buffalo and Bison</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Unt, the Camel</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Big Tusk, the Wild Boar</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oohoo, the Wolf, and Sher Abi, the Crocodile</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sa'-Zada, the "Zoo" Keeper</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></a>Illustrations</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>From Drawings by Arthur Heming</i></p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="loi"> +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">Sa'-Zada had gathered all his comrades ... for the evening of the bird talk</td> +<td align="right"><i><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a></i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"The thing that had me by the paw was of a fiendish kind."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_019">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"And away we dashed."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_032">32</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Then something strong grabbed me by the hind leg, and pulled me ..."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_042">42</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Two ruffianly Bulls ... fought me while the men slipped great strong ropes over my legs"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_046">46</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"I heard my man say ... 'Strike me dead, if he hasn't ...'"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_061">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"But I could see that there was something very wrong ..."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_070">70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"My sire ... sprang on a big Hathi's nose"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_082">82</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"And Baba used to come every day under the bungalow to play"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_090">90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"I would stretch my body across it much after that fashion"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_098">98</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"And they all clambered on to my back"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_111">111</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"And sitting beside her, cried also, being but a little chap and all alone in the jungle"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_112">112</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"And as he coughed, soap bubbles floated upward."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_122">122</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Leaving just a place for her sharp beak"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_125">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Something I could not see struck me most viciously in the shoulder"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_146">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Suddenly I heard a 'swisp' in the air, and my little curly-haired pet ..."</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_150">150</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"I remained in the <i>jhil</i> until my master had lost the fierce Kill-look"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_161">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"But some way I felt like doing my best"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_166">166</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"It was at this time that Bagh killed so many of my people"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_182">182</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"'Into the horse's legs,' the old Dame had said"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_184">184</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"One could travel for days over the white snow"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_190">190</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"'Let me in, Tom, I am Jack,' pleaded the Hunt man"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_202">202</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"The grizzly ... bounced out not ten yards from the Cayuse"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_220">220</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td align="left">"Bhalu ... pitched into the other two"</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#i_230">230</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Introduction" id="Introduction"></a>Introduction</h2> + + +<p><i>All his life Sa'-zada the Keeper had lived with +animals. That was why he could talk to them, and +they to him; that was why he knew that something +must be done to keep his animal friends from fretting +themselves to death during the dreadful heat +that came like a disease over their part of the +Greater City.</i></p> + +<p><i>In the Greater City itself the sun smote with a +fierceness that was like the anger of evil gods. The +air vibrated with palpitating white heat, and the +shadows were as the blue flame of a forge. Men +and women stole from ovened streets, wide-mouthed, +to places where trees swayed and waters +babbled feebly of a cooler rest; even the children +were sent away that they might not die of fevered +blood.</i></p> + +<p><i>But in the Animal City there was no escape. +The Dwellers from distant deep jungles and tall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> +forests had only blistering iron bars between them +and the sirocco that swept from the brick walls of +the Greater City.</i></p> + +<p><i>It was because of this that Sa'-zada said, "I +must make them talk of their other life, lest they +die of this."</i></p> + +<p><i>In the Greater City men thought only of themselves; +but with Sa'-zada it was different. The +animals were his children—his friends; so he had +contrived that all of the Peace-kind—the Grass-feeders +and others—should come from their cages +and corrals and meet each evening in front of the +iron-bound homes which contained those of the +Blood-kind, to tell stories of their past life.</i></p> + +<p><i>Sa'-zada had asked Hathi, the one-tusked Elephant, +who had been Ganesh in Hindustan, about +it. In Hathi's opinion those who had seen the least, +and were of little interest, would do all the talking—that +was his experience of jungle life; so the +Keeper had wisely arranged that each evening +some one animal, or group, should tell the tale.</i></p> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_DWELLERS_IN_ANIMAL_TOWN_IN" id="THE_DWELLERS_IN_ANIMAL_TOWN_IN"></a>THE DWELLERS IN ANIMAL TOWN, IN +THE GREATER CITY</h2> + + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Sahib Zada</span>, Keeper of the Animals in the Zoo</p> + +<ul class="index"><li><span class="smcap">Arna</span>, <i>the Wild India Buffalo</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Adjutant</span>, <i>the Scavenger Bird</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Bhainsa</span>, <i>the Tame India Buffalo</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Baghni</span>, <i>the Tigress</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Bagheela</span>, <i>Young Panther or Tiger</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Bhalu</span>, <i>the Bear</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Coyote</span>, <i>the Prairie Wolf</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Caribou.</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Chinkara</span>, <i>Gazelle</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Gidar</span>, <i>the Jackal</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Guru</span>, <i>the India Bison</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hanuman</span>, <i>a Tree-dwelling Monkey</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hooluk</span>, <i>the Black Monkey</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hornbill</span>, <i>Bird like the Toucan</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hathi</span>, <i>the Elephant</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hansor</span>, (the Laugher) <i>Hyena</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hamadryad</span>, <i>the King Cobra</i>.</li> +<li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span><span class="smcap">Kauwa</span>, <i>the Crow</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mooswa</span>, <i>the Moose</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Magh</span>, <i>the Ourang-Outang</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mor</span>, <i>the Peacock</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Musk Ox.</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Newal</span>, <i>the Mongoos</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Pardus</span>, <i>the Panther</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Raj Bagh</span>, <i>the Tiger</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Safed Chita</span>, <i>the White Chita, or White Leopard</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Soor</span>, <i>the Wild Boar</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Sambhur</span>, <i>A Deer</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Sher Abi</span>, <i>the Crocodile</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Unt</span>, <i>the Camel</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Wapoos</span>, <i>the Hare</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Zard Chita</span>, <i>the Yellow Leopard</i>.</li> +</ul> + + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">First Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Stories of White, Yellow, and +Black Leopard</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 472px;"> +<img src="images/i_1st_nite_1.jpg" width="472" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 502px;"> +<img src="images/i_1st_nite_2.jpg" width="502" height="600" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">The Sa'-zada Tales</p> + + + + +<h2><a name="FIRST_NIGHT" id="FIRST_NIGHT"></a><big>FIRST NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORIES OF WHITE, YELLOW, AND BLACK LEOPARD</h2> + + +<p>Through the listless leaves of the oaks and +elms the moon was spraying silver over +the hot earth when Sa'-zada, throwing down bars +and unlocking gates, passed the words to his friends +to gather at Leopard's cage.</p> + +<p>As he slipped the chain from Hathi's foot, and +it fell with a soft clink on the hay bed, he said, +"Ganesh, you of the one tusk, keep thou the Jungle +Dwellers in order, for if one may judge from the +manners of one's own kind, who are men, this +weather is a breeder of evil tempers."</p> + +<p>"Umph, umph!" grunted Hathi complacently. +"I who have seen fifty such times of discomfort +think little of it. Surely the Sahib-kind, who are +also long dwellers, can remember that there comes +another season of cool. But, as you say, Master, +perhaps it were well if I take into my trunk a +cooler of water for such as may fret themselves +into a fever."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>Even as Hathi spoke an angry roar shook the +building they were in.</p> + +<p>"Hear that, Patient One," cried Sa'-zada; "Pardus, +the Black Panther, who is at best a mighty +cross chap, is in an evil way."</p> + +<p>The cry of Black Panther, which was like the +falling of many cataracts, was causing the dead +night air to tremble. "Hough-hough; a-hough! +Huzo-or, Wah-hough!"</p> + +<p>"There, make haste, Little One!" said the +Keeper to Elephant. "The sight of our friends +who are gathering at his cage, has put Pardus in a +temper, I fear."</p> + +<p>In front of the Leopard's house all the outside +animals of the Park had assembled: Arna, the +India Buffalo; Sher Abi, the Crocodile; Gidar, the +Jackal, and many others; even Magh, the Ourang-Outang, +was there with a Fox Terrier who lived +in her cage.</p> + +<p>"Friends," began Sa'-zada, "if we are all to live +here together in this Park, it were well that we +know of each other's ways."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," declared Sher Abi; "for +in my time I have known little of the habits of +other animals. A dog, for instance, will come +down to the water to drink——"</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Gidar; "and not having +the wisdom of a Jungle Dweller like me, he will +come to drink and stop to sup with one of your +kind. Is that not so, Sher Abi?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps, perhaps," sighed the Magar; "and +at home the Pups, having lost a parent, fall into +the clutches of Gidar the Jackal."</p> + +<p>"I like this meeting," broke in Magh; "a gathering +of thieves, and cannibals, and murderers—Eaters +of Dogs——"</p> + +<p>"And Apes," came like a soft summer sigh from +the bellows-mouth of the Crocodile.</p> + +<p>"Friends," interrupted the Keeper, "do not fall +to quarreling. Let us decide who is to tell the first +tale. As we are at Leopard's cage, perhaps he +should have the first chance."</p> + +<p>"I'm agreed," declared Magh; "murder stories +are always interesting."</p> + +<p>"I am sure everybody would be glad to hear +of your killing, Magh," sneered Pardus.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued Sa'-zada, "here are three +Leopards: Pard, the Black Leopard; Rufous, the +Yellow Leopard, and White Leopard. We'll have +their stories for this evening."</p> + +<p>"I'm no Leopard," objected Pardus, ceasing his +restless walk for a minute. Then he took three +turns up and down in front of the bars, his big +velvet feet sounding "spufh, spufh," on the hard +polished floor. "No," he continued, stopping in +front of Sa'-zada, sitting down, and letting his big +round head sink between his shoulders, until he +looked up from under heavy brows with yellow-green +eyes, "no, I'm a Panther. That is the way +with the men of my land; to them we are all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +'Chita,' or else 'Bagh,' which surely means a +Tiger."</p> + +<p>"I know," answered Sa'-zada, "you are neither +Bagh the Tiger, nor Chita the Leopard."</p> + +<p>"I should say not," answered Pardus. "Chita +is long of leg and slim of gut—a chaser of Rabbits, +and of the build of an Afghan Hound. With one +crunch of my jaws—Waugh! Why, I could break +his neck."</p> + +<p>"What's the difference, anyway," objected +Magh, "whether you are a Leopard or Panther—you +all belong to the family of Throat Cutters? +But what bothers me is that one is black, one is +yellow, and one is white; now, in my family, we +are all of one shade."</p> + +<p>"A very dirty color, too," sneered Pardus. +"Waugh-hough! no color at all—just <i>dirt</i>!"</p> + +<p>"That is so that murderers like you cannot see +me to eat me," answered Magh. "If I am on +the ground, am I not the color of the ground? +And when I am curled up on the limb of a tree +am I not like a knot on the tree trunk? That is +to keep me safe from you and Python."</p> + +<p>"That may be so," answered Pardus, "but I, +who hunt in the early night, find this black coat the +very thing. Soft Paws! I have come so close to +a Bullock, working up wind, of course, that one +spring completed the Kill."</p> + +<p>"Umph, umph!" grunted Hathi, with eager interest. +"All that appears reasonable; but, tell me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +Brothers, why is Yellow Leopard so bright in his +spots? And if your black coat serves you so well, +how does the other, who is white, manage?"</p> + +<p>"I speak only of myself," joined in Rufous, the +Yellow Leopard. "True, I also hunt at night at +times, but it's slow work; perhaps a long night +watch by a water pool, and then only the kill of a +Chinkara—a mouthful, and in the time of scarce +food, why, one must stalk when the Grass-feeders +are within range of one's eye. Who is there +amongst you all, even Soor (Wild Boar), with his +sharp Pig eyes, that can say, when I am crouched +amongst the bushes with the sun making bright +spots all over the jungle, 'There is Yellow Leopard, +who is a slayer.' Not only is it good for the Kill, +this coat of mine, but when the hunt is on from the +other side, when I seek to keep clear of the Men-kind—by +my caution! more than once, when it has +been that way, have I slipped quietly through the +young jungle, and left the Beaters running up +against each other, asking which way went Bagh. +I am no night prowler like Pardus, for often have +I killed in the open."</p> + +<p>"I know nothing of all this matter," declared +White Leopard; "but had I been black like Pardus, +or black-spotted like Rufous, I had died of a lean +stomach in the white mountains from which I come. +Why, there, on the hillside, every rock gleams +white in the sunlight—not spotted, mind you, for +there is no jungle such as Rufous speaks of; even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +the sand-hills are so white with the hot light that a +mate of mine has been almost at my side before I +knew it."</p> + +<p>"White Leopard is from the <i>Safed Kho</i> Mountains, +the White Range, in Afghanistan," said +Sa'-zada for the information of the others.</p> + +<p>"I know," declared Unt the Camel; "I've been +there—just the loveliest hot sandy hills and plains +in the whole world. But, tell me, Little Brother of +the Blood-kind," he bubbled, "it is not always sunlight +there—at times the white storm comes—high +up in the range—what do you do then?"</p> + +<p>"My coat gets whiter still," answered Leopard; +"and if I close my eyes and stalk by scent alone, +why, you would never see me till I was at your +throat."</p> + +<p>"It's either a lie or most curious truth," grunted +Magh, biting the Fox Terrier's ear till he squealed. +"Here is a Pup that is white all the time, and no +lies about it, either."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's the truth," asserted Wapoos, the Hare; +"in the winter time I, also, turn white to save my +throat from Lynx or Marten; though it is not of +my own doing, to be sure."</p> + +<p>"It's Wie-sak-ke-chack, who is God of all Animals, +who arranges it this way," said Mooswa, +solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Well," interrupted Sa'-zada, "one of you +Leopards tell us of the manner of your coming +here."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As I have said," began White Leopard, "I +was born in the Safed Mountains, and it was a +year of much hunger——"</p> + +<p>"The very year I was born," declared Magh; +"there hardly seemed more than three nuts or berries +in the world."</p> + +<p>"Come up here, Chatterbox," grunted Hathi, +winding his trunk around Magh's body, and lifting +her to his massive head.</p> + +<p>"Let me hold the Pup," whined Sher Abi, +spreading his shark mouth in a disinterested yawn. +Hathi blew a handful of small stones which he had +been picking up, into the opening, causing Sher Abi +to sputter and choke. When the laughter had subsided, +White Leopard proceeded with his story.</p> + +<p>"As I have said, it was a year of much hunger, +because the Affrides made war, and the Sahibs +came, and it seemed as though everything that had +life in it was driven out of the country. They ate +up the Goats and Sheep, and the Bullocks and +Camels they took to carry their loads. It was +indeed a time of distressed stomachs; and, to make +matters worse, my Father, who was a killer of +Bullocks and not a Goat eater, dropped the matter +of a thousand feet over a cliff and was killed. Then +my mother came with me, and I was still a Cub, +down to the land of the Marris, where there were +many Sheep—the short-legged kind with the broad +fat tails; small they were, to be sure, and hardly of +the bulk of even a Cub's desire. The very sweetness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +of their flesh made one wish that they had +grown larger. Hunger pains! but it was a long +tramp on a lean stomach, and in the end we fell +among Men thieves—those of the White-kind, the +Sahibs."</p> + +<p>"Birds of a feather on one limb," sneered Magh, +tickling Hathi on the ear with her sharp finger.</p> + +<p>"And in that land, though there were many +Sheep, it was hard to make a kill. Why, the Herd +Men, Pathans they were called, which I think +means the greatest of all thieves, were as wary as +Jungle Dwellers. At the first try my Mother got +a blow in the shoulder from one of their evil, long-necked +Firesticks."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" laughed Sa'-zada; "that long gun +was a <i>jezail</i>, and the Pathans are good marksmen, +too. I could tell a story myself of their shooting; +but go on, Chita, it's your say."</p> + +<p>"As for making a kill at night, Waugh! we had +near starved watching for a chance; these Hillmen +huddled their Sheep and Goats into caves like +children, and slept across the opening.</p> + +<p>"And do you know, Friends, they lived so close +with their Sheep, that I swear by my mustache they +were of the same smell. Fine as my scent is, one +night I had crept close to what my nose told me was +a Sheep, and was just on the point of taking it by +the neck when it got up on its hind legs and roared +at me with the man cry.</p> + +<p>"We were like to die of hunger when Jaruk the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +Hyena came sneaking and laughing, and talked +of a blood compact to Rani, who was my Mother. +We were so hungry! but it was all to our undoing; +for the grinning sneak was a coward, and led us +into an evil trap. He told us of three Sahibs, a +short journey from where we had our hunt; and +these Sahibs were like Cubs in their little knowledge +of jungle ways, having Sheep and Goats +which they tied to stakes close by the white caves +in which they lived, and never a guard over them +at night. Waugh! well I remember, hungry as I +was, how the smell of Hyena fair turned my stomach, +so that I had little longing for eating of any +kind; but Rani, being older and having more wisdom, +knew that unless we soon found some method +for making a kill we should surely die.</p> + +<p>"That night there was a small moon as we crept +down over the valley and up to a flat-land where +the Men-kind lived in little white caves—such odd +caves, too, in one place to-day and in another the +next."</p> + +<p>"He means tents," explained Sa'-zada; "being a +Cave Dweller himself, his knowledge of houses is +limited."</p> + +<p>"It's a wonder he didn't call them trees," muttered +Magh.</p> + +<p>"Hyena stole along like a shadow of nothing, so +smooth and soft were his feet—a proper sneak, I +must say I thought him even then, Cub as I was."</p> + +<p>"Are you listening, Jaruk?" called Magh, maliciously;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +"this was a Brother of yours who was in +partnership with Chita."</p> + +<p>But Hyena only grinned a frothy laugh, and +slunk over behind Sher Abi.</p> + +<p>"Well," proceeded White Leopard, "we crept +along, our bellies close to earth, till we came to a +little ledge, where Rani and I waited, while Jaruk +stole up to the white caves to see how the stalk was.</p> + +<p>"'They sleep like the young of Owls in daytime,' +he whispered when he returned; 'even I, +who am a creature of fear, and not like you, Rani, +a slayer of Bullocks, have rubbed my lean jaws +against two fat Goats that are chewing the sweet +cud of plenty.'"</p> + +<p>"How your mouth must have watered, White +Shirt," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"Then Rani commenced the stalk, and I, even a +Cub, though I had always lain hidden while she +was making the kill before, followed close at her +heels. Even now I remember just how Rani made +the kill. First one paw, and then the other, she +stretched out, and pulled herself along, with never +so much as the rattle of a single stone. The Goats +were like the Sahibs in the caves, safe in the conceit +which comes of a full stomach. When Rani +crouched lower than ever and braced her hind paws +carefully, I knew that the charge was on. Waugh, +waugh-houk! By the neck she had one—for that +is the way of our kind always—and with a jerk he +was thrown on her shoulder, and away up the hill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +she raced. I tried for the other, but, being new to +the kill, missed, getting only the rope in my teeth. +Even as I chased after Rani I could not help but +laugh in spite of my miss, for Hyena was screaming +as he ran, 'Did you get the fat one, the very +fat one?'"</p> + +<p>"The Greedy Pig," commented Magh.</p> + +<p>"Ugh, ugh, ugh!" grunted Soor. "Why should +he be likened to one of my kind? More like he had +a paunch full of peanuts, or other filth, such as you +carry, Miss Bleary-eye; or if he were greedy, was +he not like unto his mate, Chita, who will eat half +his own weight at a single kill?"</p> + +<p>"Such a row I never heard in all my life," continued +White Leopard; "the Sahibs, and the black +men who serve them, ran here and there with +blinking red eyes in their hands——"</p> + +<p>"The Man Fire," quietly commented Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"And all at once, over to one side, there was a +short growl from a Firestick; and a Sahib called +loudly, 'I've got him! I've got him!'</p> + +<p>"I wondered what it could be, for Rani and I +were together with the Goat. I almost hoped it +was Jaruk; but he was close at our heels, sniffing +with his hungry nose, and fairly eating the sand +where some of the Goat's blood had trickled into it. +Then all the blinking red eyes passed swiftly to +where the Sahib was, and we heard them laughing—only +louder than Hyena laughs.</p> + +<p>"Next day Jaruk discovered that the Sahib had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +killed the other Goat with his Firestick in the dark, +thinking it was Rani.</p> + +<p>"Of course, one Goat did not keep the hunger +off very long; but for three days we did not make +another kill. Not but that we tried. Each night +we went close to the white caves, and Jaruk—I +must say he had a nose like a Vulture's eye—came +back with a tale that the Sahibs were watching with +their Firesticks. But the next night we got another +Goat. Cunning Animals! but Jaruk used to laugh, +and even coaxed Rani to make a kill of one of the +Men-kind.</p> + +<p>"Then one night we crept as before, close for a +kill, and Jaruk came back to us laughing as though +there wasn't a Sahib in all the Marri country. Rani +growled at him for a fool. Waugh-houk! did he +mean to have us all killed with his noise? And +who was to do the killing, Jaruk asked mockingly, +for the white caves were empty, he said. The +Sahibs, and even the black-faced kind, had all gone +away, and left the Goats and Sheep for the pleasure +of our kill.</p> + +<p>"'It's a Raji (war), I'm sure,' he said; 'and +they have gone out amongst the Pathans to kill and +be killed, and while they are at it we, who are possessed +of a great hunger, will make a kill of the +Goats and Sheep.'</p> + +<p>"At this we went more boldly than before; but +it was only a trap. These of the Men-kind whom +we had likened to young Owls, were up on the hill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +behind a stone sangar; and just as we came to the +Goats in the bright moonlight there was such a +crashing of Firesticks, and appearing of what +Mooswa calls the Man Fire, that I hope I may +never see it again. Rani was killed, as also was—which +was not so bad—Jaruk the Hyena. I had a +paw broken, which to this day makes me go lame.</p> + +<p>"Then the Men-kind rushed down, and the +black-faced ones were for killing me also; but one +of the Sahibs, speaking, said: 'This is a Cub. We +will send him to Sa'-zada.'"</p> + +<p>White Leopard ceased speaking, and Sa'-zada, +putting his hand in between the bars, patted +his paw, and said: "Poor old Chita! it may not +be so nice here as in your own land, but we'll +see that you do not go hungry, anyway. Now, +Rufous, my big Yellow Leopard, you should +also have an interesting account of yourself to +give."</p> + +<p>"Quite likely," exclaimed Magh; "we'll hear +some more rare boasting, I'll warrant."</p> + +<p>"A true tale is no boast," said Mooswa, solemnly. +"I, who have had strange adventures, +think it no harm to talk them over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll have a chance, Fat Nose!" retorted +Magh; "but first let us have a good, hearty lie +from Leopard."</p> + +<p>"There will be no lies," declared Sa'-zada, "for +I have all these matters in The Book—though they +are not half so interestingly written, I must say,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +as you can tell them yourselves, if you are so +minded."</p> + +<p>"Phrut!" muttered Hathi through his big trunk. +"We'll have the lies as spice—that will be when +Magh's turn comes."</p> + +<p>Thus appealed to, Yellow Leopard commenced: +"I came from a jungle land—Burma."</p> + +<p>"My home," muttered Hathi, longingly.</p> + +<p>"It may have been the year White Chita +speaks of, for I remember I was also wondrous +hungry——"</p> + +<p>"You always are," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"Because I have not a paunch that holds a thief's +load, whether it be fish, fruit or filth," retorted +Rufous. "But, as I was saying when this Goat-faced +Ape interrupted me, I was hungry, and, +walking through the thick jungle, discovered a +Bullock—young, of great fatness. By a rare +chance it seemed caught in a branch of the elephant +creeper——"</p> + +<p>"Elephant what?" muttered Hathi. "Not of +our kind. We have naught to do with the killing +of any young."</p> + +<p>Sa'-zada explained: "Yellow Leopard means the +giant jungle vine called 'elephant creeper,' which +runs for perhaps the length of a mile, and is so +strong that it pulls down great trees and smothers +them in its grasp."</p> + +<p>"Oh, jungle wood," cried Hathi, much relieved, +"that's an elephant of another color."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I shikarried the small Bullock most carefully," +continued Rufous. "Round and round I went, taking +the wind from every quarter; there was the +scent of nothing but the white jasmine, and the +yellow-hearted champac. When he saw me the +Bullock-young became stupid with much fear; the +two of us stood facing each other. He pulled back +tight on the thing that held him, watching me with +eyes that seemed as big as the black spots on my +ears. I crept closer, and closer, and closer; for +that is always the way with my kind; whether the +prey be small or great, we kill after the same manner +always. Brothers, know you aught of fear? +We of the Blood-kind know it well. The Bullock's +legs shivered like leaves that tremble in the wind; +and he asked me with his big eyes to go away and +not take him by the throat for his blood. How +did he know that, Brothers—how did he know that +I was not coming like one of his own kind to help +him in his trouble? And the fear that I speak of +was in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"With a roar, Waugh-hough! I charged full at +him; my strong jaws fastened on his throat, and, +with a quick turn upwards, I threw him on his +back, and his neck was broken. Ghu-r-r-r-h! +Whur-r-r-h! his young blood was sweet as it +trickled into my jaws, for I was so hungry. Not +that I drank his blood—that is a lie of the Men-kind +who know little of our ways."</p> + +<p>"They're all alike," chattered Magh; "they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +murder, and it is all right because they are +hungry."</p> + +<p>"Yes," retorted Yellow Leopard, "if I alone +made a kill perhaps that would be wrong; but we +are all alike—it is our way of life. You are an evil-looking, +flea-covered, pot-bellied Monkey, but your +kind are all alike, so that is also your excuse."</p> + +<p>Hathi shoved the tip of his trunk in his mouth, +pretending to pick his teeth, but really to smother +the laughter that fairly shook his huge sides.</p> + +<p>"By a find of much eating!" ejaculated Gidar. +"How I wish I had been with you, Killer of Cattle. +A whole Bullock! Eating of the choicest kind for +three days at least. Often for the length of that +time have I searched through a famine-stricken +village in my native land, and in the end achieved +nothing, in the matter of food, but a pot of hot +rice water thrown on my back by a Boberchie +(cook)—an opium-eating stealer of his Master's +goods."</p> + +<p>"Would that you had been in my place," sneered +Yellow Leopard, "for even as I was going away +with my kill——"</p> + +<p>"Squee-squee-squee!" interrupted Magh with a +sneering laugh. "Even I, who am a Tree Dweller +of little knowledge, knew that a tale from this +Cut-throat would soon run into a lie of great +strength. May I kiss the Tiger if I believe that +Chita carried away a young Bullock."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 412px;"> +<a name="i_019" id="i_019"></a> +<img src="images/i_019.jpg" width="412" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"THE THING THAT HAD ME BY THE PAW WAS OF A FIENDISH KIND."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<p>"You are wrong, Magh," reproved Sa'-zada; +"in my hunting days have I seen even Bhainsa, the +tame Buffalo, who is like unto a small Elephant, +carried a full half-mile by Bagh."</p> + +<p>"Yes," asserted Yellow Leopard, "had the +kill been an Ape like unto Magh, I had bolted +it at one mouthful lest the sight of it made me +ill. As I was saying, I took the young Bullock +in my mouth, but at the first step my forepaw +was lifted by something of great strength. I was +surprised, for I had seen nothing—nothing but +the kill. The thing that had me by the paw +was of a fiendish kind. Jungle-wisdom! but I +was at a loss. Dropping my prey I tried first +this way and then that to break away, but it +gave with me every time, and when I was tired +lifted me to my hind legs, for the pull was always +upward."</p> + +<p>"Was it a Naht?" queried Hathi. "One of the +Burmese jungle Spirits that live in the Leppan +Tree?"</p> + +<p>"You were snared," declared Sa'-zada; "I know, +I've seen it. A strong green bamboo bent down, +the snare fastened to it, and once over your paw—no +wonder you were on your hind legs most of the +time like a dancing Dervish."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not bite it off?" queried Wolf.</p> + +<p>"Neither would you," answered Leopard; +"though I tried. The evil-minded Men seemed to +know just what I would do, and had put a big +loose bamboo over the cord. It was always down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +against my paw, and simply whirled about from +my teeth."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you trumpet?" asked Elephant.</p> + +<p>"I haven't a bugle nose like you, Brother; but +I roared till the jungle shook in fear—even at the +risk of bringing about me the Jungle Dogs, who +hunt in packs, as you all know."</p> + +<p>"Whee-ugh!" whined Boar; "Baola, the mad +kind. Nothing can stand against them. When +they drive, the jungle is swept clean. Better to die +in peace than make a noise and be torn to pieces +by their ugly fangs."</p> + +<p>"And who came?" queried Magh. "I suppose +you were like the Bullock, and your eyes grew big +with the fear, and you begged them to go away and +not hurt you. It was all right when you were to +make the kill yourself—it was fine sport. Bah! +I'm glad you were snared—I hate a taker of life."</p> + +<p>"The Men-kind came," answered Leopard +meekly, for the mention of his fear made him +abashed; "and seeing that I was caught, a Sahib +would not let the Black-Men kill me, but set them +to make a strong Bamboo cage. I was put in that +and sent here to Sa'-zada."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking," began Mooswa, plaintively.</p> + +<p>"Well, now!" exclaimed Magh; "I thought you +were asleep, Old Heavy-eye. If you think with +your nose, your thoughts must have been of great +importance."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mooswa sniffed solemnly and continued: "You +said you were hungry, Yellow Leopard. Was it +not a land of much good feeding?"</p> + +<p>"It was a bad year—a year of starvation," answered +Chita. "Up to that time the way of my +life had been smooth, for I had found the manner +of an easy kill. To be sure, Soor is not the pick of +all good food——"</p> + +<p>"'Soor,' indeed!" grunted Wild Boar. "Ugh, +ugh, ugh! by the length of my tusks you would +have found me tough eating."</p> + +<p>"You see," continued Chita, paying no attention +to this interruption, "the wild Pigs were horrid +thieves——"</p> + +<p>"You were well mated," mumbled Magh, stuffing +a handful of peanut shells in Hathi's ear.</p> + +<p>"They used to go at night to the rice fields of +the poor natives, and chew and chew, and grunt, +and row amongst themselves, until the Men-kind +were nearly ruined because of their greediness."</p> + +<p>"But they did not eat the natives," objected +Boar.</p> + +<p>"Neither did I," protested Chita—"while the +Pigs lasted," he muttered to himself. "Knowing +of all this, I made out a new kill-plan. At the first +beginning of dark time I would go quietly down +to the rice fields, hide myself in the straw that was +near to the place where the Men-kind tramped the +grain from its stalk with Buffalo, and wait for the +coming of the rice thieves. Soon one dark shadow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +would slip from the jungle, then another, and another, +until they were many.</p> + +<p>"'Chop, chop, chop!' I'd hear their wet mouths +going in the rice; and all the time growling and +whining amongst themselves because of the labor +it was, and for fear that one had better chance than +another; not in peace, but with many rows, striking +sideways at each other with their coarse, ugly +heads."</p> + +<p>"You're a beauty!" commented Wild Boar. +"When you shove your ugly face up to the bars +the women-kind scream, and jump back—I've noticed +that."</p> + +<p>"Presently," continued Chita, "one would come +my way, seeing the great pile of straw, and I'd have +him. Jungle Dwellers! how he'd squeal; and his +mates would scurry away jinking and bounding +like Kakur Deer. Cowardly swine they were. +Now, Buffalo, when one of my kind charged them, +would throw themselves together like men of the +war-kind, and stand shoulder to shoulder."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but, great Cat," objected Boar, "you took +care to seize upon a young one, I warrant. Suppose +you come out here and try a charge with me. +Ugh, ugh! I'll soon slit up your lean sides with +my sharp tusks."</p> + +<p>"Be still!" commanded Sa'-zada; "here we are +all friends, and this is but a tale of what has been."</p> + +<p>Chita had turned in a rage at Boar's taunt, and +glared through the bars, his great fangs bared, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +tail lashing his sides. When the Keeper spoke he +snarled in disdain at the bristling Pig, and continued +the story.</p> + +<p>"Then came the hungry year. At the turning of +the monsoons there should have been rain, but no +rain came. All through the cold weather the +jungle had gone on drying up, and the grass turned +brown, even to the color of my coat. The Tree-Crickets +and Toads whistled shrill and loud, until +the jungle was like a great nest of the sweet-feeders—the +Bees. Then when it was time for rain there +was only more dryness.</p> + +<p>"The yellow-clothed Phoongyis (Priests) prayed; +and the Men-kind brought sweetmeats and sheet-gold +to their God Buddha; but still there was +no rain. Miles and miles I traveled for a drink; +and if I made a kill at the pool it was nothing but +skin and bones. The small Deer that bark, what +were they? Not a mouthful. And the Pigs shriveled +up until one might as well have eaten straw. +The Nilgai and the Sambhur-deer, as big as you, +Mooswa, went away from that land of desolation, +and soon nothing seemed to stir in all the jungle but +the Koel Bird; and his cry of 'fee-e-ever!' forever +ringing in my ears drove me full mad.</p> + +<p>"Then it was that I stalked close to the place +of the Men-kind—though I had never killed a +Bullock before—and I made a kill. But after that +they took the Bullocks under their houses at night, +thinking I would not venture so close.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But hunger is the death of all fear, and even +there I made a kill. Then again the Men-kind, in +their selfishness, thought to outwit me, for about +the small village they built a stockade."</p> + +<p>"Were there no guns?" queried Hathi. "I, who +have been in a big hunt with the Men-kind, have +had them on my back with the fierce-striking guns, +and all that was in the jungle presently fell dead."</p> + +<p>Chita laughed disagreeably.</p> + +<p>"I almost forgot about that. One day, when +they were still at the stockade making, I saw one of +these Yellow-faced Men tying two sticks together +and sticking them in the ground, somewhat after +the fashion of Mooswa's hind legs. Then surely it +was a gun he put in the crotch of the sticks, pointing +at the little runway I had made for myself.</p> + +<p>"I went into the elephant-grass that grew thereabout, +and watching him took thought of this thing. +'It is to do me harm,' I said, 'for is not that my +road? Always now I will come a little to one side, +because of this new thing.'</p> + +<p>"And in the evening, as I came to the village, +walking through the same coarse grass, but to one +side, mind you, there saw I two of these Men sitting +behind this thing that was surely a gun.</p> + +<p>"Only, because of thee, Sa'-zada, perhaps this +part were better not in the story."</p> + +<p>"If it is a true tale it is a true tale," quoth Hathi, +sententiously; "and, as the good Sa'-zada has said, +of things that have happened."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, tell it all," commented the Keeper.</p> + +<p>"Only say first you were hungry," sneered +Magh; "hunger covers many sins."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I was hungry," moaned Chita; "chee-wough! +so hungry. The Bullock I had killed was +but a collection of bones tied up in a thick skin; +I broke a good tooth trying to get a supper off him. +And were not the Men-kind trying to do evil for +me also, little nut-eater, Magh? They would take +my skin to the Sahib and get much profit in bounty. +I heard them say that as I lay in the thick grass. +I crept close, close——"</p> + +<p>"Behind them," volunteered Wolf, "I know. +You didn't look in their eyes, Brother, did you?"</p> + +<p>"They were busy talking," declared Chita, "and +did not look my way. Suddenly I sprang out just +to frighten them, for they were close to the stockade, +and one ran away."</p> + +<p>"Only one?" demanded Mooswa, simply.</p> + +<p>But Chita had gone over to the corner of his +cage, and sitting down, was swinging his big head +back and forth, back and forth, with his face turned +to the wall, like a Dog that has been whipped.</p> + +<p>"He has caught Sa'-zada's eye," whispered +Magh in Hathi's ear.</p> + +<p>"It's a nasty tale," said the Keeper, "but I think +it is true."</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is true," declared Wild Boar; "that is +the way of his kind."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Sa'-zada, "they got this Sahib who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +has written in The Book, and set the snare for Chita +and caught him."</p> + +<p>"At any rate, you were caught," muttered +Hathi; "and from what you say, it seems to me a +change for the better."</p> + +<p>"Now, Pardus," cried the Keeper, gently tapping +Panther's tail, which hung through between +the bars, "tell us of the manner of your taking."</p> + +<p>"I was caught twice," replied Pardus, blinking +his eyes lazily, and yawning until the great +teeth shone white against his black coat; "but you +are right to call me Panther, for I am no Leopard. +And it is so hot here and dry; quite like the place +they took me to—they of the black faces—when I +was first caught, being not more than a full-grown +Cub, as was White Leopard. That was at Vizianagram, +up in the hills; but the hills were not like +White Leopard's, all hot and dry. The jungle was +cool and fresh, and full of dark places to hide in, +with deep pools of sweet water that one might +drink after a kill. Here the Birds do nothing but +scream and scold; Hornbill, and Cockatoo, and +Eagle make my head ache with their harsh voices; +there, if a Bird had occasion to speak, it was a +song about the sweet land he lived in. It is well +enough for Hathi to say that being trapped and +brought here is a piece of great luck; for my part, +all day long I do nothing but think, think of the +Madras Hills. There were mango and tamarind, +and peepul, and huge banyan trees, with strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +limbs stretching so far that one could walk out full +over the Deer paths, and wait in sweet content for +a kill. Perhaps even a big family of bamboos +growing up about one's resting-place, and whispering +when the wind blew, and closing up their thick +green leaves to make shade when the sun shone.</p> + +<p>"Even where the Men-kind came and sought to +grow raji were plantain trees and palm trees—Urgh-h-ah! +why should there be anything but +jungle all over the world, it is so beautiful?"</p> + +<p>"Don't cry about it, Little Bagheela," sneered +Magh, "for surely there's some sort of a story, +some wondrous lie, in that head of yours."</p> + +<p>"True," continued Pardus, as though he had not +caught Magh's observation, "there were disagreeable +things even there. Of course, it will always +be that way when the Bandar-log, the Monkeys, are +about. Silly-headed thieves, they were doing no +manner of good to any one; but more than once, +when I've lain for hours waiting for the chance of +a small kill, and the time of the eating had drawn +near, everything would be upset by the mad laugh +of Lungour, the Bandar-log.</p> + +<p>"But I was caught, as Leopard has said, through +the coming together of a lean stomach and a trap of +the Men-kind—neither a snare, nor the Fire-stick, +but a cage with a door that fell. True, inside was +a Goat, but what mattered that once the door was +down?</p> + +<p>"Then they brought me down to the Raja's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +palace in the Plains. Stricken land! that was a +place for any one to choose as a home—nothing +but red earth, with less growth than there is on the +end of my nose. The Men-kind lived in great +square caves that blared white in the sun. Me-thinks +White Leopard would have felt more at +home there than I did."</p> + +<p>"What did those of our kind eat?" queried +Hathi. "Also, where the Men-kind are is the Animal +they call Horse, who is a Grass-eater—was +there no grass?"</p> + +<p>"Scarce any," answered Pardus; "the Black-faced +ones ran here and there with sharp claws, +taking up the poor grass by the root, and all for +the Raja's stables."</p> + +<p>"What did they do with you, Bagheela?" asked +Magh, anxious to hear the story, for she was getting +sleepy.</p> + +<p>"Put me in a cage in the rose garden, where were +others of my kind—only they were of the color of +Yellow Leopard. Of course, at first I thought it +was because the Raja was not hungry, and would +eat me another day; but in the next cage was a +Leopard who had been there a long time, and he +told me why we were shut up that way. 'It's for +shikar,' he said. 'Soon all the Sahibs will gather, +and we will be turned loose, and they will kill us +with spears and the firestick.'"</p> + +<p>"That's right," commented Sa'-zada, nodding +his head, "I've seen it; also is it written in The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +Book. The Raja was a great sportsman, and each +year at Christmas time they had a hunt of this +kind."</p> + +<p>"My Mate taught me a trick or two that +helped pass the time," continued Black Panther. +"'Bagheela,' he said to me, 'they will come to us +here on Horses; you who have the end cage may +perchance keep your hand in, and forget not the +manner of a quick clutch with your paw. First, +purr and look sleepy,' he advised; 'second, never +strike when the Horse is beyond reach, for he is +a creature of much fear; third, wait, wait, wait—have +patience, Little Bagheela. Also, from in +front nothing is done; but stand you ready at the +end of your cage, which is a wall, because there +they cannot see you, and if the Man comes close, +strike quick and sure, for of this manner there is +never but one chance.'</p> + +<p>"Now, it happened that a fat Sahib came often +to the cage, and I could see that it was to +teach the Horses not to be afraid of us. It was +hard to mind what my Mate said, for the Sahib +poked me in the ribs with a stick, or tickled +me in the face with his riding-whip; but Yellow +Leopard was always whispering through his +whiskers, 'Wait, wait, wait—have patience, Little +Bagheela.'"</p> + +<p>"This is a long tale," whined Magh, sleepily.</p> + +<p>"Keep still, Little One," objected Hathi, "no +great stalk is ever done in a hurry."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One day," continued Pardus, "I heard the +Horse coming by the end of my cage.</p> + +<p>"'Quick! Up!' called my Mate, Yellow +Leopard.</p> + +<p>"Like a spring on a Buck I was up on my +hind legs against the end wall, just at the last iron +bar, ready. Around the corner came the Sahib +quite close. It was a new Horse, and he thought +to take pleasure out of frightening the poor Animal +by a sudden sight of us.</p> + +<p>"Waugh-houk! With a strong reach I had the +Sahib by the leg.</p> + +<p>"Whoo-whoo, waugh-waugh, whoo-o-o-o-waugh! +how he roared. Of course, I did not get him altogether, +for the Horse saved his life by jumping +sideways. I licked the blood that was on my claws, +and Yellow Leopard and I both laughed till the +Keeper came running with a sharp iron bar."</p> + +<p>"I warrant you didn't laugh then," chimed in +Magh.</p> + +<p>"No; he beat me, though it was all Yellow Leopard's +fault. The fat Sahib swore that he would +have the first spear in when I was let out at the +time of the hunt. He was for having me killed in +the cage; but the Raja said, 'No; his turn will come +in the Shikar'; and when the Raja spoke there was +an end of all argument.</p> + +<p>"'Little Bagheela,' said Yellow Leopard to me, +'we will get away to the jungles together at the +hunt time. If they let you out first—never fear,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +Little One, you will have a start, for that is the +Raja's way, we are to have a show for our lives, +though I warrant one cannot get very far in five +minutes—do you run very fast, and when you have +come to the small mud-caves of the Black-kind, +hide in the place where the Bullocks are kept. +They will not look for you there, and not finding +you they will come back, thinking you have gone +to the jungles. When I am let out, I, too, will go +that way, and together nothing will stand between +us and the hills. Should I go first I will wait for +you.'</p> + +<p>"Then one day a cage that was on wheels was put +against the door behind which I was kept, and with +bars that were hot they drove me into it. Then +I was taken out to the fields, and when the Sahibs—there +were many of them—had gone back on the +road, the door was opened. Would you believe it, +Friends, though I had been eating my heart out +behind the bars yonder, now that I had the chance, +I was almost afraid to venture on the plain. Even +as I crept forth, a yellow-leafed bush suddenly +bent in the wind, and I sprang into the air as +though it were the charge of a Wild Boar——"</p> + +<p>"Listen to that, Friends," grunted Soor; "of all +Jungle Dwellers, he has most fear of me."</p> + +<p>"But remembering what Yellow Leopard had +said, I ran swiftly toward the little village that +was between me and the hills; but not straight +in the open, mind you—I had not lived by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +kill in the jungle for nothing. First I leaped +full over a long line of the fierce-pointed aloe +bush——"</p> + +<p>"Phrut! I know that plant," muttered Hathi; +"it has points sharper than the goad of any +Mahout. Sore toes! but I know it well."</p> + +<p>"Even so," continued Pardus, "I ran swiftly +along in the shadow of this, and soon found a +Bullock cave such as Yellow Leopard spoke of. In +the end the Men-kind could not find me, for I lay +still, though once I heard the voice of the fat +Sahib quite close, swearing that he longed for a +sight of the 'black brute.' That was not my name, +for I am Pardus the Panther.</p> + +<p>"After a little I heard more shouting; then there +was a rustling noise which I knew was the gallop +of Yellow Leopard. He was calling as he ran, +'Ehow-Ehow-Hough, Bagheela!' just as we call +to our Mates in the jungle.</p> + +<p>"'A-Houk! here am I,' I cried, rushing out, +thinking that we would soon be safe in the cool +jungle again. And away we dashed. By the loss +of a Kill! we had not gone far till almost in front +of us we saw the fat Sahib and three others on +their Horses full in our path.</p> + +<p>"'Oh-ho, my Black Beauty!' he cried, when he +saw me; 'now we'll wipe out the score.'"</p> + +<p>"That's like the Men-kind," growled Raj Bagh, +the Tiger; "they cage us and kill us, and if we +so much as raise a claw in defence of our lives we +are reviled, and they have a score against us to +wipe out."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_032" id="i_032"></a> +<img src="images/i_032.jpg" width="600" height="408" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"AND AWAY WE DASHED."</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," asserted Pardus, "and long holding in +their hate, too. If we fail in a kill, do we go long +hungered, turning from everything else until we +have slain the one that has escaped us? But there +was the fat Sahib, who had not gone back with +the others, but was still searching to kill me, Black +Panther. Surely that was not what they call shikar +(sport), but a matter of hate he had laid up against +me."</p> + +<p>"You should have taken his beatings," declared +Hathi, "even as I have, more times than there are +tusks to your paws; phrut, phrut! it has always +been that way with us Jungle Dwellers. When +the Sahib beat us it is evil fortune if we do not +let it rest at that. True, there was a Mahout once +that went too far—but what am I saying? surely +I am half asleep. It is your story, Bagheela—you +were saying that the fat Sahib had killed you—I +mean——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Pardus, "the fat Sahib—I stopped; +so did Yellow Leopard, with an angry growl. +Then behind I heard a little trumpet from +Hathi."</p> + +<p>"Not me," exclaimed the big Elephant; "I +wasn't there."</p> + +<p>"Most surely it is a wondrous lie," declared +Magh; "and now he asks Ganesh to say he was +there and saw it."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, no!" interrupted Sa'-zada, "it was another +Elephant."</p> + +<p>"Even so," affirmed Pardus; "and on his back +was the Raja, coming in great haste.</p> + +<p>"'Charge!' roared Yellow Leopard to me, and +with a rush that was full of wickedness he went +straight for the fat Sahib; and before I knew how +it was done, had broken his neck with the hold +that we all know so well.</p> + +<p>"The Raja, without waiting for Hathi to kneel, +jumped from his back, and rushing like the charge +of a Sambhur, drove his spear through Yellow +Leopard as he still held the Sahib by the throat, +and killed him. Well I remember the spear was +buried head deep in the ground.</p> + +<p>"In fear, I raced back to the mud-caves in which +were the Bullocks; and they brought the cage again +and put it to the door. But I was afraid to enter +till they dropped fire on me from above. Then I +was taken back to my old quarters, and in the end +sent here to Sa'-zada."</p> + +<p>"It's a pity the Sahib was killed," said the +Keeper; "it was a horrible death."</p> + +<p>"I was sorry for Yellow Leopard," declared +Pardus, "for he tried to get me away with him to +the jungles."</p> + +<p>"Chee-chee! but I am sleepy," yawned Magh, +sliding down Hathi's trunk with the Pup under her +arm. "These tales of killings are enough to make +one have bad dreams."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dreams!" exclaimed Sher Abi, opening his +eyes, for he had been sound asleep; "to be sure, to +be sure! I've had a very bad dream. One should +not eat so much; but after all, I suppose it is the +feathers that are indigestible. E-ugh-h! Sa'-zada, +could you not pluck the chickens before you give +them me to eat? There was a time when I could +digest——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, move along, Magar!" interrupted Sa'-zada; +"it is bed-time now. You'll have a chance +to talk some other night."</p> + +<p>And presently the Animal town of the Greater +City was quiet, save for the bubble of Camel's long +throat, and the gentle snore of Hathi's pendulous +nose. The moon blinked curiously through the +whispering leaves, and over all there was the solemn +hush that comes in the night when the days +are days of fierce heat.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2"><a name="Second_Night_elephant" id="Second_Night_elephant"></a>Second Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Hathi Ganesh,<br /> +the White-Eared Elephant</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 334px;"> +<img src="images/i_2nd_nite_1.jpg" width="334" height="450" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;"> +<img src="images/i_2nd_nite_2.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SECOND_NIGHT" id="SECOND_NIGHT"></a><big>SECOND NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF HATHI GANESH, THE WHITE-EARED +ELEPHANT</h2> + + +<p>It was very hot. The Summer moon, pushing +lazily through the whispering tracery of tall +elm trees that cut the night sky, fell upon the same +group of forest friends gathered in front of Tiger's +cage that had been there the previous evening, +when the Leopard brothers had discoursed so +pleasantly of their Jungle life.</p> + +<p>"What is the tale to-night, Sa'-zada, loved Master?" +asked Magh, the Ourang-Outang, standing +with one hand on Mooswa's back, who was lying +down.</p> + +<p>"It is the talk of Hathi," answered the Keeper.</p> + +<p>Hathi could be heard blowing softly through his +trunk to clear his throat, then he began his story:</p> + +<p>"We were a mighty herd, all of forty, with two +great Bulls in charge, I remember; though to be +sure when it came to be a matter of danger they +seemed to forget all about being in charge and +cleared off as fast as they could. I soon got to +know that the herd was very proud of me."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should think they would be, my big beauty," +cried Magh, patting his forehead affectionately.</p> + +<p>"You see," continued Hathi, "these white and +pink spots all over my neck and ears were a sign +that great luck had come to the herd. Even the +Men-kind—but that, of course, I discovered years +after at Ava—even the Men-kind looked upon me +as sacred, being a White Elephant. Besides, I +had but the one tusk, the right, and that is why +I am Ganesh, the Holy One.</p> + +<p>"We wandered about in the Jungle, and when +we Babe Elephants were tired, the whole herd +waited until we had rested and fed. That's why +the Bulls had nothing to do with leading the herd. +They knew little of what a calf could stand, so +Mah, my Mother, always gave the signal when +we were to start or stop. I think she was very +proud of being the mother of the lucky Calf.</p> + +<p>"But it was a lovely land to dwell in; all hills +and valleys with plenty of cover; and down in the +flat lands the Men grew raji and rice, and plantains.</p> + +<p>"I think there must be some very wise animal +who arranges all these things—puts each one in the +Jungle he likes best. Pardus was happy in his +hills, and White Chita liked the snow mountains, +and Yellow Leopard the rice fields; and Mooswa +has told me when we've talked together, that on +the far side of his lands are the loveliest spruce +forests any Moose could wish to live in."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was Sa'-zada or one of his kind," +ventured Muskwa, the Bear.</p> + +<p>"It is God who arranges it," declared the +Keeper, in a soft voice.</p> + +<p>"I don't know who that may be," muttered +Hathi, "but I thought there was someone. Such a +lovely Jungle it was; tall teak trees and pinkado, +and Telsapa from which the Men-kind drew oil +for their fires.</p> + +<p>"For days, and weeks, and months it would be +hot and dry; and then three times the big flower +would come out on the padouk tree, and all the +Elephants would laugh and squeal with their +trunks, for they knew the rain would surely come. +Yes, when we could see for the third time a big +cluster of flowers, patter, patter on the leaves we +could hear the rain, and soon drip, drip, drip, +trickle it would come down on our backs, washing +the dust and little sticks out of every wrinkle until +even the old Bulls would commence to play like +Calves.</p> + +<p>"We finally came to a big river early in the +morning, and every one went in for a wash. Mind, +I was only a babe about the size of a Buffalo. The +old ones lay down in the river, just keeping their +trunks out to breathe, and I thought to do the same, +of course; but when I flopped over on my side—bad +footing! there was nothing anywhere but soft, +slippery water—there was quite a thousand miles +of it, and dark as the blackest night. I could see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +nothing, hear nothing only the angry talk of the +water that ran fast. They said that I screamed +like a young pig. Then something strong grabbed +me by the hind leg, and pulled me out up on the +bank—it was Mah. She scolded roundly. Then +she spanked me good and hard.</p> + +<p>"All that season I was not allowed to go in the +water again. Mah washed me down with her +trunk, squirting the water over me.</p> + +<p>"The eating was sweet in those Jungles; but +best of all I liked the young plantains when they +were just beyond the blossom age, all wrapped up +in a big leaf, and juicy, and sweet.</p> + +<p>"The first happening was from an evil-minded +Bagh (tiger). That evening I had wandered a +little to one side, not knowing it, and Bagh, with +a fierce word in his big throat, jumped full on my +head. Of course I screamed——"</p> + +<p>"Like a Pig," interjected Boar.</p> + +<p>"Like a Babe Hathi," corrected Elephant. +"And Mah, who had been looking for me, just in +the nick of time threw Bagh many yards into the +Jungle with her trunk. I don't know how other +animals get along without a trunk; it seems just +suited for every purpose.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_042" id="i_042"></a> +<img src="images/i_042.jpg" width="600" height="412" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"THEN SOMETHING STRONG GRABBED ME BY THE HIND LEG, AND PULLED +ME ..."</span> +</div> + +<p>"The next happening was worse, for it came +from the Men-kind. It was a hot, hot day. We +were all standing on a hill in the shade of trees, +flapping our ears to keep the flies off, when suddenly +Old Bull kinked his head sideways, whistled +softly through his trunk, and we all stopped flapping +to listen. Even Calf as I was, I knew there +was some danger near. In the wind there was +nothing—nothing unusual, just the sweet scent of +the tiny little white flowers that grow close to the +short grass. But Old Bull was afraid; he gave a +signal for us to move, and we started.</p> + +<p>"In a minute there was an awful cracking like +the breaking of a tree, only different, and we all +ran here, there, everywhere. Of course since that, +having been taken in the hunt by the Men-kind, I +know it was a gun, as they call it.</p> + +<p>"Old Bull charged straight for a little white +cloud that rose from where the noise had been; +then crack! crack! crack! the guns trumpeted all +over the Jungle—but I won't tell any more of that +happening, because Old Bull was killed; and Mah, +too—though the Men-kind said afterwards, so I've +heard, that it was a mistake, as they only killed +Bulls, being white hunters, for the sake of the feet +and tusks.</p> + +<p>"It was late in the evening before the herd gathered +again, and we traveled far, fearing the evil of +the Men-kind."</p> + +<p>"Was there no evil with your own people?" +queried Wolf. "Just feeding, and nothing else?"</p> + +<p>"Well," answered Hathi, hesitatingly, "sometimes +in a herd there grows up one who is a +'Rogue.' We had one such, I remember. But that +also came about because of the Men-kind—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a><br /><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +yellow man. It was a Hill-man, and when this +Rogue of whom I speak—he also was a Bull—was +just full grown, a matter of perhaps twenty +years, this Hill-man thrust into his head, from a +distance, too, being seated in a tree, an arrow.</p> + +<p>"The arrow remaining there as it did, caused +this Bull to become of an evil temper. Quarreling, +quarreling always, butting his huge head into a +comrade because of a mere nothing; and with his +tusks putting his mark on many of us without +cause; sometimes it would be a kick from his forefoot, +or a slap of his trunk. When we were near +to the places of the Men-kind he would wallow in +the rice fields, and pull up the young plantain trees +by the roots, even knock the queer little houses +they lived in to pieces, for they were but of bamboo +and leaves. Of course the dwellers ran for their +lives, and sometimes brought fire, and made noise +with their guns, and beat gongs to frighten him +away.</p> + +<p>"Many times we drove him forth from the herd; +and sometimes he stayed away himself for days, +sulky. In the end we lost him altogether, and we +were all glad; but strange as it may appear, I saw +him again in Rangoon in the timber yards. That +was after I was caught."</p> + +<p>"Tell us about that happening," pleaded Sa'-zada, +"for it is even not written in The Book."</p> + +<p>"I was taken in a manner full of deceit, and because +I had faith in those of my own kind. I was,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +perhaps, fifteen or twenty years old at the time—but +in a Hathi's life a year or two is of no moment, +for we are long-lived—and what might be called +second in charge of the herd, a condition of things +which I resented somewhat, but the Herd Bull had +been leader while I was growing up, so there was +no just claim on my part really.</p> + +<p>"And it happened in our wanderings that we +came not far from the greatest of all the Men's +places in that land, Ava (Mandalay). One day +as I was pulling down the young bamboos and stripping +the feathered top, a strange <i>Hathni</i> (female +elephant) came to me and put her trunk softly on +my neck. She was all alone, and I felt sorry for +her; besides, she was nice—showed me such lovely +places for good feeding. I spent a whole day with +her, and the next day, too, and as we went through +the jungle, suddenly we came to a sort of immense, +strong <i>hauda</i>. It wasn't a bit like the Men's <i>haudas</i> +that they live in, else I should never have been deceived; +great trunks of trees growing up out of +the ground straight, and close together, but no +branches or leaves to them; as square on top as +the end of my leg. This queer-looking jungle thing +troubled me. 'What is it?' I asked Hathni.</p> + +<p>"'It's my home,' she replied; 'come in, Comrade.'"</p> + +<p>"And of course the woman had her way," remarked +Sa'-zada; "you went into the parlor, Hathi, +old chap, I suppose."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not by that name knew I it, Sa'-zada; they +called it a Keddah, as I found out. But I went in."</p> + +<p>"And was caged," laughed Black Chita.</p> + +<p>"Inside," continued Hathi, "was a winding path, +and Hathni trotted down this so fast that I lost her. +A great wooden gate dropped behind me, and I +knew that I was in a trap. It was a big place, but +no openings to get out.</p> + +<p>"Then the Men-kind showed their yellow faces +all over the walls, just like <i>Hanumen</i>—the gray-whiskered +Monkey of those parts.</p> + +<p>"'A White Elephant at last, at last!' they cried; +'now will the King be pleased.'</p> + +<p>"I was left alone that night, but the next day the +Men-kind came with two ruffianly Bulls of my +kind who bunted and bustled me about, and fought +me, while the men slipped great strong ropes over +my legs. In a week I was that tired and sore from +this treatment that I was ready to go any place. +Then I was taken to Ava; and such doings! I +dislike to tell it all; it's hardly modest.</p> + +<p>"They put a silk covering over me to keep the +Flies off, and a garland of white jasmine flowers +about my neck—sweet-smelling flowers they were; +in my ears two big red stones of the ruby kind were +placed; and always as I walked a great silk umbrella +was over my head. And as for eating—humpf, +humpf, humpf! they just made me ill with +sweets to be eaten out of gold dishes."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_046" id="i_046"></a> +<img src="images/i_046.jpg" width="600" height="411" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"TWO RUFFIANLY BULLS ... FOUGHT ME WHILE THE MEN SLIPPED GREAT STRONG ROPES OVER +MY LEGS."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Is this a true tale, O Sa'-zada?" queried Black +Leopard. "For one of the jungle folk it is a +strange happening."</p> + +<p>"It is true," replied the Keeper; "that was the +way with the White Elephant at the Burma King's +court, it is written in another book I have read."</p> + +<p>"And no one was allowed to ride on my back +but the King," declared Hathi, "excepting, of +course, the Mahout. As I walked I was afraid +of stepping on some one; the Men-kind were forever +flopping down on their knees to worship me. +It was this way for years; then one season there +came war; great guns spoke with a roar louder +than Bagh's; and vast herds of the white-faced +Men-kind came, letting free the blood of the yellow-faced +ones; and in the end I was taken away, +and sent down to Rangoon, and put to work in +the timber yards. There was no worship, and +few sweetmeats, and for silk covering I was given +a harness with leather collar and chain traces. It +was like being back in the jungle again—I was just +a common Hathi, only I was called there Raj +Singh.</p> + +<p>"It was at that time I met the Bull who was a +Rogue. He was also working in the timber yards, +but it had done him much good—his temper was +improved."</p> + +<p>"Was it kind treatment cured him?" asked Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Hathi; "they whipped him into a +gentle behavior. Two big Bulls with heavy iron<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a><br /><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +chains swinging from their trunks thrashed him +until he promised to cease making trouble. But +one day he broke out bad, and smashed everything—tore +the Master's dogcart to pieces, knocked the +Cooly's <i>haudas</i> down, and trumpeted like an evil +jungle spirit. He even killed his Mahout, which +was a silly thing, though he declared his driver, the +Mahout, sitting up on his back, one foot on either +side, had prodded viciously at his head until poor +Rogue's blood was on fire.</p> + +<p>"But in the end they sent me away to Sa'-zada, +and I am quite content"; and reaching his big trunk +over to the Keeper, Hathi caressed the latter's +cheek lovingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we are all content," declared Magh; "for +Sa'-zada is a kind and gentle Master."</p> + +<p>"Now, all to your cages and your pens," cried +the Keeper, "for it is late. To-morrow night, perhaps, +we shall have the tale of Gidar, the Jackal."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Third Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Stories of Gidar, the Jackal,<br /> +and Coyote, the Prairie Wolf</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 337px;"> +<img src="images/i_3rd_nite_1.jpg" width="337" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i_3rd_nite_2.jpg" width="600" height="496" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THIRD_NIGHT" id="THIRD_NIGHT"></a><big>THIRD NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORIES OF GIDAR, THE JACKAL,<br /> +AND COYOTE, THE PRAIRIE WOLF</h2> + + +<p>"To-night," commenced Sa'-zada, "we +are to have the interesting life story of +the two half-brothers, Gidar and Coyote."</p> + +<p>"A thief's tale of a certainty," chuckled Magh.</p> + +<p>"In my land, which was Burma, there were none +so useful as we," began Gidar. "Not of high repute +our mission, perhaps, but still useful, being +scavengers; and to this end we are all born with a +fair appetite; but useful always, even Bagh knows +that. I was Lieutenant to one of his kind—a great +killer he was—for a matter of two years. Then +he came by way of a dispute with the Men-kind, +and they finished him in short order.</p> + +<p>"Now, you know, Brothers, our kind have steadily +worked southward from India, pushing into new +lands from all time, even like the Sahibs, until we +are now half down through Burma. It must be a +dull land that has not our sweet song at night. If +there were but a Pack here now we'd sing you a +rare chorus."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've heard the song," quoth Bagh; "it's +wretched."</p> + +<p>"How goes it?" asked Wolf. "Our Pack has +a cry of great strength; the 'bells of the forest,' +the Redmen call it."</p> + +<p>"It's somewhat this way," said Jackal, and sitting +on his haunches he raised his long, sharp +nozzle high in air, stretching his lean throat toward +the moon that glinted fretfully through the swaying +trees; and on the still, quiet night air floated +his cry of far-off India:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'<i>Oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-o-o-o-o-o!</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>I smell a dead Hindoo-oo!</i>'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"That would be my cry, Brothers. Then from +all quarters of the jungle the Pack would take up +the song and sing back:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'<i>Where, where, where, where, where, where?</i>'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"And I would answer back cheerily:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'<i>Here, here, here, here, here, here!</i>'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Then all together we would sing with all our +lungs:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'<i>Oo-oo-oo-o-o-o-o-h</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Mussulman or Hind-oo?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Here, there, or anywhere,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>All flesh is flesh, we do not care.</i>'"<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>"A charming song," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I cannot give it right; you should have +heard it, little Eater-of-sour-fruit, in the dead closeness +of a Burman jungle, from the many throats +of a hungry Pack.</p> + +<p>"The people of that land liked the song full well, +and they never molested us. But life was one continuous +struggle for food. We were not slayers +like Chita, or Bagh, or Python; or stealers of crops +like Boar and Rogue Hathi; almost as simple in +our way of life as Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"I remember once a fat Dog-pup of the Terrier +kind, which I bagged. It was all the fault of the +Pup's master; he tried to kill me."</p> + +<p>"You had probably been singing to him," said +Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"We had, I admit," answered Jackal. "It was +on Borongo Island; two men, Sahibs they were +called there, you know, lived in a bungalow built +on high posts, after the manner of all houses in that +land. The bungalow was built on the shore, and +every day the water came up under it, and then +went back again. This was a most wise arrangement +of the water's traveling, for it threw up +many a dead Fish and Crab for our eating.</p> + +<p>"Well I remember the cook-house was a little +to one side from the bungalow, with a poor, ill-conditioned +bamboo door to it. Regularly, doing +our scavenger work, we used to clean up that cook-house, +eating everything the servant-kind had not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +devoured. Several times I made a great find in +that very place, for the cook, it appears, was a most +forgetful fellow. When there was nothing left for +us in the way of food, we'd carry off the pots and +pans into the jungle grass; why, I hardly know, but +it seemed proper to do so.</p> + +<p>"Neither do I know which of the Pack first +started singing under the bungalow; but this also +afforded us much content. Many hours on in the +dark we'd all steal gently down from the jungle, +and gather under the house. Then, as one, we'd +give voice to the hunger cry together, until even +the Sahibs would shout in fear. It was good to +make the Men-kind afraid; but also we would flee +swiftly, for the two Sahibs would rush out like +a jackal that had suddenly become possessed of +much poisoned meat, and 'bang, bang, bang' with +the guns.</p> + +<p>"I had much to do with Men, and just when I +thought they were full cross because of our serenade, +what was my surprise to find each evening a +full measure of rice put in a certain place for me. +'It is full of the datura' (poison), I thought, and +watched while a lean Pariah Dog from the village +ate it. But there was nothing wrong with it. So +the next evening I made haste to get a full share of +it myself. As I ate, hurriedly I must say, twang-g! +came a mighty Boar-spear.</p> + +<p>"But only the shaft of it struck my back, so I +made off with great diligence. I heard the Sahib<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +say as he picked up the spear, 'Missed him, by +Jove!' You see, he had been hiding in a corner of +the bungalow. But I was hungry, and the rice was +good—most delicious—so I crept back with two +comrades, and keeping to the thick grass, stalked +the bungalow most carefully. I saw the Sahibs all +at their eating, for the door was open, it being +hot; you see, he thought I wouldn't come back so +soon.</p> + +<p>"'I will eat with you,' I said, and made straight +for the rice; but it was nearly all gone; the Terrier +Pup of which I have spoken, and which belonged +to this very Sahib who had thrown the spear, was +just finishing his Master's bait.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, you wicked Dog!' I said, 'to steal my supper +this way,' and knowing that his master was in +the habit of throwing spears at that very spot, I +picked him up and carried him to the jungle for +safety.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, oh E-u-u-h!' how he squealed, and the +Men-kind left their eating, and came rushing after +us with much shouting, but it was dark and they +had no chance of catching us."</p> + +<p>"And you ate the poor little fellow?" asked +Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"Horrible!" cried Magh, "to eat a Dog."</p> + +<p>"Not at all bad stuffed with rice, I assure you," +declared Gidar. "For a day or two I kept more or +less out of the way; I was afraid the Sahibs might +be very angry.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was two nights after this I discovered more +rice some distance from the bungalow in a pail +which was sunk in the ground, and over this stood +a couple of posts that had not been there before. +I remembered that, so I sat by quietly watching +this new thing, and trying to decide what it might +be.</p> + +<p>"Now the Sahibs had two pigs, and as I watched, +along came these two, grunting, and shoving things +about with their long noses, and presently one of +them discovered the rice in the pail.</p> + +<p>"'Ugh, ugh, ugh!' said he, 'just a mouthful of +this will do me good.' You know, of course, a pig +eats first and thinks after, so in this case he plunged +his big head in the pail, and 'zip! whang!' went +something, and before I could jump to my feet he +was dangling in the air hung by the neck; he didn't +even have a chance to squeal. Of course his mate +took to his heels and cleared out, while I finished +the rice, knowing the evil was in the custody of +my Squeaker friend. In the morning the Pig was +dead."</p> + +<p>"It's a fine thief's tale," commented Magh, "but +in the end they caught you right enough."</p> + +<p>"Not there," corrected Gidar; "that was another +place. A Sahib who had come to the jungle +seeking dwellers for such places as this, made the +taking; but with him one might as well be caught +first as last, for he knew more of our ways than we +knew of his. Now let Coyote speak; I am tired."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Does Coyote come from Burma, too, O Sa'-zada?" +queried Magh.</p> + +<p>"No, he's from Mooswa's country; from the +great plains away in the far West. There is not +much in The Book about Coyote; that is, not much +that's good."</p> + +<p>"I knew it," laughed Magh; "I've watched him +there in his cage which is opposite mine, day after +day, and I never saw a smile on his face."</p> + +<p>"You should be put in the cage with Hyena," +declared Coyote, "if you think an animal has got to +grin all the time to be of fair nature. Or of what +use are you, little pot-belly, or the whole of your +tribe—Hanuman, Hooluk, or Chimpanzee—none +of you worth the nuts you eat; and yet you're always +grinning and chattering, and playing fool +tricks about the cage. You're a fine one to judge +your fellow creatures."</p> + +<p>"Coyote just sits there and scratches Fleas, and +growls, and snaps at his mate—he's a low-born sort +of Wolf," continued Magh.</p> + +<p>"He's not of our kind," declared Wolf; "it's all +a lie."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, never mind," cried Sa'-zada, "no +doubt like all the rest of us he has his good and +bad qualities."</p> + +<p>"I was once starving," resumed Coyote. "You +who have lived in a warm land where something is +growing all the year round, know nothing of the +hunger that comes when the fierce blizzard blots<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +out everything, and there is only snow, snow, everywhere. +Can one eat snow? It's all very fine for +you with a paunch full of candy to sit there and +prate about stealing, but if Wie-sak-ke-chack puts +the hunger pains in one's stomach and the fat +bacon—Ghurr-h-h! but the juice of it is sweet when +one is near dead—puts the fat bacon behind log +walls, what is one to do, eh? Does a fellow dig, +dig, dig through earth so hard that he must bite it +out with his teeth, dig deep under the log walls for +sport as the Cubs play in the sunshine, or just to +steal? Bah, you who have never known hunger +know not of this thing. Why, once when the +ground was frozen hard, and I was dying inch by +inch, some fierce-toothed Animal inside me biting, +biting—only of course it was the hunger chewing +at my stomach—I dove fair through the window +of a log shack to get at the meat inside. The glass +cut me, to be sure, but that was nothing to the +hunger pain that goes on, on, never ceasing until +there is food, or one is dead.</p> + +<p>"I saved a man's life once at a post called Stand-Off. +The place came by its name in the days of a +mighty fight when my Man and his comrades stood +off the Mounted Police. These Men had been +given as bad a name as Coyotes even. My Man +may have been bad, too; but how was I to know, +being only a Coyote? He was always throwing me +bones and pieces of bread, and whistling to me, and +calling me Jack.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now this place Stand-Off was on the river flat, +and one night in spring-time I heard a great flood +coming down the Belly River. It was a still night, +and the noise of the rushing water came to my +ears for miles, but the Men heard it not, for they +were all in the Shacks. Fast I galloped down over +the flat near to the Shack where was this Man who +had often thrown me a bone. I whimpered, and +whistled, and barked the danger call, and howled +the death-coming song, and finally my friend came +to the door and threw a stick of wood at me, and +spoke fierce oaths. Then he shut the door. I +could hear the roaring getting louder and louder, +and knew that soon it would be too late for all the +Men-kind; not that I cared, except for this one. +On one side of the town was the swift-running +Belly River, and beyond a high-cut bank; on my +side was the flat land that would soon be many feet +deep with ice and rushing water. So I howled +louder than ever, and he came out and strove to +kill me with a Firestick, but I only ran a little piece +into the darkness, and howled again.</p> + +<p>"Being a Man of much temper he chased me, +and the noise brought out the others, for they +thought it was Indians. I sought to lead him over +to the side of the flat land which was next the +sloping hill, knowing full well that the new water +would flow there first.</p> + +<p>"All at once he ceased running behind me, and +I, who was listening, knew that he scarce breathed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +he was that still. Now, he will hear it, I thought; +and in an instant I heard him cry to the others: +'Boys, we must pull out from this—there's a devil +of a freshet coming.' That was the way of the +Men from Stand-Off; many strange words of a +useless need.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Comrades, it was soon an awful night; +here and there the Men ran trying to save something—their +Horses and guns for most part, even +some of the evil firewater; and the strong swearings +they used sounded but just as the whimpering +of Wolf Pups, the wind was that fierce, carrying +the dreadful roar of the Chinook flood.</p> + +<p>"You who have heard Bagh and Hathi scolding +at each other, with perhaps Black Panther and +Bald Eagle taking part, may know somewhat the +like of that night's noises.</p> + +<p>"Seeing that my Man was coming riding swiftly +on his Cayuse, I, too, ran quickly for the upland; +but, as I have said, just in the hollow which was +there, being the trail where once had run the river, +the flood was rushing even as I have seen it in the +foot-hills—the flat land was surrounded.</p> + +<p>"As the Men galloped up they stopped, and +spoke evil words at the flood, rushing up and down +looking for a ford. I also was afraid to cross.</p> + +<p>"Suddenly I thought me of a place I knew well +lower down, wondrous like a Beaver dam, though +I think there had been no Beavers in the land since +Chief Mountain was a hole in the ground. I +barked, to call my Man friend, and ran toward +this spot.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<a name="i_061" id="i_061"></a> +<img src="images/i_061.jpg" width="416" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"I HEARD MY MAN SAY ... 'STRIKE ME DEAD IF HE HASN'T ...'"</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'There goes that locoed Coyote,' I heard him +say; 'he's trailing for a crossing; damned if I don't +follow him. Come on, you fellows,' and after me +they galloped like madmen.</p> + +<p>"Just below the place that was like a dam the +water was not too bad, for the ice had jammed up +above, and it was spreading out all over the flat. +I plunged in, for, Comrades, it was a time of great +hurry. Swimming a river is not of my liking—none +of my kind like it—but this seemed an evil +night altogether, with no choice but to reach the +uplands.</p> + +<p>"'Sure thing! the Coyote's dead to rights on this +outfit,' I heard my Man say; and wallow, wallow, +in the bronchos came, splashing and snorting. And +so we crossed just as the ice broke in the jam, and +swept down like the swift rolling of many stones. +I heard my Man say as they all got down from the +horses to empty the water out of their long boots, +'If I ever clap peeps on to that Coyo again, +I'll shove grub pile into him till he busts. Strike +me dead if he hasn't saved the whole outfit of +us.'</p> + +<p>"Anyway I knew there would be much feeding +and no harm if I kept close to these evil Men-kind, +for they were great givers.</p> + +<p>"I sought to save the one man, and if there be +any credit it comes to me because of that; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +others followed him, and even they said <i>he</i> had +saved them."</p> + +<p>"I think it is a true tale," declared Mooswa, "for +I once had a happening in saving the life of a Boy +who had been good to me."</p> + +<p>"What happened to the Men's place, Dog-Wolf?" +queried Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"In the morning there was nothing—nothing but +great pieces of ice all over the flat. Then the Men +trailed for a place called Slideout, where were more +evil men of the firewater way of life, and I followed, +arranging it so that my Man saw me, and +that day when he killed an Antelope, he left a +sweet piece of the eating for me; and I might have +lived all my life close to their camp in great fatness, +but for the evil chance that drew the Men-kind +close to a place called MacLeod. And it was there, +being pursued by ferocious yellow-haired Dogs, I +hid in a Hen-house and was caught. At first they +were for killing me, but there happened a Man-Pup +of that house who cried for me as his Doggie, and +later came one of the Men-kind, gave blankets in +exchange for me, and I was sent here to the place +where is Sa'-zada."</p> + +<p>"He is either a great liar, or not so bad as is +written in The Book," commented Sher Abi, the +Crocodile; "but in my land where was his Brother, +the Jackal, I never heard good of his kind."</p> + +<p>"I am sure it is a true tale," declared Sa'-zada; +"Coyote could not have made it up."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Fourth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Raj Bagh, the King +Tiger</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;"> +<img src="images/i_4th_nite_1.jpg" width="397" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i_4th_nite_2.jpg" width="600" height="493" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FOURTH_NIGHT" id="FOURTH_NIGHT"></a><big>FOURTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF RAJ BAGH, THE KING TIGER</h2> + + +<p>While the Keeper Sa'-zada was still loitering +over his tea, there came to his ears an +imperious roaring call "Wah-h-h! Wah-h-h! Wah-houh!"</p> + +<p>"This is the Tiger's night, indeed," he muttered +to himself. "Old Raj Bagh is eager to tell us the +tale of his life." Then he hurried down to their +cages and corrals saying, "Come, comrades; the +King of the Jungle calls us."</p> + +<p>"We shall have strong tales of blood-letting to-night," +muttered Magh the Orang-Outang.</p> + +<p>"King of the Jungle, indeed!" sneered +Hathi, the Elephant. "When I was Lord of +the jungle I knew no king—that is, amongst the +animals."</p> + +<p>"Now," began Sa'-zada, opening The Book, +when the Jungle Dwellers had all gathered in front +of Bagh, the killer's cage; "now we shall know all +about Huzoor Stripes. And mind you, Hathi, and +all the rest, there must be no anger, for Bagh's way +of life has not been of his own making; for with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +his kind it is their nature to kill that which they +eat."</p> + +<p>"I was born in Chittagong," began Bagh, "and +well I remember the little <i>Nullah</i> in which my +Mother kept me, a big tea garden spread over +three hills just near our hiding place, and there was +always much good eating.</p> + +<p>"For months after I was born my Mother made +me hide in the <i>Nullah</i>. That was always in the +evening. And as for hiding, how anyone can get +along without stripes in his coat I can't understand. +Let me hide in a grass field where the sun throws +sharp shadows up and down across everything and +I'll give my ration of meat for the week to anyone +who can see me three lengths of my tail away."</p> + +<p>"Where was your Mother all this time?" queried +Magh, tauntingly.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," answered Bagh, "she would be +away for hours making the kill, and when she came +back would lick my face, and teach me the sweet +smell of new meat and hot blood. Then the next +evening, just as it was getting dark, she would take +me with her to the kill, which was usually a Cow, +and which she had very cunningly hidden in elephant +grass, or a bamboo clump, or some little +<i>Nullah</i>. There would be still half of it left. I +grew big and strong, and longed to make a kill on +my own account.</p> + +<p>"But that year a terrible thing happened to the +Buffaloes and Cows upon which we depended for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +food. They were all down in the Flat Lands, +which is close by the sea, and one day when the +jungle was much torn by strong, fierce winds, a +great water came over the land, and ate up all the +Cattle, and many of the Men-kind. Then, indeed, +we fairly starved, for the few that were left were +kept close to the bamboo houses of the villagers. +Night after night, even in the day-time, my Mother +and I sought for the chances of a kill, for I had +grown big at that time, and she took me with her. +We were really starving; perhaps a small Chital +(deer), or a Dog, or something came our way once +in a while, but the pain in my stomach was so great +that I moaned, and moaned, and I believe it was +because of me that my Mother became a Man-killer."</p> + +<p>"Horrible!" exclaimed Mooswa. "Became a +killer of the Men-kind? Dreadful!"</p> + +<p>"I, too, have killed Men," asserted Raj Bagh; +"and why is it so evil, my big-nosed eater-of-grass? +Your food is the leaves of the jungle, and you have +it with you always. When you are hungry you +walk, walk, and soon you come to where there is +much food, and you eat, and with you that is all +right—there is no evil in it. As Sa'-zada has said, +it is our way of life to kill our eating. When there +is no Chital we kill Sambhur; when there are no +Deer we kill Pigs, or even Buffalo; when there is +nothing but Man, and we are changed from our +usual way of kill by great hunger, we slay Man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +With all Dwellers of the Jungle, there is fear of +the Men-kind, that is all, nothing but fear; and +when once that is broken we kill the Men-kind +even as any other Jungle Dweller."</p> + +<p>"Little Brother," began Sa'-zada, "it is spoken +amongst my Kind, that a Man-killer is always an +old, broken-toothed Tiger, full-manged, and of +evil ways; and that once having tasted human flesh +he becomes a killer of nothing else."</p> + +<p>"Ha-hauk!" laughed Bagh, "those be silly +Jungle tales. Am I broken-toothed, or full of a +mange, or is Raj Bagh? All a lie, Little Master, +all a lie. It is but a chance of the Jungle that +makes a Man-killer, even as I will tell, and the +taste of the flesh is not more than the taste of meat.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he continued, "I was with my Mother +that day, the first day of the Man-kill, and in my +stomach was a great pain like the biting of Red +Ants. It was near the coming of night, and we +crept down into the tea garden where there were +many of the coolie kind working amongst the +bushes. I think my Mother was looking for a stray +dog, or perhaps a small Bullock; but the coolies +seeing us cried aloud in their fright, 'Bagh hai!' +and ran. I think it was this that made my Mother +charge suddenly amongst them, for if they had +stood and looked at us I'm sure we should have +turned and gone away; but in the charge a Man +fell. Baghni seized him by the neck, threw him +on her back, and we both galloped into the jungle.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +After that, whenever we were hungry we went back +to the tea garden in just the same way.</p> + +<p>"But one day a coolie saw us first and ran to his +master's bungalow crying with much fear. Neither +of us thought anything of that, for it was as they +had done before; so we went on down in the little +<i>Nullah</i> between the hills, looking sharply for others +of the Black Workers. Suddenly I heard a noise +as of something approaching.</p> + +<p>"'Keep still, O Baghela,' said Baghni, 'here +cometh one of the Men-kind, and I will make a +kill.'</p> + +<p>"As we waited, presently there was no sound. +'The kill has gone away,' I whispered to Baghni, +but she struck me hard with her tail, almost knocking +some of my teeth out; that was to keep still. +There was not even any scent of the Men-kind in +the wind now; most surely he had gone away, I +thought. What a silly old Baghni my Mother +must be.</p> + +<p>"I heard a soft whistle behind me, 'Sp-e-e-t!' +just like that, much as you've heard Hawk in his +cage call. When I looked around there was one of +the White-face, even the Sahib of the tea garden. +I knew him, for I had seen him once before. In +his hand he held what I have since learned was a +thunder-stick. I looked in his eyes for perhaps +three lashes of my tail, but I could see there nothing +of the Man-fear Hathi has told us of. Such eyes I +have never seen in any animal's head; not yellow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +like those of my kind, nor red and black like +Hathi's, nor even dull brown like Korite the killer's; +just of a quiet color like a tiny bit of the sky +coming between the leaves of the forest.</p> + +<p>"What was he waiting for, I thought. Baghni +had not heard him, for she did not turn her head. +Then he made the call like Hawk's again, and +Baghni turned her head even as I had, and looked +full at him, but he did not run away.</p> + +<p>"Now feeling something lifted from me, because +his eyes were on Baghni, I think, I looked again +sideways from the corner of my eye. Baghni had +set her ears tight back, and drawn her lip up in a +cross snarl, so that her teeth, almost the length of +Boar's tusks, said as plain as could be, 'Now I will +crush your back.' But still in his eyes that were +like bits of sky was not the Man-fear; if I had seen +it there most surely I had charged straight at his +throat, for I was angry, and still, I think, filled with +much fear.</p> + +<p>"Then Baghni turned around, crouched with her +head low, looking straight at him. As she did so, +the Sahib raised his thunder-stick, there was an +awful noise from it, I heard Baghni scream 'Gur-houk!' +and she had charged. I, too, followed her, +thinking she had got this Man who was our kill; +but just beyond in the <i>Nullah</i>, even the length of +Bainsa's corral from here, I saw her on her side +tearing up the tea bushes with her great paws. I +stopped for the length of two breaths, but I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +see that there was something very wrong—she was +going to sleep. Then the greatest fear that I have +ever known came over me, and I galloped fast into +the jungle to where was my hiding-place."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_070" id="i_070"></a> +<img src="images/i_070.jpg" width="600" height="412" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"BUT I COULD SEE THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY WRONG ..."</span> +</div> + +<p>"They had killed your Mother, had they, +Bagh?" asked Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"I think so, for I never saw her again. I was +afraid to go back where the men labored, and, as +I had said, there were no Bullocks, and I nearly +starved to death."</p> + +<p>"But how did they catch you?" queried Magh.</p> + +<p>"It was all because of my hunger. When I was +not stronger than a jungle Bakri (sheep), not +having eaten for days and days, I heard one night +a Pariah Dog howling in the jungle. It took me +hours to know that there was no danger near this +crying one of the Dog-kind. I went round and +round in circles that I had made smaller each time, +and drew the wind from all sides into my nose to +see if there was the Man scent. There was nothing +but the Pariah, and by some means he had got +into a hole. Of course, afterwards I knew it was +the evil work of this Sahib who had killed Baghni. +Such a hole the Pariah was in, it was as long as +these two cages, and though wide at the bottom, +it was small at the top, even like the cover of +Magh's house yonder. I crawled in and caught +the Dog in my strong jaws. Sweet flesh! how he +howled when he knew I was coming.</p> + +<p>"Then with a crash something fell behind me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +and closed the hole so I could not get out, and at +once I heard them shouting."</p> + +<p>"Where had they come from so soon?" queried +Magh.</p> + +<p>"They were up in the jungle trees," answered +Bagh.</p> + +<p>"I think it is a fine lie," grunted Boar. "Do you +mean to say, Bagh, that you could not see them +in the trees?"</p> + +<p>"You have little knowledge of my kind, Piggy. +Know you not that when going through the jungle +we never look up?"</p> + +<p>"I do," interrupted Raj Bagh, "but I learned the +trick. Brother Bagh is right, though; I suppose +it comes from always looking for our kill on the +ground, and I have heard that this is why the +Hunters so often kill us from <i>Machans</i> (shooting +rest in a tree). We never see them until we are +struck."</p> + +<p>"The Men were all about the hole," continued +Bagh, "and it was he of the white face that cried, +'Don't kill him, don't stick him with the spears! +He is only a Baghela, and we will take him alive +for Sa'-zada.'</p> + +<p>"They dug little holes from the top, and bound +me with strong ropes; it was so narrow I couldn't +turn round, you see. Then I was sent here to +Sa'-zada. Though he is good to me, still I wish +I was back in my old jungle."</p> + +<p>"Ah-h-houk! Great Brothers," roared Raj<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +Bagh. "My mate has told you of Chittagong and +his tea gardens, but the middle jungles in India is +the place for a Tiger to rule; and for years I was +Lord of the Sumna Forests, and the terror of the +Gonds, the little black-faced Men who are wondrous +Shikaris. Close grass. Waw-hough! but it +was beautiful there. The many red faces of the +chewal tree smiled at me, and the purple ears of +the sal tree listened to my roar till its great branches +trembled in fear. Close hid in the Khagar grass +I would lie and sleep all through the long hot day, +and the little Gonds, even the big, white-faced +Men, might pass the length of this cage from me, +and not know that I was there. But I would know. +Talking, talking always they would go, and if they +were up wind, my nose would find them many +jumps away.</p> + +<p>"I was born there, and Baghni, my Mother, and +Sher Bagh, my Sire, taught me all that a Tiger +should know of the ways of the Men-kind. But in +the end both of them came to their death through +the evil ways of these seekers for our lives. Wah, +wah, wah-hough! I am a Man-killer. And why +not?"</p> + +<p>"You should be ashamed to say so," cried Magh, +petulantly, "and before Sa'-zada, too."</p> + +<p>"Wah! I was a Man-killer," repeated Raj +Bagh, "a killer of many Men, but it was not my +fault. When I was a cub my Sire was Lord of the +Sumna Jungles; and close to our lair was a <i>jhil</i> to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +which all animals of those parts came to drink when +they were hot, and the hills blazed red with the +evil fire of the little Gonds. Chetal, and Nilgai, +and Sambhur, and the Ribbed-Faced Deer that +coughed like a Wild Dog; even Chinkara, the little +Gazelle that is but a mouthful for one of my needs—all +came there when the forest grew dark; and +always when we were hungry, which was often, +more came than went away. It was ever the same +with Sher Bagh, who was my Sire, and Baghni, always +the same way in a kill with them. In those +days I watched it often, for I, being a Bagheela, +took no part except in the eating. Chita walks not +softer in his cage than Sher Bagh would step +through the jungle when he was stalking a kill; +and then at the end with a rush it was all over.</p> + +<p>"But one year it became so hot—why, the rocks +burned our pads as we walked; so hot that our <i>jhil</i> +dried up, and none of the Jungle Dwellers came to +drink. It was hot, so hot, and never a drop of the +sweet water falling. The fire crept down from +the hills and ate up the small part of the jungle +and the grass, and I think the Jungle Dwellers went +to other parts. At any rate, as Brother Bagh has +said, we were sore distressed for a kill. Of course, +we could go and drink where the other Dwellers +dared not, close to the villages of the little Gonds. +I remember, being but a Baghela and having little +wisdom, saying to Baghni, 'Why do we not kill +Goru (cattle) and Bainsa, who are here in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +hands of the Men-kind?' But Sher Bagh, who had +lived into much wisdom, growled, and striking me +hard with his paw, said, 'Little one, that way comes +the full hate of the Men-kind, and we who fear not +the Dwellers in the Jungle, fear Man.'</p> + +<p>"But still we became more hungry, and Baghni, +whose milk was my only food, grew unwise and +said, 'Let us kill the Goru.' But Sher Bagh +growled at her, and said again, 'That way comes +the hate of the Men-kind. Now when these little +men who are Gonds pass near to me in the jungle, +they salaam and say, "Peace be with you, Sher +Bagh, Huzoor Bagh"; and they go in peace, and +the fear that is on me when I look in their eyes +passes away.'</p> + +<p>"For many nights after that we wandered far +through the jungle, I with Baghni, and Sher Bagh +by himself in another part. And in the days that +were so hot, as I slept, great times of blood drinking +and sweet meat-eating came to my mind—but +when I woke there was nothing—nothing but +hunger pains in my stomach. It was also this way +with Baghni and Sher Bagh. Many times Baghni +said, 'Let us kill the Goru, for of what use is the +good will of the Men-kind if we die?'</p> + +<p>"At last Sher Bagh also became unwise, and +said, 'We will kill the Goru, for Baghela and you, +Baghni, are starving. When the Goru feed in a +herd to-morrow, even in the time of light—which, +of course, was the day—together we will creep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +close in the much-thorned korinda, and kill a Cow; +for if we kill one in a herd there will be less trouble, +and perhaps it will not be missed of the Men-kind.' +Wah! I shall never forget the sweet eating of that +Goru. And the drink of blood! Che-hough! it +was as though I had been athirst since my birth.</p> + +<p>"Sher Bagh dragged the Goru to a jungle of +Kakra trees, and we ate it all. But the next day +the Horned Ones did not feed in that place, and as +we were walking in the close of the daytime Sher +Bagh heard the thin-voiced cry of a Gond cart +coming over the road; it was like the song of the +Koel bird; it was made by the wheels, I think. +'There will be Goru to the cart,' said Sher Bagh. +'Yes, two of them,' answered Baghni, 'but also one +of the Men-kind, a little Gond.' 'Even now I am +hungry,' declared Sher Bagh; 'when I roar in front +of the Goru the little Gond will pass quickly into a +sal tree, and then we can eat of his Bullocks.'</p> + +<p>"It was as my Sire had said, and we made a kill, +and carried them far from the roadside, and had +the sweetest eating for two nights. All our +strength was coming back to us, and Baghni, purring +softly, for she was pleased, said to her Lord, +'Did I not say "drink the blood of the Goru," when +we were starving, and are they not easy of kill?' +But Sher Bagh, looking up in the trees, for it was +as we came to the kill for our second night's eating, +answered, 'We must be careful, for upon us will +surely fall the full hate of these little Gonds; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +they claim a kill for a kill, blood for blood; it is +their manner of life when they deal with others of +the Men-kind.'</p> + +<p>"I knew that fear of the little Gonds had come +strong upon my Sire when he looked up to the sal +trees, for, as I have said, it is not of our habit to +look up; we fear nothing of the jungle that hides +in trees. The Peacocks, and Monkeys, and Crows, +even Panther—what are they? Nothing to claim +the time of my kind. Said Sher Bagh to Baghni, +'The Goru that go in carts are easy for the kill.' +'And there are always two of them,' answered she.</p> + +<p>"This new manner of life by practice became +easy to us; we would hide in the khagar grass or +the jowri, which is a nut grass of the Men, beside +the road at the day's end, and always we would +know of the cart's coming by its voice, that was like +Koel bird's, or the miaou of a Peacock. We made +many a kill of this kind. And it was this way that +I became first of all a Man-killer, even my first +kill was of the Men-kind, just an evil chance. It +was Baghni who said to Sher Bagh, 'Baghela must +know the method of a kill. We have now not +much hunger, so let him make the next kill of the +Goru, and if he misses, it will not matter, for we +are well fed.'</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget that night as I crouched +by the road beside Baghni, waiting for the little +Gond with his Goru. I was trembling like the tall +grass shivers at the top when one passes through it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +'Keep still,' whispered Baghni; 'a little noise makes +a hard kill, and much noise is no kill at all.' If +it had been a Sambhur or a Nilgai we should have +had no supper, for the grass whispered under me +as I shook it with my trembling. Then down the +road in the early dark came the cart with its snarling +voice. Just as the Goru were opposite, Baghni +struck me with her tail and cried, 'Ah-h-houk!' +which means to charge. As I sprang, being but a +Baghela, and my first kill, I was slow, and the Goru +jumped, causing me to miss sadly. But I landed +full on the cart, and by an evil chance the little +Gond was under my paws. Mind, Comrades, with +me it was but a kill, and I could not see his eyes, +and without intent on my part his shoulder was in +my jaws, and in less time than I can tell it I had him +in the jungle. It was my first kill, and I was wild—but +I don't want to talk about it. I wish he had +beaten me off, even struck me with the thunder-stick, +for, after all, what was the kill? not bigger +than a Chetal, and it brought the full hate of the +Men-kind to us, and Sher Bagh and Baghni were +slain."</p> + +<p>"By the little Gonds?" asked Hathi.</p> + +<p>"The Gonds and the Sahibs," answered Tiger. +"Even your people, Hathi, took part in the kill of +my Sire and Baghni. But it was our old enemy, +hunger, that caused it all. For three nights we +waited by the roadside and no carts passed. It is +true one passed; a lodhi cartman, with the wisdom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +of Cobra, put Pig's fat on the wheels of his cart, +and there was no noise until he was right upon us, +even had passed, for the stalk had not properly +started, you see. 'Never mind,' said Baghni, 'the +little Men of a slow wit, the Gonds, will come this +way with their Goru, many of them'; but they +didn't. And save for two old Langurs (monkeys) +that cursed from a pipal tree as we went back to +our <i>Nullah</i>, we saw no Dweller of the Jungle, nor +of the fields. 'The hate of the little Gonds is +coming to us,' growled Bagh. 'And I am so +hungry,' moaned Baghni. 'Baghela should not +have killed any of the Men-kind,' declared my +Sire.</p> + +<p>"The Men go to their rest at night, even the +little Gonds, knowing that the Jungle Dwellers will +not come in great numbers to the fields because of +our guard. And it was but an evil chance, too, that +I made a kill of the Gond. But when we were most +hungered, after many days, one night, not far from +our <i>Nullah</i>, was a Bullock tied to a tree. 'Waw-houk!' +exclaimed Baghni, calling her Lord to the +find; 'Che-waugh!' said she, 'here is a Bail of the +Men-kind; make the kill.'</p> + +<p>"'It is of their hate,' growled Sher Bagh, 'the +Bullocks do not come of their own way here to the +jungle—we must be careful.'</p> + +<p>"Half the night was gone before we had stalked +all sides of the Goru, but there was nothing—not +even up in the sal leaves. That was what Baghni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +said, for with her sharp eyes she saw Hookus (big +green pigeon), resting on a branch, which meant +that there was nothing to frighten him. When +Sher Bagh had made the kill, he dragged it far +away from our <i>Nullah</i>. That was most wise, Comrades; +it was so that the Men-kind should not find +our home.</p> + +<p>"When our hunger was gone Baghni said, 'We +will eat again when the sun's light passes once +more.' 'No,' growled my Sire, 'we will not come +back to the kill, for the hate of the little Gonds will +be here when they see that we have eaten of the +Goru.'</p> + +<p>"That was wise also. To make sure, and to +teach me, a Baghela, Sher Bagh took us down wind +from the drag next night, and the scent of the Men-kind +came strong in our faces. 'Our enemies are +there,' declared Bagh.</p> + +<p>"Being a Baghela I thought this fine play, and +by the cunning of my Sire we killed what we found +tied in the Jungle, but never went back to the drag. +Even once in the dark, as we hunted, hearing the +grunt of a Goru, and going up wind to it, Sher +Bagh knew that the Hunters were waiting in the +sal and pipal trees over the bait, so we went back +to the <i>Nullah</i> and rested on lean stomachs."</p> + +<p>"Your Sire was too clever for them," commented +Magh, as Tiger ceased speaking for an instant.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was clever," answered Raj Bagh. +"But in two days more something came to us that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +no Jungle Dweller can withstand: a full beat of the +Jungles.</p> + +<p>"Being but a Baghela," sighed Raj Bagh, "I did +not know what it was when the beat commenced; +I thought that the forest winds were in an evil +temper, but Sher Bagh cried to Baghni, 'Quick! +we must go far, for now comes the hate of the +white-faced kind, for the beat is their way of a +kill.' We lay quiet in our <i>Nullah</i>, thinking they +might pass. 'Tap, tap, tap!' I heard on one side, +much like the klonk, klonk! of Mis-gar (coppersmith +bird). 'What is that?' I asked my Sire.</p> + +<p>"'The sal trees cry because they are stricken +by the Beaters,' he answered. 'Tum, tum, tum-m!' +I heard from the other side of the <i>Nullah</i>. 'Is it +the belling of a Nilgai?' I asked. 'The little Gonds +who are of this beat call with their drums,' answered +Sher Bagh. 'All the jungle is falling,' I +cried. 'It is the coming of Hathi,' answered my +Sire, 'for it is a beat of many Hathi. Come, +Baghela, come, Baghni,' he called, and we stole +like frightened Chinkara through the sal and pipal +jungle.</p> + +<p>"'To the Baghni-wali nulla!' (tigress valley) +cried Sher Bagh to us as we followed. But as we +sought to enter this place of many caves a Beater +smote at us with the thunder-stick from a tree, but +that was only to frighten us away, for Bagh whispered, +'The Beaters are not to make the kill.'</p> + +<p>"'Here will be little spoor for them to follow,'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +growled Sher Bagh as we ran. Soon we thought +we had lost those who sought our lives. As we +rested for a little while in some thick, wild plum +bushes they came all about us. There were many +Hathi, and on three of the Hathi were little +caves——"</p> + +<p>"Haudas," corrected Elephant. "That is the +way the Men-kind ride on my back when we are +in the beat."</p> + +<p>"And the Men had thunder-sticks with which +they smote Sher Bagh and Baghni. 'Waw, waw-houk!' +roared my Sire when he was struck—'Che-waugh!' +he cried to me, 'flee, Baghela, while I +charge.' With a rush he sprang on a big Hathi's +nose, and I think he got even to the hauda, for the +Hathi turned and ran, screaming with pain; and +I, seeing this, broke from my cover and charged +back through the Beaters who were on foot. Just +in my path I saw one of the Beaters striking two +sticks together. Being cross because of my hot +pads, and what they had done to Sher Bagh, I +seized this one, and took him with me.</p> + +<p>"After that, I lived alone, and because the +Jungle Dwellers had fled from those parts, and because +of the wrong we had from these Gonds, I +became a Man-killer, eating that which was put +in my reach."</p> + +<p>"How did they catch you?" questioned Wolf.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 410px;"> +<a name="i_082" id="i_082"></a> +<img src="images/i_082.jpg" width="410" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"MY SIRE ... SPRANG ON A BIG HATHI'S NOSE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Because I sought to change my way of life," +answered Bagh, "and leaving the Man-kill I made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +to satisfy my hunger with a Goat. I heard the +Goat cry at night-time," continued Bagh, "and +after a careful stalk, finding nothing of the presence +of Man, I sprang on Bakri the Goat——"</p> + +<p>"And the Goat captured you," cried Magh, gleefully.</p> + +<p>"Together we fell into a deep hole that had been +dug by the evil little Gonds. Though I ate the +Bakri I could not get out again, and in the morning +the Men were all about me, both white and black. +How the little Men reviled me! But it seemed the +Sahibs wanted to take me alive, so they dug another +hole close to the one in which I was, put a +big wooden cage with a door to it down, and then +with long spears broke through the walls between +the cage and the hole I was in. Of course, I was +glad enough to go any place; besides, they threw +down on me their dreadful fire. I sprang in the +cage and the door dropped behind me. Then many +of the Men-kind pulled the cage out with ropes, +and I was sent here to Sa'-zada."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Fifth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of the Tribe of King Cobra</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 417px;"> +<img src="images/i_5th_nite_1.jpg" width="417" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;"> +<img src="images/i_5th_nite_2.jpg" width="369" height="550" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FIFTH_NIGHT" id="FIFTH_NIGHT"></a><big>FIFTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF THE TRIBE OF KING COBRA</h2> + + +<p>It was the fifth night of the Sa'-zada tales. As +usual, Hathi, Grey Wolf, and all the other +animals, jostling each other merrily like a lot of +schoolboys, had gathered in front of Tiger's cage.</p> + +<p>Said the Keeper: "Comrades, you must all be +very careful, for this is Snake's night."</p> + +<p>"Oo-o-oh!" whimpered Jackal, "is Nag the +Cobra to come here among us?"</p> + +<p>Even Hathi trembled, and blowing softly +through his trumpet, said: "Oh, Sa'-zada, I who +am a Lord of the Jungle, fearing not any Dweller +therein, feel great pains this evening. I am sure +that hay is musty and has disagreed with me. If +you do not mind, Little Brother, I will go back to +my stall and lie down."</p> + +<p>"Will Deboia the Climber come also, Little +Master?" asked Magh. "If so, I think my Terrier +Pup is feeling unwell; I will take him to my cage +and wrap him in his blanket. I hate snake stories, +anyway."</p> + +<p>"Hiz-z-z!" laughed Python, who was already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +there. "Lords of the Jungle indeed! When I +strike or throw a loop, or go swift as the wind +through the Jungle—Thches-s-s! but I am no +boaster. See our friends. When the smallest of +my kind are to be here each one makes his excuses."</p> + +<p>"Never fear, Comrades," Sa'-zada assured the +frightened animals, "Nag the Cobra, and Karait, +and all the others will behave themselves if they +are left alone. Only don't move about, that's +all. The first law when Snakes are about is—keep +still."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we like quietness," assented Python. +"Once there was a fussy old Buffalo Bull who used +to come to my pool and stir up the mud until it was +scarce fit to live in. In the end I threw a loop +around his neck, and he became one of the quietest +Bulls you ever saw in your life."</p> + +<p>"Now, Comrades," said Sa'-zada, as he returned +accompanied by the Dwellers of the Snake House, +"Hamadryad, the King Cobra, has promised us a +story."</p> + +<p>"Look at my length," cried Hamadryad, drawing +his yellow and black mottled body through +many intricate knots like a skein of colored silk; +"think you I was born this way just as I am? At +first—that was up in the Yoma Hills in Burma—I +was not much larger than a good-sized hair from +Tiger's mustache, and since then it has been nothing +but adventure. Even my Mother, where she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +had us hid in a pile of rocks covered with ferns, +had to fight for our lives."</p> + +<p>"Phuff!" retorted Boar, disdainfully, "many a +nest of Cobra eggs have I rid the world of."</p> + +<p>"Not of my kind, I'll warrant," snorted Python, +blowing his foul breath like a small sirocco almost +in Pig's face. "Of Nag, or Hamadryad's family, +perhaps, yes, for, know you, Comrades, what +Nagina does with her eggs? Lays them in the sun +to hatch <i>apsi</i> (of themselves). But my Mother—ah, +you should have seen her, Comrades; all the +eggs gathered in a heap, and her great, beautiful +body—much like my own in color—wound tenderly +about them until the young came forth. Perhaps +a matter of two moons and never a bite for her to +eat all the time. That's what I call being a genuine +Mother."</p> + +<p>"Very wise, indeed, and thoughtful," cried the +Salt Water Snake. "My Mother—well I remember +it—carried her eggs about in her body till they +were hatched, which seems to me quite as good a +plan. Also, nobody molests us—if they do, they +die quickly. We all can kill quite as readily as Nag +the Cobra, though there is less talk about us."</p> + +<p>"Even so," assented Hamadryad, "the proof of +the matter is in being here; and, as I was going to +say, it is this way with my people; in the hot +weather when there is no rain we burrow in the +ground for months at a stretch. And then the rains +come on and we are driven out of our holes by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +the water, and live abroad in the Jungles for a +time. It was at this season of the year I speak of; +I had just come up out of my burrow and was wondrous +hungry, I can tell you; and, traveling, I came +across the trail of a Karait. I followed Karait's +trail, and found him in a hole under a bungalow +of the Men-kind. It was dry under the bungalow, +so I rested after my meal in the hole that had been +Karait's. It was a good place, so I lived there. +Every day a young of the Men-kind——"</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Mooswa; "a Boy, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps; but the old ones called him 'Baba.' +And Baba used to come every day under the bungalow +to play. He threw little sticks and stones +at me; but nothing to hurt, mind you, for he was +small. The things he threw wouldn't have injured +a Fly-Lizard as he crawled on the bungalow posts. +He laughed when he saw me, and called, as he +clapped his little hands, and I wouldn't have hurt +him—why should I? I don't eat Babas.</p> + +<p>"When I heard the heavy feet of the Men I +always slipped in the hole; but, one day, by an evil +chance I was to one side looking for food, and +Baba was following, when his Mother saw me. +Such a row there was, the Men running, and Baba's +Mother calling, and only the little one with no fear. +Surely it was the fear of which Chita and Hathi +have spoken which came over the Men-kind.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 411px;"> +<a name="i_090" id="i_090"></a> +<img src="images/i_090.jpg" width="411" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"AND BABA USED TO COME EVERY DAY UNDER THE BUNGALOW TO +PLAY...."</span> +</div> + +<p>"There was one of a great size, like Bear +Muskwa, with a stomach such as Magh's. He was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +a native baboo. He had a black face, and his voice +was like the trumpet of Hathi; but when I went +straight his way, and rose up to strike, his fat legs +made great haste to carry him far away. Then +I glided in the hole."</p> + +<p>"Ghur-ah! it seems a strange tale," snarled +Wolf; "even I would not dare, being alone, to +chase one of the Men-kind."</p> + +<p>"It may be true," declared Sa'-zada, "for it is +written in the Book that Hamadryad is the only +Snake that will really chase a man, and show fight."</p> + +<p>"I could hear the Men-kind talking and tramping +about," continued King Cobra, "and meant to +lie still till night, and then go away, for I usually +traveled in the dark, you know. But presently +there was a soft whistling music calling me to come +out; and also at times a pleading voice, though of +the Men-kind, I knew that, 'Ho, Bhai (brother), +ho, Raj Naga (King Cobra)! come here, quick, +Little Brother.' Then the soft whistle called me, +sometimes loud, and sometimes low, and even the +noise was twisting and swinging in the air just as +I might myself.</p> + +<p>"Hiz-z-z-za! but I commenced to tremble; and +I was full of fear, and I was full of love for the +soft sounds, and with my eyes I wished to see it. +So I came out of the hole, and there was a Black +Man making the soft call from a hollow stick."</p> + +<p>"A Snake Charmer with his pipes," exclaimed +Sa'-zada.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I raised up in anger, thinking that he, too, +would soon run away; but he pointed with his hand, +now this way, from side to side, even as the sweet +sound from the hollow stick seemed to twist and +curl in the air; and following his hand with my +eyes, I commenced to swing as the hand swung.</p> + +<p>"'Ho, Little Brother!' he called, 'come here.'</p> + +<p>"It was to a basket at his side; for, though I +meant not to do it, I glided into it."</p> + +<p>"That was the manner of your taking?" asked +Chita.</p> + +<p>"Better than having one's toes squeezed in an +iron trap," declared Jackal.</p> + +<p>"Or being beaten by chains," murmured Hathi.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the taking was simple enough; but if Baba +had not cried, the Men would have killed me, I +think."</p> + +<p>"And that was how you came to Lower Burma?" +asked Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Hamadryad, "this man who +made music with the hollow stick took me with him, +and at every place where there were any of his +fellows he brought me forth from the basket, and +made me dance to his music. That was what he +called it—dance."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you bite him?" queried Rattler, +making his tail rattles sing in anger.</p> + +<p>"He pulled out my fangs," declared Hamadryad.</p> + +<p>"He-he," sneered Magh; "now surely it is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +great lie, this wondrous tale of Cobra's, for in his +mouth are the very fangs he says the black-faced +player of music pulled."</p> + +<p>"Most wise Ape," said Hamadryad, ironically, +"what your big head, like unto a Jack fruit, does +not understand, is a lie, forsooth. Even though my +teeth were pulled three times, they would grow +again; but you do not know that—therefore it is +a lie. Even now, behind these that you see, and +perhaps yet may feel if you keep on, are others +waiting the time when these may be broken. Was +it not Hathi said some wise animal arranged all +these things for us?"</p> + +<p>"Sa'-zada says it is God," interrupted Hathi.</p> + +<p>"This man made me fight with a Mongoos, that +those of his kind might laugh."</p> + +<p>"What is a Mongoos?" queried Magh.</p> + +<p>"Our natural enemy," answered King Cobra, +"just as Fleas and other Vermin are yours. But I +killed the squeaky little beast with one drive of +my head—broke his back. At Ramree a Sahib +bought me from the black man."</p> + +<p>"That was the Sahib who sent you here, I +fancy," suggested Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. At any rate he seemed fond of +Snakes of my kind, for he put me in a box wherein +was one of my family. But he should have known +more about our manner of life, for he nearly +starved us through ignorance of our taste. He +puts Rats and Frogs, and Birds and such Vermin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +as that in, with never so much as a Green-Tree-Snake. +The yellow-faced Burmans used to come +in front of our cage and touch us up with sticks +until my nose was skinned with striking at them +and hitting the bars.</p> + +<p>"Our getting something to eat was a pure accident. +One night this Sahib stepped on a Snake—a +young Rock Snake, which had curled up in the +path for the warmth of the hot earth. 'Oh, ho!' +said the Sahib, bringing this new Snake to our cage, +'you are looking for trouble, little <i>Samp</i> (snake). +Let us see how you get on in there,' and he threw +him in our box, expecting to see a fight."</p> + +<p>"And did he?" queried Magh.</p> + +<p>"Hiz-z-z-za! I should say so. My mate and I +fought half an hour before we settled who was to +eat the visitor."</p> + +<p>"You two Comrades fought over it?" asked +Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"Yes; that is our way. Two Snakes cannot eat +one—how else should we settle the question? we +were both hungry. Why, one day my mate flew +at me, and I could see in his eye that he meant +eating me, and in self-defence I was forced to put +him out of the way of mischief, but the Sahib +pulled us apart.</p> + +<p>"But if I hated the Yellow Men who came to +my cage, I liked the Mem-Sahib (white lady). I +think it was her voice. Hiz-z, hiz-z, hiz-z! It +was as soft as the song the man had brought forth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +from the hollow stick. Sometimes I would hear +her voice-song near my box, and it would put me to +sleep; only, of course, I had to keep one eye open +lest my mate would try to eat me——"</p> + +<p>"I had no idea Snakes were so fond of each +other," said Magh, maliciously.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I think I should have eaten <i>him</i> to have +saved that worry. But I must tell you about the +Mem-Sahib and the Cook. He was small and so +black—a perfect little Pig. One day when the +Sahib was away, the Cook became possessed of +strange devils."</p> + +<p>"Became drunken on his Master's liquor, I suppose," +remarked Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, for he came and took me out of the +box, wound me around his shoulders and waist, and +went with a clamor of evil sounds, in to my Mem-Sahib."</p> + +<p>"Just like a Man," sneered Pardus.</p> + +<p>"Even I was ashamed," continued Hamadryad. +"My Mem-Sahib cried out with fear, and her eyes +were dreadful to look into.</p> + +<p>"I glided twice about the Man-devil's neck, and +drew each coil tight and tight and tighter, and +swung my head forward until I looked into his +eyes, and I nodded twice thus," and the King Cobra +swayed his vicious black head back and forth with +the full suggestiveness of a death thrust, until each +one of the animals shivered with fear.</p> + +<p>"I think he died of the Man-fear Hathi has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +spoken of, for I did not strike him—it may be that +the coils about his throat were over-tight. But I +glided back to my box, and I think the Mem-Sahib +knew that I did not wish to even make her afraid."</p> + +<p>"Most interesting," declared Sa'-zada. "Is that +all, Cobra?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I'm tired. Let Python talk."</p> + +<p>The huge Snake uncoiled three yards of his +length, slipped it forward as easily, as noiselessly +as one blows smoke, shoved his big flat head up +over the Keeper's knee, ran his tongue out four +times to moisten his lips, and said: "I am also +from the East, and I do not like this land. Here +my strength is nothing, for I can't eat. A Chicken +twice a month—what is that to one of my size? +Sa'-zada will eat as much in a day; and yet in my +full strength I could crush five such as our Little +Brother. Many loops! in my own Jungle I could +wind myself about a Buffalo and pull his ribs together +until his whole body was like loose earth. +I have done it. Sa'-zada knows that for months +and months after I came I ate nothing, and in the +end they took me out on the floor there, six of them, +and shoved food down my throat with a stick.</p> + +<p>"Once I had run down a Barking Deer, and +swallowed him, and was having a little sleep, when +I wandered into the most frightful sort of nightmare. +It came to me in my sleep that Bagh had +charged me of a sudden, and gripped my throat in +his strong jaws. I opened my eyes in fright, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +sure enough, I was being choked with a rope in +the hands of the Men-kind. Each end of it was +fastened to a long bamboo, and the Men were on +either side of me. I made the leaves and dry wood +in that part of the Jungle whirl for a little, but it +was no use—I couldn't get away. Also a man of +the White-kind was sitting on a laid tree, and in +his hands was a loud-voiced gun. But I nearly +paid him out for some of the insult. They dragged +me on to the road, and I lay there quiet and simple-looking. +He thought I was asleep, I suppose. At +any rate he came up and touched me on the nose +with his toe.</p> + +<p>"I struck; but, though I knew it not, the rope +was tight held by one of the Yellow-kind who stood +behind me, and I but got a full choking; though, +as I have said, the other, he of the White Face, +was stricken with fear.</p> + +<p>"They put me in a box, but though I have no +appetite here, I could eat there, and they gave me +so many chickens that I shed my beautiful skin +almost monthly. I nearly died from the over-diet, +not being used to such plenty."</p> + +<p>"Tell us of your food-winning in the Jungle," +craved Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Though I go wondrous swift," began Python, +"yet if any of the Deer-kind passed me on foot I +could not catch them. Because of this I was forced +to take great thought to outwit them. You, Gidar, +and you, Hathi, know of the elephant creeper that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +is in all those Jungles, how it runs from tree to +tree for many a mile—so strong that it sometimes +pulls down the biggest wood-grower. Well, +having knowledge of a Deer's path, I would stretch +my body across it much after that fashion, and the +silly creatures with their ribbed faces, always +coughing a hoarse bark, and always possessed of a +stupid fear, would walk right into my folds, thinking +me a part of the creeper. Once, even, as I +think of it, a hunter—of the White-kind he was—ate +his food sitting on a coil of my body as I lay +twisted about a tree. To tell you the truth, I was +asleep, having fed well, and only woke up because +of his sticking his cutting knife into my back, thinking, +of course, he was standing it in the wood, +when I suddenly squirmed and upset him, and his +food and drink.</p> + +<p>"But when it was the dry season and the leaves +were off the trees, the Jungle was so open that even +the silly Deer could see the rich color of my beautiful +skin, and for days and days I went hungry. +Then I would go to the small water ponds, <i>Jheels</i>, +and curling my tail about a tree on one side, put +myself across, and catching a tree on the other side +with my teeth, swing my body back and forth and +throw the water all out on the land. Then I would +eat all the Fish-dwellers, and go to sleep for a week.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 407px;"> +<a name="i_098" id="i_098"></a> +<img src="images/i_098.jpg" width="407" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"I WOULD STRETCH MY BODY ACROSS IT MUCH AFTER THAT FASHION."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Once in a land of many pigs, I worked for days +and days in that part of the Jungle bending down +small trees, and arranging the creepers until I had +a <i>keddah</i> with two long sides running far out into +the Jungle. Then, going beyond, I made a great +noise, rushing up and down, and many of these +Dwellers being possessed of fear, fled into the +<i>keddah</i> and I devoured them."</p> + +<p>Chita sat on his haunches and looked at Python +in astonishment, his big black head low hung, +and a sneer of great unbelief on his mustached +lips.</p> + +<p>"Surely this is the one great liar!" he exclaimed. +"If these things be not written in the Book, then +Python has most surely had such a dream as he +has told us of."</p> + +<p>"Without doubt it is a lie," declared Magh, "but +for my part I am ready to believe anything of his +kind. In my Jungle home never once did I climb +out on a tree limb without pinching it to see +whether it was wood or a vile thing such as yon +mottled boaster."</p> + +<p>"Are the stories of Python written in the Book, +O Sa'-zada?" queried Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"No," answered the Keeper, "but Python may +have had this strange manner of life."</p> + +<p>"Whether they be true tales or false tales," +hissed Python, "I am now tired, and they are at an +end."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Sa'-zada, stroking the glistening +scales of the big Snake's head, "it is time to cage +up now. Perhaps we'll all have strange dreams to-night."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a><br /><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon the animals were sound asleep, all but +Magh, who spent an hour chattering to Blitz, her +Fox Terrier Pup, on the enormity of telling false +tales.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Sixth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of the Monkeys</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 305px;"> +<img src="images/i_6th_nite_1.jpg" width="305" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i_6th_nite_2.jpg" width="430" height="450" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SIXTH_NIGHT" id="SIXTH_NIGHT"></a><big>SIXTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF THE MONKEYS</h2> + + +<p>Such a row there had been all day in Animal +Town.</p> + +<p>Sa'-zada, the Keeper, had told Magh, the +Orang-outang, that the Monkeys were to tell +stories that night at the usual meeting. That was +the cause of the excitement.</p> + +<p>All day the Monkeys, living in a row of cages +like dwellers in tenement houses, had chattered to +each other through the bars, and admonished one +another to think of just the cleverest things any of +their family or ancestors had ever done.</p> + +<p>"We are like the Men-kind," Magh kept repeating; +"we are the Bandar-log, the Jungle People.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Comrades, what is my name even? +Orang-outang, which means Chief of the Jungle +People.</p> + +<p>"See, even I have my Dog, as do the Men-kind," +and she held up Blitz, the Fox-Terrier Pup, by the +ear until he squealed and bit her in the arm. "See, +he has bitten me even as he would a man," she +cried, triumphantly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two doors down were three little brown Monkeys +caged with an Armadillo who looked like a +toy, iron-plated gun-boat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we are people who think," cried one of +these, pouncing down on the Armadillo. The little +gun-boat drew his armor plate down about him +like a Mud-turtle. The Monkey caught the side +of it with his hand, lifted it up, bit the Armadillo +in the soft flesh, and raced up on his shelf where he +chattered: "Oh, we are the people who think. +That is not instinct—my father was never caged +with an Armadillo."</p> + +<p>At last night came, and Sa'-zada, throwing down +bars and opening cages, had gathered as usual his +animal friends in front of Tiger's cage.</p> + +<p>"Ho, Little Brother," began Black Panther, +speaking to Sa'-zada, "why should we who are +great in our own jungles listen to these empty-headed +Bandar-log? Was there ever any good at +their hands?"</p> + +<p>"Oo-oo! A-huk, a-huk!" cried Hanuman, "you +of all the thieving slayers should know of that +matter. How many times have you been saved +from danger because of our watchfulness—and +also Bagh the Killer! Many a hard drive, the +hunt drive of the Men-kind, has come to nothing +because of us—because we never sleep. When +your stomach is full you sleep soundly, trusting to +a warning from us, the Bandar-log. Nothing can +be done in the jungles that we do not know. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +do we steal silently away as is your method? Not +a bit of it. By the safety of Jungle-dwellers! we +give the cry of beware! Listen——</p> + +<p>"A-huk, a-huk! Chee-chee-chee! Waugh, +waugh, a-huk!" and the voice of the gray-whiskered, +black-faced ape reverberated on the dead +night air through the houses of Animal Town like +the clangor of a cracked bell.</p> + +<p>"That is quite true," declared Mor, the Peacock; +"I also am one of the Jungle Watchers—though +I get little credit for it. None of the +Dwellers thank us; and sometimes in their anger +the Sahibs who are making the drive shoot us for +our trouble, saying that we have spoiled sport. +Many a jungle life have I saved through my cry +of 'Miaou! Miaou!'"</p> + +<p>"Disturbers of sleep!" sneered Black Panther; +"there is little to choose between you—you're a +noisy lot of beggars."</p> + +<p>"You are hardly fair, Pardus," remonstrated +Sa'-zada. "I quite believe what Hanuman says, +for it is well known that some of the Monkey-tribe +saved Gibraltar to the British by their watchfulness, +and the men are more grateful than you, for +to this day monkeys are protected and made much +of there."</p> + +<p>"It was my people did that," cried Magot, the +Rock Ape, blinking his deep, narrow-set eyes. "We +have lived there for a long time."</p> + +<p>"And in Benares, where I lived once, we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +people of great honor," added a white-whiskered +Monkey. "I should like to see Black Pardus harm +one of us there."</p> + +<p>The speaker was Entellus, the sacred Hanuman +Monkey, whose rights of protection in the City of +Temples, Benares, was almost greater than that +of the human dwellers.</p> + +<p>"You can't twiddle your thumbs! You can't +twiddle your thumbs!" cried Cockatoo, mockingly.</p> + +<p>"But I can see my under lip," retorted Magh, +angrily, sticking it out and looking down at it, "and +that's more than you can do, with your lobster's +claw of a nose."</p> + +<p>Cockatoo had hit the truth about the thumbs, +for no ape can make them go around, only in and +out straight to the palm. This matter of thumbs +is the great line of defence between man and his +disputed Simian ancestor.</p> + +<p>"Our manner of life," began Hanuman, in the +little silence that ensued, "is to live in the tree-tops. +Our families are raised there, and we are seldom +on the ground."</p> + +<p>"No, the ground is a dangerous place," concurred +Chimpanzee; "Leopards, and Snakes, and +Men, and evil things of that sort about all the +time. I, too, build a little house in the strong +branches of a tree, and live there until the fruit +gets scarce; then, of course, I have to go to a new +part and build another."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought I was the only animal that had sense +enough to build a house," grunted Wild Boar.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are," said Chimpanzee; "I'm no +animal."</p> + +<p>"You are a Monkey——" began Boar, apologetically.</p> + +<p>"I'm not a Monkey," insisted the other, very +haughtily; "they go in droves. But we, who are +the Jungle People, build houses and have a wife +and family just like the Men."</p> + +<p>"You can't twiddle your thumbs!" shrieked +Cockatoo; but Hathi reached up with his trunk +and tweaked the bird's nose before he could repeat +the taunt.</p> + +<p>"Once upon a time," began Hooluk, solemnly, +"there was a great Raja sore troubled because those +of my kind, the Apes, ate all the grain and fruit +in his country. To be sure, it was a year of much +starvation. And the King commanded that all the +Bandar-log should be killed.</p> + +<p>"Then Hanuman, the wise Ape, who was our +cousin, asked of my people what might be done; +but we, being tender-hearted, and not knowing +how to pacify the King, hung with our heads down +and wept in misery.</p> + +<p>"Now this gave Hanuman, who is most wise, an +idea. He ordered all the other Bandar-log to go far +into the jungles and hide, while we were to remain +and lament, and declare that our friends were +dead. The Raja, hearing our sad cry, relented,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +and commanded that the killing should cease. And +since that time we have always cried thus, and our +faces have been black, and all because of the dark +sins of the other Bandar-log."</p> + +<p>"Was there ever such a lie——" began Pardus; +but Jackal interrupted him, declaring that he, too, +cried at night because of the wickedness of other +Jungle Dwellers.</p> + +<p>"By my lonesome life!" muttered Mooswa. "I +have heard the Loon cry on Slave Lake, but for +a real, depressing night noise commend me to Hooluk. +I have no doubt his tale is quite true, a cry +such as he has could not have been given him for +amusement."</p> + +<p>"Scratch my head!" cried Cockatoo; "I think +Hooluk's tale is quite true, for even I, who am +only appreciated because of my beauty——"</p> + +<p>"Hide your nose," croaked Kauwa, the Crow.</p> + +<p>"Because of my beauty," resumed Cockatoo, "I +once saved the life of all my Master's family. The +bungalow was on fire and they were asleep. Scree-ya +ah-ah!' I cried; then, 'Quick, Pootai, bring the +water——'"</p> + +<p>"To be famous one must needs know a great lie +and tell it," snarled Pardus, disagreeably. "The +way of all Jungle Dwellers is to kill something; +but here are pot-bellied, empty-headed Apes, and +Birds of little sense, all boasting of saving lives."</p> + +<p>"Let me talk," cried Water Monkey, scratching +his ribs with industry. "If I tell not true tales<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +then call Hornbill, and Jackal, and King Cobra +to stand against me, for we are all of the same +land. We were a big family, a full hundred of +us at least, and every way was our way—water, and +land, and tree-top. We ate fruits, and nuts, and +grains, and things that are cast up by the waters. +Talking of fishing, you should have seen my +mother. When the sea had gone back from the +shore we would all troop down. When the Crabs +saw us coming they would scuttle into holes and +under rocks, and we'd catch every Crab on the +shore. It was my mother taught me the trick—wise +old lady; I'd shove my tail under the rock, +the Crab would lay hold of it, and then out he'd +come.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there was good eating on those shores. +Fat Oysters the size of a banana. It was mother +showed me how to take a stone in my hand, and +break them off the rocks. And, as Magh has said, +we are much like the men, for not one of our family +would eat an Oyster until he had washed it in the +water.</p> + +<p>"But we poor people had lots of trials. Crossing +the streams was worst of all. If we made the +Monkeys bridge from tree to tree, like as not Python +would be lying in wait to pick off one of our +number. And if we walked across on the bottom——"</p> + +<p>"Walked on the bottom!" cried Sa'-zada, in +astonishment.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, we never swim; we always walk across +on the bottom; though, sometimes, of course, we +floated over on logs; but that was very dangerous +because of Magar the Crocodile."</p> + +<p>"Ghurrgle-ugle-ugle, uh-hu!" said Sher Abi, +"the long-tailed one is right. I could tell a true +story touching that matter. Whuff-f-f! but it was +a hot day. I was lying with my wife in the water +near the bank. I was hungry—I am always hungry; +and getting food in a small way is wearisome +to one of my heavy habit. I was resting, and +Black-head the Magar Bird was running about +inside of my jaws catching Flies for his dinner. +And, while I think of it, while I am by no means +vain of my sweet nature, I claim it was most good +of me to hold my heavy lips open for him. Suddenly +Black-head gave his little cry of warning to +me and flew up in the air. 'Something is coming,' +I whispered to Abni, my wife; and, sure enough, +it was the Bandar-log, the Water Monkeys, chattering +and yelling, and knocking down fruit from +the trees as though the whole jungle belonged to +them.</p> + +<p>"'The old trick,' I whispered to Abni; 'float +across like a log.' You know I can look wondrous +like a log when I try; and a dinner of the Bandar-log, +even, was not to be despised in a time of great +hunger.</p> + +<p>"'Chee-chee, a-houp-a-houp, chickety-chee-chee!' +You'd have thought their throats would split with +the uproar when they saw one log floating across +and another just starting.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_111" id="i_111"></a> +<img src="images/i_111.jpg" width="600" height="408" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"AND THEY ALL CLAMBERED ON TO MY BACK."</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Oh, ho!' cried the leader, swinging by his tail +from a limb of the Mangrove tree, and peering +down at me; 'the wind is driving all the dead trees +from this side to the other. Get aboard, children, +quick.' And they all clambered on to my back, +shoving and pushing like a lot of Jackal pups——"</p> + +<p>"Have I not said it," cried Gidar, the Jackal, +"that Sher Abi is a devourer of our young? Jackal +pups—murderer!"</p> + +<p>"Half way across," resumed Sher Abi, "I opened +an eye to take a squint at the general condition of +these Bandar-log, as to which might be fat and +which might be lean, and, would you believe it, the +leader of these fool people saw me looking, and +screamed with fright. I closed all the valves of +nostrils and eyes and sank in the water. The +Bandar-log were so excited that more than half of +them jumped into my jaws, and Abni, who came +back, hearing the noise, took care of the others. +Eh-hu! Gluck! Monkeys are stupid, but not bad +eating."</p> + +<p>"Listen to that, Comrades," cried Water +Monkey. "Sher Abi the Poacher boasts of killing +my people. Have I not said that our life is one +of danger? He and Python are as bad as Men. +My mother was killed by a Man, and all for the +sake of a few mangoes."</p> + +<p>"But how are we to know that Mango-tree was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +not as others in the Jungle?" pleaded Monkey. +"True it grew close to a bungalow, but what of +that? Close to the Jungle, trees and bungalows +are so mixed up that nobody knows which is free +land and which is bond land. Have I not seen +even the Men-kind frightened over such matters, +and killing each other. But, as I have said, this +Man, who was a Sahib, shot my mother as she was +in a tree. She clung to a limb, and, young as I +was, I helped her, holding on to her arms. All +day she cried, and cried, and cried, just as you have +heard the young of the Men-kind; and all night +she cried, too. In the morning the Sahib came out, +and I heard him say that he hadn't slept all night +because of the wailing that was like a babe's. When +he looked up at my mother she became so afraid +that she fell dead at his feet. Peeping down +through the leaves I saw the fear look that Hathi +has spoken of come into the Man's eyes, only they +did not look evil as they had when he pointed the +fire-stick at us. I swung down from branch to +branch to my mother, and sitting beside her, cried +also, being but a little chap and all alone in the +Jungle. Then the Man took me up in his arms +and said: 'Poor little Oungea. It was a shame to +kill the old girl; I feel like a murderer——'</p> + +<p>"He took me into the bungalow and I had a fine +life of it, though he taught me many things that +were evil."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe that," sneered Pardus.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 403px;"> +<a name="i_112" id="i_112"></a> +<img src="images/i_112.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"AND SITTING BESIDE HER, CRIED ALSO, BEING BUT A LITTLE CHAP AND +ALL ALONE IN THE JUNGLE ..."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Impossible! Caw-w!" laughed Kauwa.</p> + +<p>"What evil tricks are there left to teach the +Bandar-log?" queried Hathi.</p> + +<p>"He taught me to drink gin," answered Oungea; +"at first a little gin and much sugar, and after a +time I could take it without sugar."</p> + +<p>"This rather bears out Magh's claim that you +Jungle People are like the Men," said Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Still it was not good for me, this gin," continued +Oungea; "leaving one's head full of much +soreness in the morning. But, of course, being +young, I was possessed of much mischief that was +not of the Sahib's teaching."</p> + +<p>"He-he! no doubt, no doubt," cried Hornbill, +"it was those of your kind, both young and old, +who plucked the feathers from my children once +upon a time. Plaintain-at-a-gulp! but their appearance +was unseemly. You can imagine what I +should look like with my prominent nose and no +feathers."</p> + +<p>"My Master carried in his pocket something +that was forever crying 'tick, tick, tick.' I felt +sure there must be Lizards or Spiders, or other +sweet ones of a small kind within; but one day +when I had a fair opportunity and pulled it apart, +cracking it with a stone as I had the Oysters, I got +no eating at all, but in the end a sound beating.</p> + +<p>"Once I ate the little berries that grow on the +sticks that cause the fire——"</p> + +<p>"Matches," suggested Sa'-zada.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps; I thought they were berries. Many +pains! but I was sick, and my kind Master saved +my life with cocoanut oil."</p> + +<p>"Magh knows something of that matter," declared +Sa'-zada; "when she first came here she ate +her straw bedding and it nearly killed her."</p> + +<p>"A fine record these Jungle People have," +sneered Pardus. "I, who claim not to be wise like +the Men, have sense enough to stick to my meat."</p> + +<p>"But Magh was wise," asserted Sa'-zada, "for +if she had not helped us in every way when we +were trying to save her life she would surely have +died."</p> + +<p>"In my Master's house," said Oungea, "was one +of their young, a Babe; and whenever I got loose, +for they took to tying me up, I made straight for +his bed, borrowed his bottle of milk—there surely +was no harm in that, for we were babes together—and +scuttled up a tree where I could drink the +milk in peace. When I dropped the bottle down +so that they might get it, it always broke, and I +think it was because of this mischief that they +whipped me."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Sa'-zada, "we were to have learned +to-night why the Bandar-log were Men of the Jungle, +first cousins to the Men-kind; but all I remember +is that they ate matches and straw and got very +sick. For my part I am very sleepy."</p> + +<p>"If you are tired, I will carry you, Hanuman," +lisped Python, shoving his ugly fat head forward.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Even I, who find it a labor to walk on the land, +will give any Monkey who seeks it a ride," sighed +Sher Abi. "This talking of eating has made me +hung——I mean ready to put myself out for my +friends."</p> + +<p>"Take your friends in, you mean," snarled +Gidar, jumping back as the heavy jaws of the +Crocodile snapped within an inch of his nose.</p> + +<p>"I think each one will look after himself," declared +Sa'-zada; "it will be safer. All to your +cages."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Seventh Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Birds of a Feather</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 408px;"> +<img src="images/i_7th_nite_1.jpg" width="408" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 338px;"> +<img src="images/i_7th_nite_2.jpg" width="338" height="500" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SEVENTH_NIGHT" id="SEVENTH_NIGHT"></a><big>SEVENTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF BIRDS OF A FEATHER</h2> + + +<p>When Sa'-zada the Keeper had gathered +all his comrades in front of Chita's cage +for the evening of the Bird talk, Magh clambered +up on her usual perch, Hathi's head, expostulating +against the folly of throwing the meeting open to +such gabblers.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," remarked Black Panther, "it's +the great talkers that are thought most of here, I +see. We, who have accomplished much, having +earned an honest living, but are not over ready with +the tongue, amount to but little."</p> + +<p>"Scree-he-ah-h!" cried Cockatoo. "By my crest! +I am surely the oldest one here; shall I begin, O +Sa'-zada?"</p> + +<p>"Cockatoo was born in Australia," declared Sa'-zada; +"at least The Book says so, but the record +of his age only goes back a matter of forty years."</p> + +<p>"Just so," concurred the Cockatoo, "and from +there I went to India on a ship; and for downright +evil words there is no Jungle to compare with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +ship. Why, damn it—excuse me, friends, even the +memory of my voyage causes me to swear.</p> + +<p>"My master, who was Captain of the ship, gave +me to one of the Women-kind in Calcutta—'Mem-Sahib' +the others called her. There I had just the +loveliest life any poor exiled Cockatoo could wish +for; it makes me swear—weep, I mean—when I +think of the sweet Eatings she had for me. Not +but that Sa'-zada is kind, only no one but a Woman +knows how to look after a Cockatoo. At tiffin I +was always allowed to come on the table, and the +Mem-Sahib would take the cream from the top of +the milk and give it to me. The Sahib threw +pieces of bread at my head, which is like a Man's +way, having no regard for the dignity of a +Cockatoo.</p> + +<p>"One day, being frightened because of something, +I fluttered to the top of his head, which was +all bare of feathers, and verily I believe the Man-fear, +of which Hathi has spoken, came to my new +master. I could almost fancy I was back on the +ship, for his language was much like that of the +fo'castle.</p> + +<p>"Potai was the sweeper, a low-caste Hindoo of +an evil presence; and save for the fact that he wore +no foot-covering I should have been in a bad way. +When the Mem-Sahib was not looking he beat me +with his broom, simply because, that often being +lonesome, I'd call aloud, 'Potai! Potai!' just to +see him come running from the stables.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thinking to break him of his evil habit of +beating me, many times I hid behind the <i>purda</i> of +a door waiting for the coming of his ugly toes. +Swisp! swisp! I'd hear the broom; 'Uh-h, uh-h!' +old Potai would grunt, because of the stooping, and +presently under the <i>purda</i>, which hung straight +down, would peep his low-caste toes.</p> + +<p>"Click! just like that I'd nip quick, and run for +the Mem-Sahib, screaming that Potai was beating +me. I'm sure it was not an evil act on my part, +for if any Sahib saw it he would laugh, and give +me nuts or something sweet. That was because +everyone knew that Potai was evil and of a low +caste.</p> + +<p>"Many a time I saved the tiffin from the thieving +crows——"</p> + +<p>"Caw-w-w, what-a yar-r-r-n!" growled Kauwa +the Crow. "We who are the cleaners of cities are +not thieves. What is a Cockatoo? A teller of +false tales and a breaker of rest."</p> + +<p>"Ca-lack! even what Cockatoo has said of +Kauwa is true," declared the Adjutant, solemnly, +snapping his sword in its scabbard; "I, who am <i>the</i> +cleaner of cities, consider Kauwa but a thief. Once +many of the Seven Sisters, for that is the evil name +of Kauwa's tribe, stole a full-flavored fish from my +very teeth——"</p> + +<p>"Aw, aw, aw! let me tell it, let me tell it," cried +Kauwa; "let me tell the true tale of my solemn +friend's stealing."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now we shall get at the real history of the +Feathered Kind," chuckled Pardus. "When the +Jungle Dwellers fall out amongst themselves and +make much clatter, there is always the chance of +an easy Kill."</p> + +<p>"Caw-aw-aw! It was this way," fairly snapped +Crow. "A seller of small things, a <i>box wallah</i>, walking +in an honest way fast after the <i>palki</i> of a great +Sahib, even on the Red Road of Calcutta, by chance +was struck by another <i>palki</i> and his box of many +things thrown to the ground. Then this honest +one of the straight face, Adjutant, seeing the mishap +from his perch on the lion which is over the +Viceroy's gate, swooped down like a proper Dacoit +and swallowed some brown Eating which was +like squares of butter, and made haste back to his +perch. Even a Crow would have known better +than that, for it was soap. And all day many of +the Men-kind stood and looked at our baldheaded +friend, for a great sickness came to him; and as +he coughed, soap-bubbles floated upward. The +Hindoos said it was a work of their gods."</p> + +<p>"Just what I thought," grunted Pardus; "all +clatter, and no true story of anything."</p> + +<p>"Well," sighed Cockatoo wearily, "my Mem-Sahib +always put me in a little house on the veranda +at night. Though I didn't like it at all, still +it was <i>my</i> house, and one day, in the midst of a +rain, when I sought to enter, inside were two of +the Cat young."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 409px;"> +<a name="i_122" id="i_122"></a> +<img src="images/i_122.jpg" width="409" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"AND AS HE COUGHED, SOAP BUBBLES FLOATED UPWARD."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Kittens?" queried Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Ee-he-ah; and just behind me the old Cat with +another in her mouth. Hard nuts! but such a row +you never heard in your life. When I tried to +drag the Kittens out, the Cat dug her beak——"</p> + +<p>"Claws, you mean," corrected Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Ee-he-ah—claws in my back; but the Mem-Sahib +took them away."</p> + +<p>"Ugh, ugh! all lies! Bird talk!" grunted Boar. +"What say you, Sa'-zada?"</p> + +<p>"It is true," declared the Keeper, much to the +disgust of his questioner; "for in The Book are also +other true tales of Cockatoo. The Mem-Sahib has +written that he was a great mischief-maker. She +says that on the back veranda of her bungalow was +a filter, and when 'Cocky' wanted a bath, he used +to turn the tap, but never knew enough to shut it +off, so the filter was always running dry.</p> + +<p>"Also, there was a guava tree in the compound, +and our friend ate all the guavas just as they ripened, +so no one but Cocky got any of the fruit. +That he was always fighting with Jock, her Scotch +Terrier, and the clamor fair made her head ache."</p> + +<p>"Whatever Sa'-zada reads from The Book is +most certainly true," commented Magh.</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking," began the Adjutant, +solemnly——</p> + +<p>"You look like it," growled Wolf.</p> + +<p>"Of a story about Kauwa," continued the +Adjutant—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"He stole three silver spoons from my Mem-Sahib," +interrupted Cocky hastily, suddenly remembering +the incident, "and hid them in the Dog-cart, +where they were found next day; which shows +that he is neither wise nor honest."</p> + +<p>"Mine is a true tale," declared Adjutant, with +great dignity. "One morning, looking calmly over +the great city to see that all had been tidied up, +I saw my little black friend, whose voice is like +unto the squeak of a Bullock-cart, crouched in an +open window, with wings well spread ready for +flight.</p> + +<p>"'A new piece of thieving,' thought I, and, +drawing closer, I saw Kauwa hop to the floor, pass +over to a bed on which slept a Sahib, and gently +take a slice of toast from the top of a cup; then +away went the thief.</p> + +<p>"But the full wickedness was later, for when the +Sahib awoke he spoke to his servant in the manner +which Cockatoo has related of the ship. And when +the other, who was of the Black Kind, declared +he had put the toast beside his Master, the Sahib +beat him for a liar. Even three mornings did +Kauwa take the toast; but on the fourth the Sahib, +who was pretending to sleep, nearly broke his back +with the cast of a boot."</p> + +<p>"Jungle Dwellers are Jungle Dwellers, and City +Dwellers are City Dwellers," commenced Hornbill, +gravely, "and I'm so glad I'm a Jungle +Dweller. These tales show what city life is like. +Save for an occasional row with Magh's friends, +Hanuman and the rest, whose stomachs are out of +all proportion to the quantity of fruit to be had, +I have led a very peaceful life in the Jungle."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 413px;"> +<a name="i_125" id="i_125"></a> +<img src="images/i_125.jpg" width="413" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"LEAVING JUST A PLACE FOR HER SHARP BEAK."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tell me," queried Magh, maliciously, "do your +Young roost on your nose?"</p> + +<p>"No; that is to keep inquisitive folks at a distance. +And, talking of Young, when my wife has +laid her two big eggs in a hole in some tree, I shut +her up there with the eggs—make her stay home +to mind the house and the oncoming family. I +plaster up the hole with mud, leaving just a place +for her sharp beak; this to keep the Monkeys from +stealing her and the eggs."</p> + +<p>"Kaw-aw-aw! Talking of nests," said Kauwa, +"when I was in Calcutta I designed a nest that +would last forever—yes, forever. Each year before +that time, because of the monsoon winds, my +nest had always been destroyed; but the time I +speak of, having a job on hand——"</p> + +<p>"On beak, you mean!" laughed Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Aw-haw!—to clean up about a cook-house behind +a certain place of the Sahib's in which they +bottled water of a fierce strength—as I say, being +busy in this same compound, I spied many, many +twigs of wire."</p> + +<p>"What's wire?" asked Mooswa; "I've never, +that I know of, eaten such twigs."</p> + +<p>Sa'-zada explained, "Kauwa means bottled soda +water, I fancy, and the wire from the corks."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A thought came to me," continued Kauwa, "to +build my nest of these bright little things, and I +did, first getting my mate's opinion on the matter, +of course. Dead Pigs! but it <i>was</i> a nest! We +would swing, and jump, and hang to it by our +beaks, and never a break in the wall. But I had +forgotten all about the selfish desire of the Men—but +that was after. The first trouble was when +Cuckoo—a proper <i>budmash</i> bird she is—came and +laid two eggs in the nest. I saw the difference in +the eggs at once, but my mate declared that they +were all her own laying. She took rather a pride +in her ability to lay eggs—to tell you the truth, +we quarreled over it."</p> + +<p>"I believe that," yawned Adjutant.</p> + +<p>"However, she had her way, and started to +hatch out these foreign devils; but the Men, as +I have said, seeing my beautiful nest, sent a Man +of low caste up the tree, and he took it away, +Cuckoo eggs and all. It was a good joke on the +Cuckoo Bird, and I was so mad at the way everything +turned out, Caw-ha! I never made it again."</p> + +<p>"I can swallow a plantain at one gulp," said +Hornbill proudly.</p> + +<p>"Why do you toss it up first?" asked Sa'-zada, +alluding to the peculiar habit the Hornbill has of +throwing everything into the air, and catching it +as he swallows it.</p> + +<p>"It's all in the way of slow eating," answered +Hornbill.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now," said Myna, "it is surely my turn. I, +Myna, who was the pride of the Calcutta Zoo in +the matter of speech, have sat here like a Tucktoo +not saying a word, and listening to such as Cockatoo +boasting about the few paltry oaths he picked +up from the Sailor-kind. Why, damn your eyes, +sir——"</p> + +<p>And before Sa'-zada could still the tumult, +Cockatoo and Myna, the best talking Bird of all +India, were hurling the most unparliamentary language +at each other that had ever been bandied +about a Bird gathering.</p> + +<p>When Sa'-zada had stopped the indelicate scolding +of the two Birds Myna proceeded to tell of +his life.</p> + +<p>"I was born in the Burma hills, amongst the +Shans. That's where I got my beautiful blue-black +coat and lovely yellow beak."</p> + +<p>"Modest Bird," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"It was Mah Thin who snared me; but she was +good to me, though—rice and fruit, all I could eat; +and she never once forgot to put the turmeric and +ground chillies in my rice; for, you know, if I did +not get something hot in my food I'd soon die. I +was somewhat like Cockatoo in that a Ship-man +bought me and took me to Calcutta. He made me a +most wise bird, and taught me many clever sayings. +And when he was in Calcutta with his ship I would +be put in the Zoo, so that the Sahibs from all parts +might hear my speech.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One day Tom—that was my master's name; +he taught me to call him Tom—said to me, 'To-morrow +the <i>Lat</i> Sahib, the Sirdar, and many ladies +are coming to hear you talk; Myna.' Then he +made me repeat over and over again, 'Good-morning, +your Excellency.'"</p> + +<p>"It was a hard word he gave you," commented +Magh.</p> + +<p>"It was indeed. Let claw-nosed Cockatoo try it; +he thinks he can talk—let him try that."</p> + +<p>"Avast there, you lubber——" commenced +Cocky, but Sa'-zada stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Well, I said it over and over, and over again, +and Tom was so pleased he gave me a graft mango +to eat. Next day the Viceroy and many Mem-Sahibs +and Sahibs gathered about my cage, and the +Viceroy said, 'Good-morning, Polly.' Now this +made me mad—to be called Polly, as though I had +a hooked nose like Cockatoo; and in my anger +I got excited, and, for-the-love-of-hot-spiced-rice, I +couldn't think of what Tom had told me to say.</p> + +<p>"'Speak up!' said Tom.</p> + +<p>"In my anger, and forgetting the other thing, +and seeing so many strange faces against the very +bars of my cage, I blurted out, 'I'll see you damned +first!' just as the sailors used to teach me."</p> + +<p>"Caw-haw-haw-haw! Very funny, indeed. +Next to a fat bone, or the hiding of a silver spoon, +I like a joke myself," commented Kauwa. "Once +at the first edge of the Hot Time I went to Simla.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +That was also at the time of the going of the +Sahibs, but after Calcutta it was dull—fair stupid.</p> + +<p>"One morning, as I was feeling most lonesome, +I spied a long row of queer little Donkeys standing +with their tails to a fence. They had brought +loads of brick. I flew to the fence, and reaching +far down, pulled the tail of my first Donkey. Much +food! but he did kick—it made me laugh. I pulled +the tail of every Donkey of the line, and when I +had finished there wasn't a board left on the fence. +Then the Man who was master of the fence, and +the one that was master of the Donkeys, fought +over this matter, and pulled each about by the +feathers that were on their heads. It was the only +real pleasant day I had in Simla."</p> + +<p>"Did-you-do-it!" screamed the Redwattled Lapwing, +suddenly roused to animation by falling off +Mooswa's back, where he had been trying to balance +himself with his poor front-toed feet.</p> + +<p>"Caw-w-w! I did; and for three grains of corn +I'd pull your tail, too."</p> + +<p>"I wasn't speaking to you," retorted Titiri the +Lapwing; "I was dreaming of my old home in India—dreaming +that the hunters had come into the +rice fields to shoot the poor Paddy Birds and Bakula +(Egret) for their feathers."</p> + +<p>"Murderers, you should call them, not Hunters," +exclaimed Hathi. "It makes me sniff in my +nose now when I think of the Birds I've seen murdered, +just for their feathers."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's an outrageous shame," declared Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"I did all I could," asserted Lapwing. "When +I saw the Gun-men coming, sneaking along, +crouched like Pardus——"</p> + +<p>"Sneaking like Pardus—go on, Good Bird!" +chimed in Magh.</p> + +<p>"I flew just ahead of them, and cried 'Tee-he-he! +Here come the Murderers!' so that every bird in +all the <i>jhils</i> about could hear me. And when Bakula, +and Kowar the Ibis, and all the others had +flown to safety, I shouted, 'Did-you-do-it, did-you-do-it!' +Then the Men used language much like +the disgraceful talk we have had from Cocky and +Myna to-night."</p> + +<p>"You carried a heavy responsibility," remarked +Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"All lies," sneered Kauwa. "Fat Bones! why, +he can't even sit on the limb of a tree."</p> + +<p>"That is because of my feet," sighed Lapwing. +"I have no toes behind."</p> + +<p>"Where do you sleep?" asked Magh.</p> + +<p>"On the ground," answered Lapwing.</p> + +<p>"That's so," declared Sa'-zada, "for the Natives +of the East say that Titiri sleeps on his back, and +holds up the sky with his feet."</p> + +<p>"But why should the Men kill Birds for a few +feathers?" croaked Vulture. "I don't believe it. +Nobody asked me for one of mine. In fact the +great trouble of all eating is the feathers or skin."</p> + +<p>"Whe-eh-eh!" exclaimed Ostrich, disgustedly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +"Pheu! your feathers! Even your head looks like a +boiled Lobster. They do not kill me—the Men—but +I know they are crazy for feathers, for they +pull mine all out. Some day I'll give one of them a +kick that will cure him of his feather fancy. I +did rake one from beak to feet once with my strong +toe nail. When I bring a foot up over my head +and down like this——"</p> + +<p>As Ostrich swung his leg every one skurried out +of the way, for they knew it was like a sword +descending.</p> + +<p>"Yes," cried Magh, "if you only had a brain +the size of that toe-nail——"</p> + +<p>"Stop it!" cried Sa'-zada, for this was an unpleasant +truth; Ostrich, though such a huge fellow +himself, has a brain about the size of a Humming +Bird's.</p> + +<p>"Talking of Wives," said Ostrich, with the most +extraordinary irrelevance, "mine died when I was +twenty-seven years old; and, of course, as it is the +way with us Birds, I never took up with another, +though I've seen the most beautifully feathered +ones of our Kind—quite enough to make one's +mouth water.</p> + +<p>"She had queer ways, to be sure—my wife. As +you all know, our way of hatching eggs is turn +about, the Mother Birds sitting all day, while we +Lords of the Nest sit at night. But my wife would +take notions sometimes and not sit at all. In that +case I always sat night and day until the job was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +finished. By-a-sore-breast-bone! but making a +nest in the hard-graveled desert is a job to be +avoided."</p> + +<p>"Sore knuckles!" exclaimed Magh, "where are +we at? We were talking of feathers."</p> + +<p>"So we were, so we were," decided Mooswa. +"And what I want to know is, do the Men eat the +feathers they hunt for?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jungle Dwellers!" exclaimed Magh; "if +you were to sit in my cage for half a day you would +see what they do with them. The Women come +there with their heads covered with all kinds of +feathers, red, and green, and blue—Silly! how +would I look with my head stuck full of funny old +feathers?"</p> + +<p>"Like the Devil!" exclaimed Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Like a Woman," retorted Magh. "And their +hair is so pretty, too. I've seen red hair just like +mine, and then to cover it up with a crest of feathers +like Cockatoo wears; I'd be ashamed of the +thing."</p> + +<p>"It's a sin to murder the Birds," whimpered +Mooswa; "that's the worst part of it."</p> + +<p>"Tonk, tonk, tonk!" came a noise just like a +small Boy striking an iron telegraph post with a +stick. It was the small Coppersmith Bird clearing +his throat. Very funny the green pudgy little chap +looked with his big black mustaches.</p> + +<p>"The Men are great thieves," he asserted. +"When I was a chick my Mother taught me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +stick my tail under my wings for fear they would +steal the feathers as I slept."</p> + +<p>"Steal tail feathers!" screamed Eagle; "I should +say they would. Out in the West, where was my +home, when a Man becomes a great Chief he sticks +three of my tail feathers in his hair; and when the +Head Chief of a great Indian tribe rises up to make +a big talk, what does he hold in his hand? The +things that are bright like water-drops——"</p> + +<p>"Diamond rings," exclaimed Sa'-zada, interrupting.</p> + +<p>"No; he holds one of my wings to show that +he is great."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are the King Bird, Eagle," concurred +Sa'-zada, "the emblem of our country."</p> + +<p>"I can break a lamb's back with my talons," +assented Eagle, ignoring the sublime disdainfully, +"but I wouldn't trust my nest within reach of any +Man—they're a lot of thieves."</p> + +<p>"Nice feathers are a great trouble," asserted +Sparrow; "I'm glad I haven't any."</p> + +<p>"What difference does it make?" cried Quail; +"the Men kill me, and I'm sure I'm not gaudy."</p> + +<p>"You're good eating, though," chuckled Gidar +the Jackal. "After a day's shoot of the Men-kind, +the scent from their cook-house is fair maddening. +Oh-h-h, ki-yi! I've had many a Quail bone in my +time."</p> + +<p>"Even Lapwing can't save <i>us</i> from the Hunters," +lamented Quail; "they play us such vile tricks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +I've seen a rice field with a dozen bamboos stuck +in it, and on top of each bamboo a cage with a +tame Cock Quail; and in the center, hidden away, +sat a man with a little drum which he tapped with +his fingers. And the drum would whistle 'peep, +peep, peep,' and the Birds in the cages would go +'peep, peep, peep,' and we Cock Birds of the Jungle, +thinking it a challenge to battle, would answer +back, 'peep, peep, peep,' and go seeking out these +strange Birds who were calling for fight. Of +course, our Wives would go with us to see the +battle, and in the end all would be snared or shot +by the deceitful Men."</p> + +<p>"That's almost worse than being taken for one's +feathers," said Egret. "I'm glad they don't +eat me."</p> + +<p>"No Mussulman would eat you, Buff Egret," +said Gidar the Jackal. "It's because of your habit +of picking ticks off the Pigs."</p> + +<p>"Some Birds do have vile habits," declared +Crow. "Paddy Bird has a Brother in Burma who +gets drunk on the Men's toddy."</p> + +<p>"I doubt if that be true," said Sa'-zada, "though +he is really called 'Bacchus' in the science books."</p> + +<p>Said Myna, "Of all Birds, I think the Jungle +Fowl are the worst. The Cocks do nothing but +fight, fight, all the time—fight, and then get up in +a tree and crow about it, as though it were to their +credit."</p> + +<p>Said Kauwa the Crow, "When one of our family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +becomes quarrelsome, or a great nuisance, we hold +a meeting—I have seen even a thousand Crows at +such meetings—hear all there is to say about him, +and then if it appears that he is utterly bad we beat +him to death."</p> + +<p>"Tub-full-of-bread!" exclaimed Hathi, sleepily, +"it's my opinion that all Birds should be on their +roosts—it's very late."</p> + +<p>"And roost high, too," said Magh, "for Coyote +and Gidar have been licking their chops for +the last hour. I've watched them. And lock +Python up, O Sa'-zada, for high roosts won't save +them from him."</p> + +<p>"All to bed, all to bed!" cried the Keeper. "To-morrow +night we'll have some more tales."</p> + +<p>The last cry heard on the sleepy night air after +all were safely in their cages was Cockatoo's "Avast +there, you lubber!" as Myna, sticking his saucy +yellow beak through the bars of his cage, called +across to him, "Want a glass of grog, Polly?"</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Eighth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Stories of Buffalo and Bison</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/i_8th_nite_1.jpg" width="322" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 444px;"> +<img src="images/i_8th_nite_2.jpg" width="444" height="550" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="EIGHTH_NIGHT" id="EIGHTH_NIGHT"></a><big>EIGHTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORIES OF BUFFALO AND BISON</h2> + + +<p>This evening the whole Buffalo herd had +come out of the park to the meeting-place +in front of Chita's cage; even their brother, the +Indian Bison, was there, as also was the true Buffalo, +Bos Bubalus.</p> + +<p>Said Sa'-zada, opening his book: "We should +learn much this evening, for Buffalo and Bison are +to tell us of their lives. But first, let me put you +all right as to their names. Those we have called +Buffalo, from our own western prairies, are not +Buffalo at all, but Bison, half-brother of Gaur, who +also lives in India, where the true Buffalo comes +from."</p> + +<p>"It does not matter," said Buff, the prairie +Bison, "it does not matter what I'm called, seems +to me, for all my life I have been most badly +treated. Why, it seems no time since I was a calf, +one of a mighty herd, on the sweet-grassed prairie, +and in those days I thought there was nothing in +the world like being a Buffalo.</p> + +<p>"The first touch of danger I remember came in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +this way. The herd had tracked, one after another, +all walking in the same narrow path, down to +a hollow in which was water. I was feeling frisky, +and, seeing something move, something that +seemed very like a calf, smaller than myself, I ran +after it, cocking my tail, kicking my heels in the +air, and thinking it great sport; for, Comrades, the +great weakness of all grass-feeders is an idle curiosity."</p> + +<p>"And did all this happen when you had your +tail kinked in the air, that time you were a +silly calf?" jibed Magh, holding a peanut out +on her under lip, and looking down at it very +sedately, as though the subject were of little +interest.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you my story in my own way," declared +Buff. "The thing that I followed was like a grey +shadow, and slipped about with no noise, but when +I came close to it, with a vicious snarl it sprang up, +and also there were three others hidden in the +grass. Much milk! but I became afraid, and I believe +I bawled. Just then I felt the ground tremble, +and a dozen of the herd galloped towards +me with their heads down. It was a wolf, and +help came just in time, for the big fangs of the +fierce brute cut my hind leg a little where he sought +to hamstring me.</p> + +<p>"Then Mother explained, first bunting me +soundly with her forehead, then licking me with +her coarse tongue, that these Wolves were always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +following up the Herd, trying to catch a Calf, or +sick Cow, or old Bull, to one side."</p> + +<p>"We have Wolves in India, too," said Arna, +"and Chita the Leopard, and Bagh the Tiger. +Blood drinkers! but we have many enemies there; +even Cobra will hardly get out of the way seeking +to carry to one's blood his sudden death. There +are no animals so ill used, I believe, as Buffalo.</p> + +<p>"One has need of big Horns in the heart of the +Jungle. Why, mine measure nine feet and a half +from tip to tip across my forehead. And see the +strength of them, fully the size of Bagh's leg—for +I am a Curly Horn, which means one of great +strength. Never have I locked Horns with a Bull +that I have not twisted his neck till he bellowed. +Eugh-hu, eugh! Next to lying in muddy water +with one's nose just peeping out, there's nothing so +pleasant as a trial of strength. And with all respect +to Hathi's handiness of trunk, I must say I +prefer good, stout Horns. When Bagh or Pardus +come sneaking about, there's nothing like a long +reach.</p> + +<p>"Hear that, friends," said Magh. "Here's a +traveler from Panther's own land calls him a sneak. +He, he he! now we shall get at the truth."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Gaur, the Bison; "Panther and all +his tribe are sneaks. They murdered a Calf of +mine. To be sure, it was the Wife's Calf, for +had I been there at the time I'd have fixed him. +She had just lain down to rest for the night,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +and the Calf was a little to one side, and this evil-spotted +thing, Panther of the Red Kind, came +sneaking up the wind like a proper Jungle Cat. +He knew I was away, for he has the cunning of +Cobra, and how was the mother to know that any +danger threatened? He stole like a shadow close +to the poor little Calf, and with a rush jumped on +his back and bit his neck, breaking it, and cutting +it so the red blood ran his life all out in a little +while."</p> + +<p>"I was born in Mardian," remarked Arna, the +Buffalo, "many years ago; and save for the loss of a +Calf, through Chita or Bagh's treachery, or perhaps +a lone Cow at times, our herd feared no Dweller of +the Jungles. Mine is a big family," he ruminated, +"for we wander over almost all India and Burma. +Before I had grown up our Bull leader had taught +us all the method of battle. When it was Bagh, +we formed up, heads out, with the Calves behind, +and if we but saw him in time, he surely was slain, +if he sought strongly for a Kill.</p> + +<p>"I learned all the different sounds that come far +ahead of danger. One's ears get wondrous sharp +in the Jungle, I can tell you, where the little Gonds +hunt. If a stone went singing down the hillside, +that meant Men, and Men meant the worst kind +of danger. No Animal starts a stone rolling; we +are too careful for that.</p> + +<p>"Also do the Jungle Dwellers not break sticks +as they travel. The crack of a broken twig meant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +Men Hunters; and when a beat was on, the Jungle +was, indeed, possessed of great sounds. All the +Dwellers ran mad with fear—the fear-madness +that is like unto the way of Baola Kutta, the Mad +Dog. There is nothing so terrible in the life of an +Animal as the drive of the Hunters. 'Tap, tap, +tap,' like the knocking of Horns together, meant +the strike of Beaters against the trees, and then +the Men's voices crying, '<i>Aree ho teri</i>.'</p> + +<p>"I, who tremble not at the roar of a Tiger, shivered +when I heard that, and lost all knowledge of +which way I should run—that was in the first drive, +of course, before I became possessed of much +Jungle wisdom. Surely it drove us all mad. Like +the sound of rain falling on leaves was the rush of +Python's little feet as even he flew from the Man-danger.</p> + +<p>"Our best food was down in the <i>jhils</i>, also the +nice soft mud to lie in, and in the early spring, after +the fires had passed, the young bamboo shot up and +we ate them. Then when we took it into our heads, +we went up into the deep, cool sal forest and rested +in peace. But in the Dry Time was the time of +danger, for we had to travel far to find water. We +are not like Antelope or Nilgai, who go without +water for days and days.</p> + +<p>"I remember once when we had crept down out +of the hills, leaving the big sal trees behind, and +passing through tamarind, and mango, and pipal, +and just as we were coming to the pool, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +almost hidden in the jamin bushes, I heard a roar—there +was a rush and a Bagh of ferocious +strength sprang on one of our Cows and sought to +break her neck.</p> + +<p>"But worse than Bagh's cruel charge was the +silent method of the little, dark Men-kind—the +Mariahs. Like Magh's people, they would sit +quiet in the trees, and as we came slowly back from +the water would shoot arrows into us. Of this we +could have no warning, neither any chance to fight +for our lives, only the noise of the arrow coming +like the hiss of King Cobra, and the cruel sting of +its sharp end. Our Bull leader got one this way +not strong enough to bring him to his death, and +for days and days it stayed in his side, and made +him of such a vile temper that the Herd had to +cast him forth, and he became what is known as a +Solitary Bull.</p> + +<p>"There is some kindness in Bagh's method, more +than in the way of these evil Men, for when he +kills he kills, and there is no more sickness; but of +the Men, when they hunt us with their arrows or a +thunder-stick which strikes with a loud noise, many +of our kind are struck and die at the end of much +time.</p> + +<p>"Strong as the fire-stick is——"</p> + +<p>"Arna means by the fire-stick a gun," explained +Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Strong as it is," continued Arna, "we Buffalo +are also of great strength. Why, the skin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +on my neck and withers would stop its strike any +time."</p> + +<p>"Stop the Bullet?" queried Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Yes," asserted the Bull. "I have at least three +buried in the thick skin of my neck, and I hardly +know they are there. Why, it has been known in +my Herd for a Bull to be struck fifteen times by +one of these fire-sticks, and then the Men did not +get him. But just behind the shoulders we are +weak. My mother taught me a trick of this sort—'Never +stand sideways to an enemy,' she told me. +Yes, though it is good to be of great strength, a +little wisdom is also of much use, even to a Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"It was so with us," concurred Prairie Bison. +"From all the other animals we suffered little compared +with the misery that came from the Men—the +Redmen; and worse still were the Palefaces; +it was, as you say, Brother, all because of the fire-stick."</p> + +<p>"Even I was struck by it," continued Arna; "it +was this way. Early one morning I had gone down +to a <i>jhil</i>, being alone at that time of the year, for +our wives were busy with the Calves, and, as I was +going to the uplands, to a favorite <i>nulla</i> of mine, +in which to rest, suddenly I caught sight of an +evil-faced Gond; these same Gonds being of all +Shikaris (hunters) the most strong in their thirst +for blood. I rushed away for the hills, thinking to +leave him behind. I traveled far, and thought to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +myself, now surely I have lost this small killer. +Being hungry, I fed on the rich grass, but, as I fed, +suddenly a dry twig broke in the Jungle, and I +knew that it was either Hathi or the little Gond. +Looking back, I saw with the Shikari another of a +white face. Again I galloped, and trotted, and +walked, up a long <i>nulla</i>, over a hill, around by the +side of it, turned, and went far back, much the +way I had come, only to one side. Then I sought +the top of a hill where the bamboos grew thick, +thinking to hide. As I rested, an evil smell, that +was not of the Jungle, came to me as the wind +turned in its course and blew up the hill. I stood +perfectly still, even ceased to flap my ears against +the wicked Flies. As I watched, suddenly this Man +of the white face stood up from the grass just the +shortest of gallops away, his thunder-stick roared, +and something I could not see struck me most +viciously in the shoulder. I was mad. Lashing +my hips with my tail, and throwing my nose +straight out, I charged him.</p> + +<p>"Again his thunder-stick spoke loud, but there +was no sting—nothing, and he turned from me +and ran down the hill. Just as I was almost upon +him, he looked back, his foot caught in a bush and +he fell. Now, as I have said, my big Horns are of +great use when Bagh charges, or when another +Bull disputes the right to command the Herd, but +as for the small enemy lying on the ground, I could +not get at him at all; besides, I was rushing down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +hill at great speed, so, though I lowered my head +till my forehead almost crushed him into the earth, +yet I had him not on the Horns, as, carried by my +weight, I was forced to the very bottom. Before +I could turn he was up and away, and I never saw +him again."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_146" id="i_146"></a> +<img src="images/i_146.jpg" width="600" height="399" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"SOMETHING I COULD NOT SEE STRUCK ME MOST VICIOUSLY IN THE SHOULDER."</span> +</div> + +<p>"We are also killed by the Men," added Muskwa, +the Bear. "They take off our black coats, and +I thought, perhaps, that was lest we might come to +life again. Yes, I think they mean to kill all Animals."</p> + +<p>"They have killed nearly all my people," sighed +Prairie Cow—"nearly all of them. I know that is +true, for one day Sa'-zada came into our corral, +and, rubbing his nice soft hand on my forehead—I +was sick that day, I remember—said, 'Poor old +girl! we must take care of you, for there are not +many of your sort left now.' Then he said it was a +shame that the brutes had slaughtered us so."</p> + +<p>"Ghurr-ah!" barked Wolf, "tell of this thing, +O Buffalo Cow, for to me it has been much of a +mystery where the many of your kind could have +gone."</p> + +<p>"Lu-ah!" sighed Prairie Cow, "it makes me sad +to even think of it. As I have said, in my young +life we were many, many in numbers like you have +seen our enemies, the Men, here at times. All +through the long, warm days of sun, we ate the +grass that grew again as fast as we cropped it. +Our humps became big and full of rich fat for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +cold time. Not that I had the hump on my back +as a Calf, not needing it as food, for my mother's +milk kept my stomach at peace when the winds +were cold, and the grass perhaps under a white +cover. Sometimes when the days were harsh we +had to travel far in search of feed grass, but that +was nothing: few of us died because of this. Even +when the Red-faced ones sought us, they killed +but few, for their hunger was soon stayed. But +suddenly there came to us a time of much fear. +Wherever we went we were chased by the Palefaces, +and their fire-sticks were forever driving +the fire that kills into our faces. Our Bull leader +was always taking us farther and farther away, +and our Herd was getting smaller and smaller. +It was a miserable life, for there was never any +rest.</p> + +<p>"At last our Bull said that we must go on a long +trail, for the prairie wind was talking of nothing +but danger; so we trailed far to the south. For +days and days we passed across hot sand deserts in +which there was little grass and hardly any drinking. +It was terrible. My hump melted to nothing; +we were all like that, worse than we had ever +been after the coldest time of little sun.</p> + +<p>"Then we came to a land in which there was +grass and water, and none of the Men-kind; and +once more we were content, only for thinking of +our friends that had been killed. I don't remember +how long we were there—I think I had raised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +two Calves, when one day the evil that comes of +the Men was once more with us——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is even as I have said," interrupted +Arna; "when one thinks he has got away safely, +and stops for a little rest, he will see that evil Gond, +or some other of the Men-kind, waiting to do him +harm."</p> + +<p>"Just so," commented Prairie Cow; "the Palefaces +had found us out. But I must say there was +less use of the fire-sticks than before, and I soon +came to know why they had trailed us across the +Texas desert—they had come to steal our Calves. +Never were any poor Animals so troubled by +Man's evil ways as were we Buffalo. At first I +thought they had not fire-sticks with them, and +meant to kill and eat the Calves, they being less +able to fight. I remember the very day my Calf +was taken. As the Herd fed in a little valley, we +saw three Wild Horses coming toward us—we +thought they were Wild Horses, but it was an evil +trick of the Palefaces, for beside each Horse +walked one of the Men. They were down wind +from us, so we did not discover this. Suddenly +our Herd leader—he was a great Bull, too—gave +a grunt of warning—much like Bear grunts, only +louder; but still we could see nothing to put fear +into our hearts. Then our leader commenced to +throw sand up against his sides with his forefeet, +and, lowering his head, shook it savagely. +'Why does he wish to battle?' I wondered, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +the Wild Horses had never made trouble for my +people.</p> + +<p>"Just then the Men jumped on their animals, +and away we raced. I remember as I ran wondering +why there was no loud bark of the fire-stick, for +I could see the Hunters galloping fast after us; in +fact one of them was close at my heels, for my +youngest Calf, not two months old, could not run +as swiftly as I wished. I was keeping him close; +and on my other side galloped my Calf that was a +year old.</p> + +<p>"Suddenly I heard a 'swisp' in the air, and my +little curly-haired pet gave a choking gasp and fell +in the grass. Of course, I could not stop at once, +and he bawled much as I did when the Wolf was +at my hock. When I turned in great haste I saw +the Paleface on top of him. I was just crazy with +rage. I charged full at the Man and his Horse, +and it almost makes me laugh now to think how +I kept him jumping about. He did use a small firestick +on me, but I am sure it was because of the +Man-fear, of which Hathi told us; I saw it in his +eyes plain enough. But who can stand against the +fire-stick? Not even Bagh or Hathi, as we know, +so I was forced to flee with the Herd.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 404px;"> +<a name="i_150" id="i_150"></a> +<img src="images/i_150.jpg" width="404" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"SUDDENLY I HEARD A 'SWISP' IN THE AIR, AND MY LITTLE CURLY-HAIRED +PET ..."</span> +</div> + +<p>"We galloped far, far, before we stopped; and +that night there were many mothers in the Herd +bawling and crying for their lost Calves, for these +evil Men had stolen a great number. I felt so sad +thinking of my little one's trouble that I could stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +it no longer, so I went back on our trail, and, following +up the scene of the Men-kind, came to +where they had my Calf and the others. It was +night. I soon found him, for a Cow Mother's nose +is most wise when looking for her young. But I +could not get him away with me, for he was held +fast by something; so I stayed there and let him +drink of my milk.</p> + +<p>"Even with the fear of a fire-stick on me I +stayed with him, and in the morning when the Pale-faces +saw me their eyes were full of much wonder. +But I did not try to run away, and one of them, +making many motions and noises to the other two, +I think, commanded them not to harm me. Well, +good Comrades," sighed the Cow, regretfully, +"mine has been a very long story, I'm afraid, but +when one talks of her Babe there is so much to be +said."</p> + +<p>"And did they bring you here with the Calf?" +asked Magh.</p> + +<p>"Most surely," answered Prairie Cow; "and because +of my milk he grew big and strong, much +faster than grew the other Calves, and is now big +Bull of the Herd."</p> + +<p>"But how fared the others with no mothers?" +asked Chita.</p> + +<p>"They gave them Cow mothers of the tame +kind," answered the Cow.</p> + +<p>Said Arna, scratching his back with the point +of his long horn: "It is not quite this way with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +us in India. We stick pretty well to the <i>jhils</i> and +Jungles, so the Men cannot kill many of us at one +time; but still we are becoming fewer. Even those +of the black kind now have the thunder-stick, and +kill my comrades to sell their heads to the horn +merchants. Think of that, Brothers, having a +price on one's head, like a Bhil robber."</p> + +<p>Said Sa'-zada: "I wish all the Men who slay +Animals, calling it sport, might have sat here to-night +with us, that their hearts might be inclined +more kindly toward you, Brothers, who war not +against my kind."</p> + +<p>"Sa'-zada," cried Hathi, in a gentle voice, "could +you not put all these things in a new book, and lend +it to each one of your people so that they might +know of these true things? Surely then they would +not seek for the life of each one of us that has +done them no harm."</p> + +<p>"I have a notion to try it, good Comrade," said +the Keeper. "But in the meantime it is late, and +now you must all go back to your corrals and +cages."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, Prairie Cow," trumpeted Hathi, +softly, caressing her forehead with his trunk; "your +people most certainly have been badly treated by +the Men."</p> + +<p>Soon silence reigned over the home of these outcasts +from the different quarters of the world.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Ninth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Unt, the Camel</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 456px;"> +<img src="images/i_9th_nite_1.jpg" width="456" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/i_9th_nite_2.jpg" width="418" height="450" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="NINTH_NIGHT" id="NINTH_NIGHT"></a><big>NINTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF UNT, THE CAMEL</h2> + + +<p>The clink of a loose chain; the complaining +wail of a swinging iron door; the squeak +of a key turning an unwilling lock—a heavy-bolted +lock; a flutter of wings; the crunch of giant feet on +the echoing gravel; huge forms slipping through +the moonlight, like prehistoric monsters; a slim, +ribbon-like body gliding noiselessly over the grass +cushion of the Park's sward; muffled laughter, bird +calls and a remonstrative grunt from Wild Boar; +the merry chatter of Magh the Orang; a guarded +"Phrut-t-t, Phrut-t-t" from Hathi, the huge Elephant—ah, +yes, all these; surely it was the gathering +of old friends, who, like the listeners of the +Arabian Night's tales, had for many evenings +talked of their Jungle life in front of Black Panther's +cage.</p> + +<p>"You are all welcome," growled Pardus.</p> + +<p>Magh hopped on the end of Hathi's trunk, and +the latter lifted her gracefully to a seat on his broad +forehead. She had Blitz, the Fox Terrier, with +her. "You will hear some lies to-night, Pup," she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +confided to him. "But who is to talk?" she asked +suddenly; "Chee-he! Sa'-zada, our good Keeper, +who's to talk?"</p> + +<p>"Camel is to tell us of his life," answered the +Keeper.</p> + +<p>"That stupid creature, who is too lazy to brace +up and look spry, talk to us? Next we know we'll +have a tale from Turtle."</p> + +<p>"That's it," sneered Boar, "if one is honest and +a plodder like Unt, bandy-legged creatures like +Magh will call him stupid."</p> + +<p>Unt, with a bubbling grunt, knelt down, doubled +his hind legs under him like a jack-knife, made himself +comfortable, and commenced his personal history.</p> + +<p>"Bul-lul-luh!" he muttered. "I was born in +Baluchistan, on the nice white sand plains of the +Sibi <i>Put</i> (desert). As Mooswa has said, there +must be some great Animal who arranges things +for us. Think of it, Comrades, I had the good fortune +to be born in just the loveliest spot any animal +could wish for. As far as I could see on every side +was the hot, dry sand of the beautiful Sibi desert."</p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Ostrich; "my home in +Arabia was like that. I've listened to Arna here, +and Bagh, telling of the thick Jungles where one +could scarce see three lengths of his own body, and +I must say that I think it very bad taste."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was lovely there," bubbled Unt. "No +wonder that Bagh, when he was chased by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +Beaters, fled to the sand <i>damar</i> and hid in the +korinda thorns. Such sweet eating they are, firm +under one's teeth. The green food is dreadful +stuff. Once crossing the Sibi <i>Put</i>, when I was three +days without food, I remember coming to Jacobabad, +a place where the foolish ones of the Men-kind +had planted trees, and bushes, and grass, and +kept them green with water. I ate of these three +green things, and nearly died from a swelling in my +stomach.</p> + +<p>"Well, as I have said, I was born in that nice +sand place, and for three or four years did nothing +but follow mother Unt about. Then they put a +button in my nose, and tied me with a cord to the +tail of another Unt, and put merchandise on my +back for me to carry. There was a long line of +us, and in front walked Dera Khan, the Master. +We seemed to be always working, always carrying +something; our only rest was when we were being +loaded or unloaded. We were made to lie down +when the packs were put on our backs, and many +a time I have got up suddenly when the boxes were +nearly all on, rose up first from behind, you know, +and sent the things flying over my head. I would +get a longer rest that way, but also I got much +abuse, though I didn't mind it, to be sure; for, as +Mooswa has said, our way of life is all arranged +for us, and the abuse that was thrust upon me was +a part of my way.</p> + +<p>"But one year there came to Sibi many Men of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +the war-kind, and with them were the black ones +from Bengal. It was a fat one of this kind, one of +little knowledge of the ways of an Unt, a 'Baboo,' +Dera Khan called him, who caused me much +misery. It was my lot to take him and his goods +to the Bolan Pass, so Dera said, for the One-in-Charge, +a Sahib, had so ordered it. When I sought +to rise, as usual, when the load was but half in +place, he got angry and beat me with a big-leafed +stick he carried to keep the heat from his head. +But in the end I brought to his knowledge the +method of an Unt who has been beaten without +cause.</p> + +<p>"When all his pots and pans, and boxes of books, +wherein was writing, had been bound to my saddle, +the Baboo clambered on top. I must say that I +could understand little of his speech, for my Master, +Dera Khan, was a Man of not many words, but +the Baboo was as full of talk as even Magh is; +and of very much the same intent, too—of little +value."</p> + +<p>"Big lip! Crooked neck! Frightener of +Young!" screamed Magh, hurling the epithets at +Camel with vindictive fury.</p> + +<p>"Unt's tale is truly a most interesting one; there +is much wit in his long head," commented Pardus. +Camel rolled the cud in his mouth three or four +times, dropped his heavy eyelids reflectively, bubbled +a sigh of meek resignation and proceeded:</p> + +<p>"When I rose from behind, the Baboo nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +fell over my neck; when I came sharply to my forefeet +(for I was always a very spry, active Unt), +he declared to Dera Khan that I had broken his +back. But I knew this couldn't be true, for I was +always a most unlucky Unt. Of course, this time +I was not tied to the tail of a mate, but my leading +line was with the Baboo. He shouted 'Jao' to me, +and in addition called me the Son of an Evil Pig.</p> + +<p>"Have any of you ever seen one of my kind run +away?" Camel asked, swinging his big head inquiringly +about the circle.</p> + +<p>"I have," answered Black Panther. "Once, being +hungry, I crept close to an Unt to ask him if he +could tell me where I might find a Chinkara or +other Jungle Dweller for my dinner. I saw <i>that</i> +Camel run. For a small part of the journey I was +on his back; but though I can cling to anything +pretty well, yet the twists of his long legs were too +much for me, and I landed on my head in the sand, +nearly breaking my back."</p> + +<p>"Well," resumed Camel, "you will understand +how the Baboo and his pots and pans fared when +I ran away with him, which I did as soon as Dera +Khan moved a little to one side. At first I couldn't +get well into my stride, for the Baboo pulled at the +nose rope, and called to Dera in great fear. Dera +also ran beside me, holding to the ropes that were +on the boxes; many things fell, coming away like +cocoanuts from a tree. An iron pot going down +with much speed struck my Master on his head, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +he said the same fierce words that he always used +when I caused him trouble of any kind.</p> + +<p>"You know, though I ran fast, yet by tipping my +head a little to one side I could see what was doing +behind, and I saw a basket in which were many +round, white things——"</p> + +<p>"Eggs," suggested Cockatoo. "Those were the +round white things Potai brought from bazaar in +a basket."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they were in a basket," repeated Camel, +solemnly; "so, as you say, Cocky, I suppose they +were eggs; but, however, they came down all at +once on the face and shoulders of my loved Master."</p> + +<p>"And broke, Cah-cah-cah!" laughed Kauwa the +Crow; "I know. More than once I've seen relatives +of mine have their eggs broken through being +thrown out of the nest by Cuckoo Bird."</p> + +<p>"As I have said," continued Camel, "my Master +was a Man of few words, but at this he let go +of the rope, and the language he used still rings in +my ears. Dry chewing! how I fled. And behind +chased Dera Khan, a big knife in his hand—in +spite of his violence I had to laugh at the color the +eggs had left on his long beard—a knife in his +hand, and crying aloud that he would cut the Baboo's +throat.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_161" id="i_161"></a> +<img src="images/i_161.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"I REMAINED IN THE JHIL UNTIL MY MASTER HAD LOST THE FIERCE KILL-LOOK."</span> +</div> + +<p>"As I swung first one side of my legs, and then +the other over the sweet sand desert, I could feel +the Baboo thumping up and down on my back, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +he was clinging to the saddle with both hands. +Sometimes he abused me, and sometimes he begged +me to stop; that I was a good Unt—his Father +and Mother, and his greatest friend. As he would +not be shaken off because of his fear of Dera +Khan's knife, I carried him into a <i>jhil</i> of much +water; there he was forced to let go, and when he +got to the bank, if it had not been for a Sahib he +would most surely have been killed by my Master. +Hathi has told us of the fear-look he has seen in +the faces of the Men-kind, and there was much of +this in the eyes of that Baboo. I remained in the +<i>jhil</i> until my Master had lost the fierce kill-look, +then I came out, and save for some of the old +abuse there was nothing done to me.</p> + +<p>"But we all went to the Bolan Pass, carrying +food for those that labored there making a path +for the Fire Caravan, the bearer of burdens that is +neither Bullock, nor Unt, nor aught that I know +of."</p> + +<p>"It was a railroad," Sa'-zada, the Keeper, explained.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," grunted Unt, licking his pendulous +upper lip; "perhaps, but we Unts spoke of it as the +Fire Caravan. Still it was an evil thing, a destroyer +of lives, many lives, for never in that whole +land of sand-hills and desert was there so much +heat and so much death.</p> + +<p>"First the <i>Bail</i> (Bullocks) died as though Bagh +the Killer had taken each one by the throat; then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +those of my kind fell down by the fire-path and +could not rise again. And the air, that is always +so sweet on the hot sand plains, became like the +evil breath of the place wherein nests Boar."</p> + +<p>"Ugh, ugh!" grunted Wild Boar, "even there, +by this stupid tale of Unt's, there was something +evil to be likened to my kind."</p> + +<p>"The water that had been sweet ran full of a +sickness because of all this, and the Men that drank +of it were stricken with the Black Death. At first +it was those of the Black-kind, and then the others, +the Sahibs, became possessed of it. And then the +Burra-Sahib, Huzoor the Governor, was taken with +it; so said one of the Sahibs who came to Dera +Khan just as he was tying a rope about my foreleg +so that I could not rise and wander in the night.</p> + +<p>"'It is sixty miles to Sibi,' this Sahib, who was +but young, said to my Master.</p> + +<p>"'By the Grace of Allah, it is more,' Dera answered +him.</p> + +<p>"'The Big Sahib, who is my friend, is stricken +with the Black Death,' said the young Sahib, 'and +also the Baboo Doctor is the same, being close to +his death; and unless I get a Healer from Sibi to-morrow, +the Sahib who is my friend will surely +die.'</p> + +<p>"'If Allah wills it so, Kismet,' answered my +Master.</p> + +<p>"'Have you a fast Camel?' asked the young +Sahib.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'This is Moti,' replied my Master, putting +his hand on my hump, 'and when he paces, the wind +remains behind.'</p> + +<p>"Then the young Sahib promised my Master +many rupees and much work for the other Unts, +so be it he might ride me to Sibi for a Doctor.</p> + +<p>"By a meal of brown paper such as one picks up +in a bazaar, I swear that I understood more of +what that meant to my Master than many a Camel +would have known, for had I not seen it all, this +that I am about to tell? You know, Comrades, +that the Burra-Sahib was a Man of a dry temper, +and it so happened that one day Dera Khan had +displeased him, which I just say was a way my +Master had often. That was a full moon before +the coming of the Black Sickness. Oh, Friends, +but I had seen it all; it made me tremble, knowing +of the readiness with which Dera Khan argued +with his knife, like unto the manner of Pathans.</p> + +<p>"The Big Sahib would have struck my Master +but for this same young Sahib who had now come +with his offer of many rupees—this Sahib who had +been there at that time. So, Comrades, there was +<i>good</i> hate for the sick man in Dera's heart.</p> + +<p>"'Will you send the Camel?' said the young +Sahib; and Dera, drawing himself up straight, even +as I do under a heavy load, held out his hand and +said, 'Allah! thou art a Man. My goods are your +goods, but for the other, the one who is your friend +and my enemy, the wrath of Allah upon him.'</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The Sahib was on my back in a little.</p> + +<p>"I have said before that with the Baboo and +many kettles on my back I ran fast, but think +you, Comrades, of the weight, and also of the poor +rider, for there is nothing an Unt dislikes so much +as the knock, knock, against his hump of one having +no knowledge of proper pace. How the Sahib sat! +Close as a pad that had been tied on; and he coaxed +and urged—even swore a little at times, but not +after an unreasoning manner as had the Baboo. +He called me a Bikaneer, even his Dromedary, +which means one of great speed; and begged me, +if I wished food for all time, to hasten. How we +fled in the long night, down the hot paths, splashing +many times through the cool water that crossed +our path—Bolan River, it is called, the water that +comes from the high-reaching sand lands that are +all white on their tops."</p> + +<p>"The snow mountains," explained Sa'-zada, for +Camel's description was more or less vague.</p> + +<p>"As I have said," continued Camel, "the water +was cool. Never once did I fall, though the round +stones were like evil things that twist at one's feet +to bring him down. 'Hurry, hurry, hurry!' the +young Sahib called to me, and I laughed, thinking +he would tire before I should.</p> + +<p>"On we went, passing little fires where those of +the Cooly kind rested as they fled from the Black +Death. Just as we came out on the flat sand which +is the Sibi Desert, there were gathered in one place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +many Men. For a space we stopped, and +my Rider asked if there was a Healer with +them. They answered that they were Men of the +war-kind going up to keep the workers from +running away from the Black Death; even +those at the little fires would be turned back, they +said.</p> + +<p>"Then on again I raced. I could hear my Rider +talking back to his friend, the Burra-Sahib, who +lay stricken with the evil sickness, though I know +not how he could hear him, for we were full half +way to Sibi.</p> + +<p>"'Keep up your courage, Jack,' he would say, +speaking to his Friend. 'Please God, I'll have a +Surgeon there in time to save you yet.'</p> + +<p>"Then he would fall to abusing some other of +the Men-kind, perhaps he was not a friend, whom +he blamed for all that was wrong. 'You puffed-up +beast,' he would say, speaking to this other, 'to +send a lot of Men to such a death hole with a brute +of a Bengali-Baboo to doctor them—murder them, +and a medicine chest that was emptied in a day. +It's a bit of luck that Baboo died, but it doesn't +help matters much.'</p> + +<p>"That was the Baboo I had run away with; perhaps +even the medicine chest had lost much through +its fall from my back.</p> + +<p>"Then to me, 'Hurry, hurry, hurry! Shabaz!' +(push on); then to his Friend, 'Poor old Man, +Jack! what will <i>She</i> say if I don't pull you out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +this? I'll never go back to England as long as I +live if this beastly thing snuffs you out.'</p> + +<p>"Then to the other, the one who had done this +evil: 'Curse you, with your red tape economy! +You're a C. I. E.'—whatever that meant I don't +know—'but you've murdered old Jack, who is a +Man. You're out of this trouble up at Simla, but +you'll roast for this yet.'</p> + +<p>"You know, Comrades," said Unt, plaintively, +"I didn't know all about this thing—I couldn't understand +it, you see, being an Unt, and, as Magh +says, stupid; but someway I felt like doing my best +for the young Sahib who did not make me cross by +beating me, but only cried 'Hurry! Shabaz! my +swift runner,' and shook a little at the nose line in +his haste."</p> + +<p>"I have often felt that way," encouraged Hathi; +"once I remember, it was in Rangoon, that time I +was working in the timber yards. I had a Mahout +who never stuck the sharp iron goad in my head at +all. He always told me everything I was to do by +different little knocks on my ears with his knees +as he sat on my neck. And also by soft speech, of +course, for, as you say, Unt, it keeps one from getting +cross, or filled with fear, and so one has only +to think of what the Master requires. You were +right to run fast with such a rider."</p> + +<p>"This is Camel's story," pleaded Sa'-zada.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 401px;"> +<a name="i_166" id="i_166"></a> +<img src="images/i_166.jpg" width="401" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"BUT SOME WAY I FELT LIKE DOING MY BEST."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Never mind," bubbled Unt; "I was just trying +to remember what time we got to Sibi—I know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +it was before the sands grew hot from the sun. +Straight to the <i>Teshil</i> (Government office) the +young Sahib rode me. Here he made an orderly +bring me food and drink while he went quick to +bring a Healer for his Friend. I had scarce time to +store half the <i>raji</i> away for future cud-chewing, +when back he came with a Healer of the White +Kind.</p> + +<p>"Now, the <i>Teshildar</i>, who was Chief of Sibi, was +a slow-motioned Man, not given to hurry; that was +because the hump on his stomach was large with +the fat of great eating; and when the Sahib asked +for another Unt to carry the Healer, this Man who +was Chief made no haste—not at first; but when +the young Sahib, no doubt thinking of his friend +Jack, threatened him with the wrath of the Governor, +also the smaller anger of his own fists, the +<i>Teshildar</i> had an Unt of great speed quickly +brought forth. Then the young Sahib, speaking to +me, said, 'My heavy-eyed Friend, also one of much +strength, can you go straight back the sixty miles?'</p> + +<p>"Of course, at that time I couldn't speak in his +words, though I could understand, so I just shook +myself, and stretched out my long hind legs, as +much as to say, 'Mount to my back, and I will try.'</p> + +<p>"We started, the Healer on the other Unt, and +the Sahib on my back. I shall never forget that +ride. Sore legs! but at first it was not easy to keep +up with my Comrade, who was fresh; but also was +he a trifle like the <i>Teshildar</i>, fat in the hump, so in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +the end that had its effect, and I managed to keep +pace with him.</p> + +<p>"We reached back in the Bolan just as the sun +was straight over our heads. By the <i>raji</i> that was +still in my gullet I was tired; so was the young +Sahib, for when I knelt down, and he slipped +quickly from my back, he spun round and round +like a box that has broken loose, and came to the +ground in haste. Just as he fell, Dera Khan +caught him, and lifted him up; then he and the +Healer went to the tent where was his friend Jack. +And I heard my Master, Dera, say afterward, that +the little Sahib never slept while it was twice dark +and twice light; that was until the Healer said the +stricken one, Jack, the Burra-Sahib, was again free +of the Black Death."</p> + +<p>"I think it is a true tale," remarked Adjutant, +putting down his left leg and taking up his right. +"I have seen much of this Black Death in my forty +years of life, and the Men of the White-kind take +great care of each other. Now, those of the Black-kind +get the Man-fear which Hathi has spoken of, +in their eyes, and flee fast from this terrible sickness, +crying aloud that their livers have turned to +water. I, myself, though I am a bird of little +speech, could tell tales of both methods."</p> + +<p>"But what became of you, Unt?" queried +Magh; "did you catch this sickness and die?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Camel, solemnly, not noticing the +sarcasm; "the little Sahib took me from Dera Khan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +by a present of silver, and kept me to ride on, and +in the end I was sent here to Sa'-zada."</p> + +<p>"It's bed-time," broke in the Keeper; "let each +one go quickly to his cage or corral."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Tenth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Big Tusk, the Wild Boar</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 408px;"> +<img src="images/i_10th_nite_1.jpg" width="408" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 439px;"> +<img src="images/i_10th_nite_2.jpg" width="439" height="400" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="TENTH_NIGHT" id="TENTH_NIGHT"></a><big>TENTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF BIG TUSK, THE WILD BOAR</h2> + + +<p>'Twas the tenth night of what might be +called the Sa'-zada convention, and Black +Panther was making the iron bars of his cage jingle +in their sockets with his full-voiced roar. Shoulders +spread, and head low to the floor, his white fangs +showing, he called "Waugh, waugh! Waw-houk! +Come, Comrades. Ganesh, One-tusked Lord of the +Jungles, Muskwa and Mooswa; you, Sher Abi, +eater of Water-men; even little Magh; come all of +you and listen to the lies of a Swine." Then he +laughed: "Che-hough, che-hough! the lying tales +of Jungli Soor."</p> + +<p>"Ugh, ugh!" grunted Grey Boar, angrily, as +he slipped up the graveled walk to the front +of Leopard's cage. "In my land there is a +saying of the Men-kind, that 'A lie can hide +like a Panther; if it be a bad lie, that it is as +difficult to come face to face with as Black Panther.'"</p> + +<p>By this time the animals had all gathered, and +Sa'-zada opening The Book, spoke:</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This is Wild Boar's night. I am sure he will +tell us something interesting."</p> + +<p>"A lie is often amusing," declared Magh.</p> + +<p>"That may be so," retorted Boar, "for even Sa'-zada +has said that you are the funniest Animal in +the Park."</p> + +<p>"But why should we listen to Soor's squeaky +tales?" snarled Bagh; "when he gets excited his +voice puts me on edge."</p> + +<p>"Well," interrupted Sa'-zada, "these meetings +are so that each animal may have a chance to tell +us what good there is in him."</p> + +<p>"Then why should Soor waste our time?" +queried Magh. "Even he will know no good of +himself."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," answered Sa'-zada. +"I think every animal is for some good purpose, +and we can tell better after we have heard Boar's +story."</p> + +<p>"Here are two of us, O Sa'-zada," said Grey +Boar. "I, who am from Burma, know of the way +of my kind in that land, and Big Tusk, who is also +here, being my Comrade, is from Nagpore, in +India, and can tell you how we are persecuted in +the North. If I am all bad, can anyone say why +it is? I am not an eater of Bhainsa, Men's Buffalo, +like Bagh and Pardus; neither am I, nor any of my +Kind, known as Man-killers. Even in Hathi's +family have there been Man-killers—the Rogue +Hathi."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But it is said in the Jungles that you sometimes +kill <i>Bakri</i>, the Men's Sheep," declared Magh.</p> + +<p>"All a lie!" answered Grey Boar. "We are +not animals of the Kill; neither do we wreck the +villages of the Men, as does Hathi, nor drive the +rice-growers from their lands—lest they be eaten—as +do Bagh and Pardus."</p> + +<p>"But you eat their jowari and rice," asserted +Panther.</p> + +<p>"A little of it at times, perhaps, but only a little. +Our food is of the Jungles, and how are we to know +just what has been grown by the Men, and what +has grown of itself? And in my land, which was +Aracan in Burma, but for me and my people the +Men could not live."</p> + +<p>"In what manner, O Benefactor of the Oppressed?" +asked Magh, mockingly.</p> + +<p>"Because of Python, and Cobra, and Karait, and +Deboia, and the other small Dealers of Death," +answered Grey Boar, sturdily. "We roam the +Jungles, and when these Snakes, that are surely +evil, rise in our paths, we trample them, and tear +them with our tusks——"</p> + +<p>"And eat them, I know, cha-hau, cha-hau!" +laughed Hyena, smacking his watering lips.</p> + +<p>"Yes," affirmed Grey Boar. "Are not we, alone, +of all Animals for this work? When Cobra strikes, +and fetches home, does not even Hathi, or Arna, +or mighty Raj Bagh, die quickly? But not so with +us. I can turn my cheek, thus, to King Cobra,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +(and he held his big grizzled head sideways), and +when I feel the soft pat of his cold nose against my +fat jaw, I seize him by the neck, and in a minute +one of the worst enemies of Man is dead."</p> + +<p>"What says King Cobra, then—Cobra and the +others—crawling destroyers?" asked Magh, maliciously.</p> + +<p>"This is Boar's story," interrupted Mooswa, seeing +that Sa'-zada looked angry at the interruption.</p> + +<p>"As I was saying," continued Grey Boar, "Cobra +and his cousins kill more of the Men-kind, many +times over, than all the other Jungle Dwellers put +together. Think of that, Comrades—even when +we are searching the Jungles on every side for these +evil Poisoners; so if it were not for us, what would +become of the Men? Yet in a hot time of little +Jungle food, if we but eat a small share from their +fields, the Men revile us. Also, there is cause for +fear at times in this labor that is ours. Once I remember +I had a tight squeeze——"</p> + +<p>"Going through a fence into a jowari field, I +suppose," prompted Magh.</p> + +<p>"I did not have my tail cut off for stealing cocoa-nuts," +sneered Grey Boar. "The tight squeeze was +from Python; and do you know that to this day +I am half a head longer than I was before our slim +Friend twisted about my body. But I got his head +in my strong jaws just as I was near dead."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you would not have managed it if he +had not squeezed you out long," said Pardus.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What I say," continued Boar, "is, that we are +not the Evil Kind that is in the mouth of everyone. +Cobra crawls into the houses of the Men, and for +fear of their evil Gods they feed him; and one +day in anger he strikes to Kill. That is surely +wrong. But we live in houses of our own make."</p> + +<p>"Certainly that is a lie," interrupted Magh. +"Thou art a wanderer in the Jungle, a dweller in +caves, even as Pard the Panther."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, Little One," declared Hathi, +"for I have seen Boar's house. It's a sort of grass +hauda."</p> + +<p>"Yes," affirmed Wild Boar; "it is all of my own +making, and of grass, to be sure. For days and +days at a time, I do nothing but cut the strong elephant +grass, and the big ferns, and the sweet bowlchie, +and pile it up into a house. Then I burrow +under it, and the rain beats it down over my back, +and soon I have a nice, clean, waterproof nest. I +am not a homeless vagabond like Magh and her +wandering tribe——"</p> + +<p>"And that's just it," broke in Big Tusk, the +Nagpore Boar. "We, who are quiet and orderly +in our manner of life, living in houses of our own +building, as Grey Boar has said, are hunted and +killed by the White-faced ones as a matter of sport. +What think you of that, Sa'-zada—killed just for +our tusks—for a pair of teeth?"</p> + +<p>"It is likewise so with me, my narrow-faced +Brother," whispered Hathi. "Many of my kind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +are slain for their tusks; I, who have lived amongst +the Men, know that."</p> + +<p>Continued Big Tusk: "Yes, this is so; I have +been in many a run in the corries of Nagpore. You +see, I learned the game from my Mother when I +was but a 'Squeaker,' for be it to the credit of the +White ones, they kill not the Sows with their sharp +spears."</p> + +<p>"Was that pig-sticking?" asked Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"It was," declared Big Tusk; "and my Mother, +who was in charge of a Sounder of at least thirty +Pigs, knew all about this game. We'd be feeding +in the sweet bowlchie grass, or in a <i>thur khet</i>, when +suddenly I'd hear her say, 'Waugh! Ung-h-gh!' +which meant, 'Danger! lie low.' Then, watching, +we'd see those of the Black-kind here, and there, +and all over, with flags in their hands to drive the +Pigs certain ways, and to show the Sahibs which +way we went. Mother would always make us lie +still until the very last minute; but almost always, +sooner or later, the Sahibs would come galloping +on their horses right in amongst us. 'Ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh!' +Mother would call to us, and this meant, +'Run for it, but keep to cover'; and away we'd go, +from <i>sun khet</i> to <i>dol</i> field, and then into <i>shur</i> grass, +from Sirsee Bund to Hirdee Bund, or into the tall, +thick bowlchie. Now the trouble was this way: +Mother was so big and strong that the Sahibs on +their ponies always galloped after, thinking her a +Boar. Even the Black Men with the flags would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +cry, '<i>Hong! Hong! Burra dant wallah!</i>' which +means in their speech, 'A Boar of big tusks.' +Many a time I've heard Mother chuckle over the +run she'd given the Horsemen, for we'd lie up in +the grass, and listen to the White-faced ones, the +Sahibs, curse the Black Men most heartily for their +foolishness in calling Mother a big-tusked Boar. +It was all done to save the Tuskers, for while the +Sahibs were chasing Mother, many an old chap +has saved having a spear thrust through him by +clearing off to some other <i>bund</i>."</p> + +<p>"You did have a good schooling," remarked +Gidar, the Jackal. "But did the Sahibs never spear +any of your young Brothers?"</p> + +<p>"No; as I have said, it was only a big-tusked +one they cared for. But to me it seemed such a +cruel thing, even when I was young; killing us with +the sharp spears—for, more than once I've heard +the scream of a Boar as he was stabbed to death."</p> + +<p>"But what were you doing in the <i>dol</i> grass, you +and your big Mother?" asked Bagh. "Were not +you eating the grain of the poor villagers? I remember +in my time, when I was a free Lord of the +Jungles, that a poor old <i>ryot</i> (farmer) had a little +field—a new field it was—just in the edge of the +Jungle. I also remember it was <i>raji</i> he grew in it, +and he prayed to me as though I were one of his +Hindoo Gods, asking me to keep close watch over +his field, and to kill all the Pigs, and the Chital, +and Black Buck that might come there to destroy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +his <i>raji</i>. Even, to give me a liking for the place, +that I might mark it down in my line of hunt, he +tied an old Cow there for my first Kill. I was the +making of that Man," declared Bagh, sitting down +and smoothing his big coarse mustache with his +velvet paw—"the making of him, for he had a +splendid crop of <i>raji</i>, and I, why I must have killed +a dozen Pigs in and about his field."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me!" cried Magh. "Sugared peanuts! +Every Jungle Dweller is growing into a +benefactor of the Men; even Pig is a much abused, +innocent chap; and here's Bagh a protector of the +poor <i>ryot</i>."</p> + +<p>"But what were you doing in the <i>dol</i> field, +Grunter?" queried Cobra; "that's what Bagh +wants to know."</p> + +<p>"Looking for Snakes," answered Boar, sulkily. +"But what if we did eat a trifle of the grain; was +that excuse for the Sahibs killing us? With their +Horses did they not beat down and destroy more +than we did? And have not the people of the land, +the Black-kind, taken more from us in the way of +food than we ever did from their fields? Many a +time have they been saved from starvation by the +meat of my tribe. And yet, through it all, we get +nothing but a bad name, and that just because we +stick up for our rights. Bagh talks about keeping +us from the Man's field; that is just like him—it +is either a false tale or he ate 'Squeakers'—little +Pigs that couldn't protect themselves. Would he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +tackle Me? Not a bit of it! If he did I'd soon +put different colored stripes on his jacket—red +stripes. He's a big, sneaking coward, that's what +Bagh is. Why, I've seen him sitting with his back +against a rock, afraid to move, while six Jungle +Dogs snapped at his very nose—waiting for him +to get up that they might fight him from all sides. +Ugh, ugh! a fine Lord of the Jungle! a sneak, to +eat little Pigs!</p> + +<p>"But I did more than keep a <i>raji</i> field for a poor +villager; I saved his life, and from Bagh, too. I +don't know that he had ever given me to eat willingly, +or even made <i>pooja</i> to me, but I was coming +up out of his <i>thur</i> field one evening, and he was +fair in my path, with one of those foolish ringed +sticks in his hand. 'Ugh!' I said, meaning, 'Get +out of the way,' but he only stood there.</p> + +<p>"This made me cross, and I thought he was disputing +the road with me, for I am not like Bagh, +the Lord of the Jungle, who slinks to one side. +Then I spoke again to the man, 'Ugh, ugh, +wungh!' meaning that I was about to charge. All +the time I was coming closer to him on the path. +Then I saw what it was; my friend, Stripes the +Tiger, was crouched just beyond the Man, lashing +the grass with his long, silly tail.</p> + +<p>"Now as I had made up my mind to charge +something that was in my path, and as the sight +of Bagh in his evil temper drew my anger toward +him, I drove full at his yellow throat. Just one rip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +of my tusks, and with a howl like a starved Jackal +he cleared for the Jungle. He meant to eat that +Man, you see."</p> + +<p>"Now we are getting at the truth of the matter," +cried Magh, gleefully. "When these Jungle +thieves fall out, we get to know them fairly well."</p> + +<p>"But tell us more of this hunting of your kind +with the spears, O brother of the Big Tusks," +pleaded Hathi. "It does seem an unjust thing."</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the Seoni Boar, "as I have +said, while in my Mother's keeping, she taught +me much of the ways of the Boar Hunters. Many +a run from the Spear Men I've been in. But while +I was small, and had not tusks, of course I was +allowed to go, even when they came full upon the +top of us; but in a few years my tusks grew, and +each run became harder and more difficult to get +away from. Besides, early in the Cold Time, at +the time the Men call Christmas, we Boars all went +off by ourselves, and left the Sows and Squeakers +in peace; and, while I think of it, I've no doubt it +was at this time that Bagh killed so many of my +people in the <i>raji</i> fields. Had there been a big +Tusker or two there, Tiger would have been busy +looking for Chital or Sambhur.</p> + +<p>"Well, through being away from my Mother +this way, and mixing with the other Boars, I got to +be quite capable of taking care of myself; and, as +I lived year after year, finally the Black Men, Ugh! +also the White-faced ones, gave to me the name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +of the Seoni Boar. So, with the more knowledge +I gained with my years of being, the more I required +it, for the closer they hunted me.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_182" id="i_182"></a> +<img src="images/i_182.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT BAGH KILLED SO MANY OF MY PEOPLE."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Strange how it is that every Jungle Dweller's +hand is against the Pig. I declare here, before all +you Comrades, that more than once I have been +lying dog-oh, close hid in the <i>bowlchie</i>, when a +screech-voiced Peacock has commenced to cry, 'Aih-ou, +aih-ou!' as plain as you like, 'Here he is, here +he is!' and down on my heels would come the Spear +Men on their rushing Ponies. But I soon learned +to take to the Scrub-Jungle, knowing that the ponies +would not follow me. But even there in the Jungle +I've been hunted by the Black-kind; and then it +was the same way, enemies afoot, and enemies overhead. +Langur, a fool-cousin of Magh's there, +many a time has betrayed my hiding-place to the +hunt Man. 'Che-che-che, wow, wow!' over my +head the silly thieves would chatter and well the +Huntsmen would know that I had gone that way.</p> + +<p>"Once when I was started out of the Seoni Bund, +and was making with full speed through the <i>dol +khet</i>, a meddlesome white Dog came chasing after +me, snapping at my heels, and crying, 'Bah, ki-yi, +bah, ki-yi!' Well I knew that as long as that noise +kept up, I might as well be running out in the open +in full view, so I checked my pace a little, and the +Dog, with more pluck than good sense, laid me by +the ear. With one rip of my tusk sideways, I cast +him open from end to end. But such matters take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +some time, and check one when the run is close, and +before I could take to cover again, a Pony was fair +on top of me.</p> + +<p>"I jinked, as only a Boar who has been in many +a run knows how. My jink was so sudden that the +rider, seeking to spear me under his Pony's neck, +came a full cropper in the black cotton-earth. +Ugh-huh-huh! it makes me laugh now when I think +of it. Of course I hadn't time to laugh then, for I +had no sooner jinked clear of his spear than I saw +coming up on the other side, the longest one of the +Men-kind that was ever in the Jungle, and what +with his spear he seemed like a tree. At once I +remembered what my Mother had told me to do if +ever a Spear-hunter got full on top of me. 'Into +the horse's legs,' the old Dame had said; 'that's +your only hope.' I must say that I charged Bagh +that other time with greater joy than I slashed into +that long Sahib's Pony.</p> + +<p>"Of course, the Hunter thought I was going to +run for it, so when I jinked short about and ripped +his Pony's foreleg the full length of my nose, he +was taken quite off his guard.</p> + +<p>"It seemed as though part of the Jungle had +fallen on me, for Pony and Huntman came down +like ripe fruit off the Mowha tree. I got one rip +at the Man's leg, and thought I'd made a fine cut, +but I learned afterward, after they'd caught me, +of course, that it was his boot-leg I had +ripped——"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;"> +<a name="i_184" id="i_184"></a> +<img src="images/i_184.jpg" width="405" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"'INTO THE HORSE'S LEGS,' THE OLD DAME HAD SAID."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, Sa'-zada, I believe the Seoni Boar is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +best liar we've struck yet," said Magh.</p> + +<p>"Not so," declared the Keeper, "this tale of the +pig-sticking is a true tale, for it is written in The +Book."</p> + +<p>"I only tell that which is true," declared Big +Tusk, the Seoni Boar. "And before I had got to +the Scrub-Jungle, I had a spear driven into my +shoulder from another Sahib, but I put my teeth +through the giver's foot as I knocked his pony over +from the side. It was a rare fight that day, but +I got away at last."</p> + +<p>"How were you caught?" queried Magh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that was long afterwards, and happened +because of Bagh's evil ways. The Huntman had +spread a big net in the Jungle to take Bagh, who +had slain a Woman; and in the drive, not knowing +of this evil thing, I came full into the net, and got +so tangled up that I could not move. When the +White Hunter saw that it was I, the Seoni Boar, +he said, 'Let us take him alive, for he has given us +mighty sport and fought well.' So they made a +cage and I was forced into it from the net."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" asked Magh.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Boar.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the Orang-Outang, "from +your own account you appear to be a very fine fellow. +I can't understand why all the Jungle Dwellers, +even the Men-kind, connect your name with +everything that's evil. I doubt if one of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +could speak as well for himself, were he allowed +to tell his own story."</p> + +<p>"As I have said before," commented Sa'-zada, +"it's hardly fair to give an animal a bad name +without knowing all about him, and Boar's stories +have all been true, I know. But it's late now, so +each one away to his cage or corral, and sleep."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Eleventh Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Stories of Oohoo, the Wolf,<br /> +and Sher Abi, the Crocodile</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 377px;"> +<img src="images/i_11th_nite_1.jpg" width="377" height="450" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i_11th_nite_2.jpg" width="600" height="241" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ELEVENTH_NIGHT" id="ELEVENTH_NIGHT"></a><big>ELEVENTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORIES OF OOHOO, THE WOLF,<br /> +AND SHER ABI, THE CROCODILE</h2> + + +<p>"To-night," said Sa'-zada, the Keeper, +"we shall have a story from White +Wolf of his home in the frozen North, and also +one from Sher Abi, the Crocodile, of the warm +land in which he lived, Burma."</p> + +<p>"I am glad there is to be a tale of the North-land," +said Mooswa, "for it's a lovely place."</p> + +<p>"And Sher Abi is so stupid," added Magh the +Orang, "that he's sure to fall to boasting of some +of his murders."</p> + +<p>"There's little to choose between them in that +respect," commented Muskwa, "except that for +cunning there is no one but Carcajou of the same +wit as Wolf."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Comrade," cried Oohoo, the Arctic +Wolf; "those of my land who are short of wit go +with a lean stomach, I can tell you. But yet it is +just the sweetest place that any poor animal ever +lived in."</p> + +<p>"It is," concurred Mooswa; "forests of green +Spruce trees——"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not so, Brother Tangle-leg," objected Oohoo; +"true I have been within the Timber Boundaries, +but that was far to the south of my home. I remember, +once upon a time, thinking to better my +condition, for it was a year of scarce Caribou; I +trailed down past Great Slave Lake to the home +of my cousin, Blue Wolf, who was Pack Leader of +the Timber Wolves. Ghurrh-h! but they led a +busy life. Almost day and night they were on the +hunt, for their kill was small; a Grey Rabbit, or +a Grouse, or a Marten—a mere mouthful for a +full-hungered Wolf.</p> + +<p>"But in the Northland where one could travel +for days and days over the white snow and the hunt +meant a free run with no chance of cover for the +prey, it was all a matter of strength and speed. +Leopard has boasted of the merit of his spotted +coat for hiding in the sun-splashed Jungle; and +also Bagh has told how the stripes on his sides hide +him in the strong grass. But look at me, my Comrades——"</p> + +<p>"You are pretty," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"Here I am dirty brown," resumed Oohoo, paying +no attention to the taunt, "and what does that +mean?"</p> + +<p>"That you are dirty and a Wolf," answered +Magh, innocently.</p> + +<p>"It shows that I live in a dirty brown place," +asserted Wolf. "We are all dirty brown here."</p> + +<p>"I'm not," objected Python.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="i_190" id="i_190"></a> +<img src="images/i_190.jpg" width="600" height="403" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"ONE COULD TRAVEL FOR DAYS OVER THE WHITE SNOW."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You would be if you didn't lie in the water all +day; but, as I was going to say, in that land of snow +I was all white, and, by my cunning, with a careful +stalk I always got within a running distance of—of—I +mean anything I wanted to look at closely, +you know."</p> + +<p>"A Babe Caribou, I suppose," grunted Muskwa; +"just to see how he was coming on. Have I not +said that he has the cunning of a great thief?" +Bear whispered to Hathi.</p> + +<p>"But if he talks much the truth will come out," +answered the Elephant.</p> + +<p>"There were just three of us Plain Dwellers in +all that great Barren Land," proceeded Oohoo; +"my kind, and Caribou, and Musk-Ox."</p> + +<p>"Eu-yah! the Musk-Ox are cousins of mine," remarked +Bison. "Queer taste they have to live in +that terrible land of rock and snow. What do they +eat, Oohoo? Surely the sweet Buffalo Grass does +not grow there?"</p> + +<p>"They do not mind the cold," answered Wolf; +"they have the loveliest long black hair you ever +saw on any Animal. And under that again is the +soft grey fur——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," interrupted Sa'-zada to explain, "the +Musk-Ox seems to have hair, and fur, and wool all +on one pelt—much like a Sheep, and a Goat, and +a Bison combined."</p> + +<p>"And as for eating," resumed Oohoo, the Wolf, +"the rocks are thickly covered with moss——"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Engh-h-h! what a diet!" grunted Bison. "But +you know of their manner of life, Brother Wolf—you +must have paid much attention to their ways. +Now in my land when Wolves came too close we +gathered our Calves in the center of the herd——"</p> + +<p>"A most wise precaution," asserted Mooswa. +"In the Calf time with us the moan of the Wolf +pack caused us to make ready for battle; the Grey +Runners seemed always in the way of a great hunger."</p> + +<p>"And what of grass-eating for those cousins of +mine, the Caribou—what ate they?" sharply demanded +Elk.</p> + +<p>"Caribou have this manner of life," answered +Oohoo. "Just at the end of the great Cold Time +all the Mothers go far into the Northland, for that +is the Calf time with them; and by the shores of +the great Northland water their Babe Caribou come +forth in peace. And for food the Mothers eat moss, +even as Musk-Ox does, for there is nothing else. +Near to the coming of the Cold Time again the +Mothers come back with their Calves, and the +Bulls, who have been in the Southland, meet them."</p> + +<p>"Do you eat moss, Oohoo, the Wolf?" queried +Magh.</p> + +<p>"Am I a Grass-feeder? Did I eat my straw +bedding and become ill, like a wide-mouthed +Monkey that I know of?"</p> + +<p>"But have you not said, Brother Wolf, that in +the Northland Musk-Ox and Caribou eat moss because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +there is nothing else? Then what manner of +food do you find?"</p> + +<p>"Ghurr-r-h! Eh, what?" gasped Oohoo, feeling +that Magh had laid bare his mode of life.</p> + +<p>"Am I different from the others?" he snarled, +seeing a broad grin hovering about the mouth of +even Sher Abi, the Crocodile. "Because I am a +Wolf, is there a law in the Boundaries that I shall +not eat? Bagh, and Pardus, and Python, and Sher +Abi, they are the Blood Kind, and do they eat moss +or grass? Boar has said that all the evil of the +Jungle is fastened upon the Pig, and in my land it +is the Wolf that is wicked. This has been said by +the Man, but are they not worse than we are? +When the hunger, which is not of my desire, comes +strong upon me, I go forth to seek food. I kill not +Man; but if Caribou comes my way, and that which +is inside of me says to make a kill, shall I do so, +or lie down and die because of hunger? If a Wolf +makes a kill, and feasts until his hunger is dead, +and lies down to sleep, and kills no more until he is +again hungered, it is all wrong, and evil words are +spoken of him. But the Men kill, and kill, never +stopping to eat, showing that it is not because of +hunger—they kill until there is no living thing left; +then they boast together of the slaughter.</p> + +<p>"I have seen this happening at Fond du Lac, +which is a narrow crossing between two lakes in +my own land. There the Caribou pass when they +go to the Northland; and I have seen the Redmen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +killing these Moss-eaters as they swam from land +to land—killing them beyond all count. In the +Northland the Caribou were even as Buffalo on the +Plains, they were that many; and they came like a +running river to the crossing at Fond du Lac. The +Men-kind were hidden behind stones, and when the +Caribou were in the water these Red Slayers followed +in canoes, and killed with their spears, and +their knives, and their guns, until everything was +red with blood. Not that they needed the sweet +flesh because of hunger, for from many they took +out the tongue, and left all the rest to rot. We, +who are Wolves, and of evil repute, are not so bad +as the Men, I think.</p> + +<p>"And also the killing of the Musk-Ox is by the +Redmen," declared Oohoo.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid we must believe that," muttered +Magh, "for Musk-Ox is not here, and it is a long +way to the Northland for proof."</p> + +<p>"Neither here nor in any other animal city are +there Musk-Ox," explained Sa'-zada; "for none +have been brought out alive."</p> + +<p>"None!" added Wolf solemnly. "The Redmen +say that if any are taken alive the others will +all pass to some other land as did Buffalo. Not but +that one of the White Men tried it once; but there +is also a story of Head-taking I could tell."</p> + +<p>"Tell it," snapped Pardus; "one lie is as good as +another when told of a distant Jungle."</p> + +<p>"Well I remember that year," began Oohoo.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +"It was colder than any other time that I have +memory of. We had gathered into a mighty Pack, +Comrades; all white we were—all but our Leader, +who was Black Wolf. And such hunger! E-u-uh, +au-uh! I was almost blind because of the hunger +pains.</p> + +<p>"The Caribou that should have passed did not +come; why, I cannot say, for it was their time of +the year, the ending of the Cold Time."</p> + +<p>"Were there no Musk-Ox?" insinuated +Magh.</p> + +<p>"A Wolf can make few kills of Musk-Ox," explained +Oohoo, unguardedly; "that is—I mean—a +bad Wolf who might seek a Kill of that sort. They +are like Bison, or Arna, bunching up close in a pack +with their big-horned heads all facing out; and even +if the circle is broken, what then? their fur is so +thick that it would take longer jaws than I have to +cut a throat."</p> + +<p>"You've tried it, Oohoo," suggested Magh.</p> + +<p>"No, I've heard of this matter," he answered. +"But the story was this way. That time two White +Men came to the Big Lake——"</p> + +<p>"Artillery Lake, I think," explained Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"I know not, but it is a Big Water, and far +north. And there they built a shack."</p> + +<p>"You were interested," remarked Muskwa.</p> + +<p>"There were cousins of ours, the Train Dogs, +with them, so I sometimes went close for the chance +of a chat——"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The chance of a Pup, most likely," growled +Gidar.</p> + +<p>"Then one Man, with two Redmen and the Dog +Train, went north after Musk-Ox. Some of us +followed, for we knew that where the Men were +there would be much killing, and much eating left +for those of a lean stomach. It might be that some +of the Dogs would die of toil, and we were that +hungry, that starved, that even a Huskie would be +sweet eating.</p> + +<p>"As you know, Comrades, there is no timber +grows in all that land beyond the Big Lake, so the +Man carried a little wood in the Dog Sled to make +hot his drinking——"</p> + +<p>"Tea," suggested Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"Day after day he tramped to the North, not +seeing anything to kill; and all the time we were +getting hungrier and leaner of stomach. At night +we would come close to the little tepee wherein the +Hunter slept, and I fear that something would have +happened to him if it had not been for the wisdom +of our Leader, Black Wolf.</p> + +<p>"'Wait, Pack Comrades,' he would say, 'there +will surely be a kill of many Musk-Ox. I know +the way of the White Men—they come here but +for the shedding of blood.'</p> + +<p>"But one night, being close to the edge of starvation, +seeing one of the Huskies come forth from +the tepee, not knowing what I did—Ghur-rh! I +had him by the throat. Even now as I remember<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +it, perhaps it was another of the Pack that put his +strong jaws on the Dog's gullet—yes, I think it was +another.</p> + +<p>"'Ki, yi-i-i-i! E-e-eh!' he whined.</p> + +<p>"'Buh!' loud the Firestick barked as the White +Man smote at the Pack with it.</p> + +<p>"After a manner there was some eating that +night, what with the Huskie and three of our kind +the Man slew with the Firestick."</p> + +<p>"Cannibal!" exclaimed Magh in disgust.</p> + +<p>"It was to save our lives," exclaimed Oohoo. +"At last the White Man came to a herd of Musk-Ox; +but what think you of the temper Black Wolf +had when he saw that the Men-kind were not for +making a big Kill at all; just the matter of a Head +or two to take back with them."</p> + +<p>"Queer taste, sure enough," cried Cockatoo. +"Now, if it had been a head with a crest like +mine——"</p> + +<p>"Or even if it had been Magh's head," insinuated +Pardus.</p> + +<p>"Eu-wh, eu-u-u-h! to think that a Pack of famished +Wolves had trailed so far through the snow, +holding back from a Kill of the Men-kind, and to +get—nothing! True, the Men killed for their own +eating and the Dogs', but what was that to a whole +Pack? Buh-h-h! even now it makes me laugh when +I think of the manner we tore down the tepee one +night, for the Men had taken the eating inside to +keep it from us.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"After that, having learned wisdom, they killed +one of these fat creatures for us each day. Ghurrh! +but a bite!</p> + +<p>"And from listening beside the tepee at night, I +learned that the Redmen were angry because of +the Head-taking. These Forest-Dwellers think, +Comrades, that if they sell or give away the +head of a Kill all their strength in the hunt will +depart."</p> + +<p>"It's a wondrous good thing to believe, too," declared +Coyote. "Many an honest meal I've come +by when I was woefully hungry through the matter +of a head stuck on a pole, or stump, as a gift to +Matchi-Manitou. I remember one particularly fat +head of Muskwa—I mean—but you were saying, +Brother Oohoo, a most interesting happening of +the Musk-Ox when I interrupted you."</p> + +<p>"So, when the Redmen knew that it was heads +their White Comrade was after, they were filled +with anger, and a fear of the wrath of Manitou; +they declared that something of an evil nature +would happen to them if he took from that land +the Heads. And, would you believe it, Comrades, +whether there was truth in the power of this Head-matter +or not, I am unable to say, being but Oohoo +the Wolf, but two days from that time, as they +journeyed back toward the Big Water, they fell in +with a large Herd of the round-nosed Musk-Ox, +and the Wind wrath came upon them. The Redmen, +thinking to stop the taking of Heads, talked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +to the Moss-eaters in a loud voice, as though they +were men, bidding them go far over the Barren +Lands and tell all the other Musk-Ox to keep away, +for here was a taker of Heads. But the White +Man only laughed, and killed a Bull Leader who +had a beautiful long black beard, swearing that +such a Head was a prize indeed.</p> + +<p>"Comrades, perhaps there is someone looking +over the lives of Animals who has power with the +Wind and the White Storm. Of this I know not, +but it is a true tale that even as he cut the head +from the dead Moss-eater, such a storm as had not +been in the memory of any Dweller came with the +full fury of a hungry Wolf Pack down upon that +land. Like Pups of one litter all of us Wolves huddled +together, pulling the cover of our tails over +our noses to keep the heat in. We waited; and +moved not that day, nor that night, nor the next +day, nor the night after that again. Bitter as the +storm was, I almost laughed at Black Wolf's +lament. 'Now the men will be dead and lost to +us when we might have had them,' he kept whimpering; +'there will be no more killing of Musk-Ox, +and we shall go hungry.'</p> + +<p>"As we crawled out when the storm ceased, our +Leader went to where the snow was rounded up a +little higher than the rest. 'Here is the Musk-Ox,' +said Black Wolf; 'let us eat.'</p> + +<p>"I remember, as we dug at the snow there was a +strong scent of Man. 'It is the Hunter dead, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +think,' Black Wolf said, poking his nose down into +the snow.</p> + +<p>"But all at once, 'Buh!' came a hoarse call from +the Firestick, and Black Wolf, our Leader, +'E-e-he-uh!' fell over backward, dead. Then I +knew what it was. The Huntman had cut open +the Musk-Ox, and crawling inside, had kept his life +warm through the fierce storm. But the Redmen +had gone. Whether they had died because of the +storm, or trailed away because of the Head-taking, +I know not; but there they were not. Close curled +against the Musk-Ox had lain the Hunter's three +Dogs, and they, too, were alive.</p> + +<p>"Then commenced such a trail of a Man, Comrades, +as I, Wolf though I am, never wish to see +again. E-u-uh! eu-u-uh! but it was dreadful, for in +his face there was the Fear Look that Hathi has +spoken of. Night and day it was there, I think, +for he dared not sleep as he hurried back toward +the Big Water. Being without a Leader, we were +like a lot of Monkeys, fighting and jangling +amongst ourselves. Some were for killing him, but +others said, 'Wait, surely he will make a kill of +Musk-Ox again, and then we shall have eating—what +is one Man to a Wolf Pack in the way of +food?'</p> + +<p>"That day, coming up with a Herd, he shot two +of the Moss-eaters, and, as we ate of them, he +trailed to the South; but that availed him little, +Comrades, for the swing of a Wolf's going is like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +the run of a river; and when he camped that night +we also camped there. And the next day, and the +next, it was the same; the Huntman pushing on +with tiring walk striving for his life, and, behind +the Pack—some howling for a Kill of the Man, +and some fighting to save him that we might have +greater eating.</p> + +<p>"It was the last day before we came to the Big +Water. That day, being full famished, for we had +passed the land of the Musk-Ox—though to be sure +he had killed two Caribou for us—we ate his Dogs, +and he was fleeing on foot.</p> + +<p>"I must say, Comrades, though I lay no claim to +a sweet nature, yet I wished not to make a Kill of +the Man. But five times, as I remember it, some +of the Pack, eager for his life, closed in on him; +and five times with the Firestick he slew many of +my Wolf Brethren. Comrades, he made a brave +fight to reach the shack."</p> + +<p>"This is a terrible tale," cried Magh, excitedly. +"Did he reach the shack alive, Oohoo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but would you believe it, Comrades, the +White Man who had been left behind, through +being alone and through drinking much Firewater, +had become mad, even as I have seen a Wolf in the +time of great heat; and he knew not his Comrade, +the Huntman, but called through the closed door, +'Go away, go away!'</p> + +<p>"'I am Jack,' called the Huntman.</p> + +<p>"'Jack is dead!' yelped the Man who was mad.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +'He is dead out in the strong storm, and you are an +evil spirit—go away! go away!'</p> + +<p>"Oh, Hathi, it was dreadful, dreadful.</p> + +<p>"'Let me in, Tom; I am Jack,' pleaded the +Huntman who had come so far through the snow; +and, just beyond, we of the Wolf Pack waited, +waited, waited.</p> + +<p>"Sa'-zada, the cry of the lone Wolf is not so +dreadful as the yelpings of the Man who was mad. +Even we of the Wolf Pack moved back a little +when he called with a fierce voice. And he always +answered: 'Go away! You are an evil spirit. Jack +is dead! But I did not kill him—Go away!' And, +Sa'-zada, though it is dreadful, yet it is true, he +struck with his Firestick full through the door, and +killed the Man who was Jack. And in the end he, +too, died, and the Wolves buried them both after +the manner of Wolves."</p> + +<p>"Chee-hough! it's a terrible tale," said Magh.</p> + +<p>"It is true," answered White Wolf; "and all +that is the way of my land which is the Northland.</p> + +<p>"In the Hot Time sometimes there are the +little red flowers that are roses, but in the long +Cold Time it is as I have said, cold and a land +of much hunger. But it is my land—the Northland."</p> + +<p>"Engh-h-hu!" sighed Sher Abi, opening his eyes +as though just coming out of a dream; "I had an +experience one time very much like that, Brother +Wolf."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 409px;"> +<a name="i_202" id="i_202"></a> +<img src="images/i_202.jpg" width="409" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"'LET ME IN, TOM; I AM JACK,' PLEADED THE HUNT MAN."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of a snow storm, Sher Abi?" queried Mooswa, +doubtingly.</p> + +<p>"No, my solemn friend, I know nothing of snow; +I speak of having a Man inside of one. As Sa'-zada +has said, I think it's quite possible, and I'm +sure they must rest nice and warm, too."</p> + +<p>"Did a Man cut you open, Magar?" sneered +Magh.</p> + +<p>"No, little Old Woman, he did not; he was busy +that day taking off your tail for stealing his plantains."</p> + +<p>"Tell us about it, Magar," lisped Python. +"Wolf's tale of his snow-land makes me shiver."</p> + +<p>"There is not much to tell," murmured Sher +Abi, regretfully. "It was all over in a few minutes, +and all an accident, too; and, besides, it was +only one Man. You see, I was sunning myself on +a mud bank in Cherogeah Creek, when I heard +'thomp, thomp, thomp!' which was the sound of a +Boatman's paddle against the side of his log dug-out. +I slid backward into the water, keeping just +one eye above it to see what manner of traveler it +might be. It was old Lahbo, a villager who often +went up and down that creek, so I started to swim +across, meaning to come up alongside of his canoe +and wish him the favor of Buddha. As you know, +Comrades, all Animals love these Buddhists, for +their Master has taught them not to take the life of +any Jungle Dweller.</p> + +<p>"As I have said, I was swimming across the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +creek, when Lahbo, who must have been asleep, +suddenly ran his canoe up on my back. It was such +a light little dug-out, too, quite narrow, and being +suddenly startled, I jumped, and by some means +Lahbo's canoe was upset. Poor old Lahbo! How +my heart ached for him when I heard him scream +in the water."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the evil liar!" whispered Magh in Hathi's +ear.</p> + +<p>"Hush-h!" whistled Elephant, softly, through +his trunk; "Sher Abi was ever like this; I know +him well. It is just his way of boasting; he knows +nobody believes it."</p> + +<p>"Poor Lahbo," continued Magar. "I swam +quickly to help him, picked him up tenderly in my +jaws, and started for the shore. I would have +saved his life in another minute, but his cries had +gone to the ears of some Villagers, and they were +now on the bank of the creek, and with two Firesticks, +also. I was in a terrible fix, Comrades; if +I held my head under water, poor Lahbo would +drown; if I held it up, the Village Men would kill +me with the Firestick."</p> + +<p>"How did it end, Saver of Life?" asked Pardus. +"Did poor Lahbo ask you to swallow him to save +his life?"</p> + +<p>"I really can't say what did happen," answered +Sher Abi. "To this day tears come into my eyes +when I think of poor Lahbo. And it was all the +fault of the Villagers, for when the Firestick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +coughed, I think the Man-fear, that Hathi has +spoken of, came over him, for he commenced to +wriggle about so that I couldn't hold him. I was +so careful, too, for my teeth are sharp, and I was +afraid of hurting him. But, anyway, before I knew +it, Ee-eh-he! he had slipped down my throat; poor +Lahbo! And do you know, Comrades, I'm a little +afraid I'm not done with him yet, for he had a big +two-handed dah (sword) in his waist-band, and +I know that some of the pains I feel at times are +due to that; there's nothing so hard to digest as a +Burmese dah. And to this day, Comrades, sometimes +when I'm jumping about it seems to me that +bangles and rings that are inside of me string themselves +on that sword—I fancy at times I can hear +them jingle."</p> + +<p>"How did you come to have bangles inside of +you?" asked Magh most solicitously.</p> + +<p>"Engh-hu! little Moon-face, you make me very +tired. If any one tells a tale you try to put false +words into his mouth."</p> + +<p>"And bangles," snapped Magh.</p> + +<p>"Who spoke of bangles?" asked Sher Abi. "I +said not that they were bangles, but that it was +like that—the pains I mean. Perhaps even Lahbo +dropped the dah overboard, for all I know. And +look here, little one, Moon-faced Languar, if you +doubt what I say, you may go inside and see for +yourself."</p> + +<p>"How came you to this place, Sher Abi?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +asked Mooswa. "Did the Villagers catch you +then?"</p> + +<p>"Not that time. But once, hearing a Pariah +Dog in great distress, I thought he called to me +for aid, even as poor Lahbo had done, so I swam +quickly to lend him help——"</p> + +<p>"Poor Dog," jeered Magh.</p> + +<p>"But it was all a vile trick of the Men-kind," +declared Magar; "though at the time, not knowing +of this, I paid no heed to the matter. There were +two long rows of stakes in the water coming close +together at one end——"</p> + +<p>"Lough-hu! I know," murmured Buffalo; "the +walls of a stockade."</p> + +<p>"Yes," sighed Sher Abi. "And as I pushed +through the small end, the poor Dog being just +beyond, and in great distress, a big rope drew tight +about my neck, and before I could so much as +object, many of the Men-kind pulled me out on to +the dry land. Then I was sent here to Sa'-zada."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," murmured Hathi, "it seems to me +that every Jungle-Dweller thinks he's badly +treated, but judging from all the tales I've heard +I think we've all got our faults—I think we're +nearly as bad as the Men-kind."</p> + +<p>"My people are not," objected Buffalo; "we +never did harm to anyone."</p> + +<p>"Neither did we," exclaimed Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"Nor we," added Elk; and soon the clamor became +general, all holding that the Men-kind who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +killed almost every animal for the sake of taking +its life, and not because they were driven to it by +lean stomachs, were much worse than the Jungle-Dwellers.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," decided Hathi, "it seems that most +of you are against me, anyway. I think Buffalo is +right in what he says, but some of us have done +much wrong to the Men-kind——"</p> + +<p>"Meaning me, of course," ejaculated Wild Boar. +"I, who lay no claim to being good, and who am +counted the worst of all Animals, say, with Buffalo, +that the Men-kind have done more harm to me +than I to them, and have been of less benefit to me +than I to them."</p> + +<p>Then Sa'-zada spoke: "Comrades, this is a question +that we can't settle. If we were all like the +Buddhists, and took no life except because of great +need, perhaps it would be better. But now you +must all go back to your cages and corrals to sleep."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> +<p class="title2">Twelfth Night</p> + +<p class="title">The Story of Sa'-Zada, "Zoo" Keeper</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 253px;"> +<img src="images/i_12th_nite_1.jpg" width="253" height="450" alt=""/> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 387px;"> +<img src="images/i_12th_nite_2.jpg" width="387" height="500" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="TWELFTH_NIGHT" id="TWELFTH_NIGHT"></a><big>TWELFTH NIGHT</big><br /><br /> + +THE STORY OF SA'-ZADA, THE "ZOO" KEEPER</h2> + + +<p>It was the twelfth night of the Sa'-zada stories. +For eleven evenings Tiger, and Leopard, and +the others had told of their manner of life, with +more or less relevancy. This night Sa'-zada, the +little Master, was to speak of his jungle and forest +experience.</p> + +<p>Magh, the Orang, was filled with a joyous anticipation. +Perched as usual on Hathi's broad forehead, +she gave expression to little squeaks of enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Once even she stuck out her long, elastic under-lip +and broke into the little jungle song she always +had resource to when pleasantly excited:</p> + +<p>"Co-oo-oo-oo-oo! Co-wough, wough-oo!" with +a rising inflection that made the listener's ears +tingle. She even danced a modest can-can on +Hathi's patient old head.</p> + +<p>The Keeper came briskly up the walk, and patting +Hathi's trunk affectionately as it was held out +to him, sat on the grass with his back against Mooswa's +side.</p> + +<p>"Well, Comrades," he commenced, "before I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +came to a state of friendship with the Jungle Dwellers, +I was like a great many others of my kind, and +thought the only pleasure to be got from animals +was in killing them."</p> + +<p>"It is the beginning of a true talk," commented +Pardus.</p> + +<p>"And, so, in that time I hunted a great deal," +continued Sa'-zada. "When I first went to Burma +to live, my bungalow was just on the edge of +the Jungle, and some of the Dwellers were always +forcing their presence upon me—either +Snakes, or Jackals, or Jaruk the Hyena, or the +Bandar-Log; and one night even a Rogue Elephant——"</p> + +<p>"Hum-p-p-ph! he should have been prodded +with a sharp tusk," commented Hathi.</p> + +<p>"A Rogue Elephant," continued Sa'-zada, "came +down and played basket-ball with my garden and +bamboo cook-house. Gidar the Jackal, with a +dozen companions, used to gut my kitchen, and +then sit out in the moonlight and howl at me in +derision."</p> + +<p>"We sing at night because we can't help it, and +not because of ill will to the Men-kind," corrected +Gidar.</p> + +<p>"Well, one night, as the Jackals were in the +middle of a heavy chorus, they suddenly ceased; a +silence as of death came over everything; it seemed +as though all life had gone miles away from that +part of the country. Then came a hoarse call which +shook my little bungalow——"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know," interrupted Gidar, "when we stop +singing and move away silently it is to make room +for Bagh the Killer. We object to being seen in +the company of a murderer like that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was Tiger," asserted Sa'-zada, "and +two Sahibs, who were my companions, and, like +myself, new to the country, determined to get +him.</p> + +<p>"So next evening we took a Goat and tied it just +inside the Jungle, each one of us lying down on the +ground at a short distance from our bait. But the +Goat commenced to browse quietly and refused to +bleat. I tried jumping him up and down by the +tail and back of his neck, and he'd bleat just as +long as I'd pump. At last I tied him up so that +he stood on his hind legs, and he called then with +full vigor. For the matter of an hour we lay thus, +when presently, behind me, I heard the stealthy +step of some huge Jungle Dweller coming for the +Goat.</p> + +<p>"It was the most deliberate animal I had ever +waited for; it seemed hours that those carefully +planted feet had been heading towards the back of +my head. I could see nothing, for I was facing the +other way, and I dared not turn over for fear of +frightening the approaching Tiger away. This is +a true tale, Comrades, and I did not like overmuch +the idea of Bagh or Pardus, whichever it might be, +pouncing upon me from behind."</p> + +<p>"And they would do it," declared Gidar, "for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +there is a saying in their tribe that 'a kill from +behind is a kill of skill.'"</p> + +<p>"Were you afraid, little Master?" asked +Hathi.</p> + +<p>"I didn't like it," answered Sa'-zada, evasively.</p> + +<p>"I've lain close hid in the Elephant Grass," said +Bagh, "when a mighty drive of the Sahibs was on; +and perhaps you felt that time, O Sa'-zada, even +as I did."</p> + +<p>"I, too, have heard the Pigstickers galloping, +galloping all about a little <i>nulla</i> where I have +sought for safety and the chance of my life," added +Wild Boar, "and it's dreadful. If all the Sahibs +could have known that feeling, even as you +did, O Sa'-zada, perhaps they would hunt us +less."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," answered the Keeper; "but I could +hear the great animal creeping, oh, so carefully, +step by step, hardly a twig shifting under his cautious +feet—only a little soft rustle of the leaves as +they whispered to the sleepy night air that something +of evil was afoot. It got on my nerves, I +must say, for I knew that I had not one chance in +a thousand if Bagh were to spring upon me from +behind. A fair fight I did not mind. I dared not +even whisper to my companions, for they were a +short distance from me, lest I should frighten the +quarry away. When the soft-moving feet were +within five yards of my head they became silent, +and I felt that the great animal, Bagh or Pardus,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +or some other Killer, was crouched ready for a +spring.</p> + +<p>"One minute, two minutes, an hour—perhaps +half the night I seemed waiting for something to +happen. The suspense was dreadful. One of my +comrades had heard the footsteps, too, for I could +see his rifle gleam in the moonlight as he held it +ready to fire at sight of the animal. The strain +was so trying that I almost wished Bagh would +charge.</p> + +<p>"But at last my nerves got the better of me and +I turned over on my face, bringing my Express up +to receive the visitor. The noise startled him, and +with a hoarse bark he was off into the Jungle. It +was only little ribbed-faced Barking Deer, who had +come out of curiosity to see what the Goat was +making a row about."</p> + +<p>Hathi gave a great sigh of relief, for the Little +Master's story of thrilling danger had worked him +up to a pitch of excited interest.</p> + +<p>"I remember a little tale of a happening," said +Arna the Buffalo. "We were a herd of at least +twenty, lying in a bit of nice, soft muddy land, for +it was a wondrous hot day, I remember, when suddenly +right through the midst of us walked a Sahib, +and with him was one of the Black Men-kind. By +his manner I knew that he had not seen us, being +half-buried as we were in the <i>jhil</i>. Just beyond +where we rested was a plain of the dry grass Eating, +and to that our enemies the Men passed. Comrades,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +the method of our doing you know, when +there is danger. If it is far away, and we see it, +we go quickly from its presence, as is right for all +Jungle Dwellers; but should it come suddenly close +upon us we fight with a strength that even Bagh +dreads.</p> + +<p>"As I have said, seeing the Sahib so close, +our Leader sprang up and snorted in anger. +Now Bagh, when he is in an evil temper, +roars loudly; but we, being people of little +voice, trusting more to our horns than to noise, +only call 'Eng-ugh!' before we charge. So, +when our Leader called twice, we rushed out +into the field where was this Sahib. I remember +well, the Black man ran with great speed +across the Plain, but the Sahib faced us. In his +eyes there was a look such as I have seen in the +eyes of another Bull when I have challenged him, +and it was a question whether we should fight or +not.</p> + +<p>"But fear came not to this Man," added Arna, +decidedly, "for as we raced down upon him, he +smote at us with his Firestick, and taking the cover +that was on his head——"</p> + +<p>"His helmet," suggested Sa'-zada.</p> + +<p>"The cover in his hand," proceeded Arna, +"charged full at us, calling us evil names in a loud +voice. I know not which of us turned in his gallop, +but certain it is that the herd passed on either side +of the Man and he was not hurt."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But did you not turn and trample him?" asked +Boar.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Arna; "when we charge we +charge, and there's an end of it."</p> + +<p>"That is also our way," concurred Bagh, "except, +perhaps, when we are struck by the Firestick, +then sometimes we turn and charge back."</p> + +<p>"By-the-memory-of-honey!" said Muskwa the +Bear, "I should like to hear a tale from Sa'-zada +of my people."</p> + +<p>"Well," declared the Keeper, "there was a happening +in connection with Muskwa's cousin, +Grizzly, that makes me tremble—I mean, calls up +rather unpleasant memories to this day."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that—Whuf! glad we're to have +the story," corrected Muskwa, apologetically.</p> + +<p>"It was in the Rocky Mountains," began Sa'-zada, +"in the South Kootenay Pass. I was after +Big Horn, the Mountain Sheep, with two Comrades, +and a guide called Eagle Child, when we +saw a big Grizzly coming down the side of a mountain +called the Camel's Back.</p> + +<p>"Now, Eagle Child was a man very eager to do +big things, so, almost without asking my consent, +he laid out the whole plan of campaign. On the +side of the Camel's Back Mountain grew a spruce +forest, and through this snow avalanches had +ploughed roadways, from top to bottom, looking +like the streets of a city. Eagle Child called to +me as he forded the mountain stream on his Horse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +that he would go up one of these snow roads and +get the Grizzly, or turn him down another one for +me.</p> + +<p>"Now, Comrades, Muskwa here is a man of +peace, loving his honey and his Ants, but Grizzly +is one to interview with great caution, and my Comrade, +Eagle Child, being a man of unwise haste, +you will understand, Comrades, that I expected +strange happening when he started to interfere with +Grizzly's evening plans, for it was toward the end +of the day."</p> + +<p>"It is not wise to meddle with one of a short +temper," declared Hathi.</p> + +<p>"I am not one of a short temper," objected +Grizzly. "I seek a quarrel with no one; but, perhaps, +if this man, who was Sa'-zada's comrade, +sought to make a kill of one of our kind, there may +have been trouble. If I am of a great strength +why is that—is it so that I may be killed easily? +Have I not strong claws just as Bagh has his teeth, +and Boar his tusks, and Python his strength of +squeeze?—even also have I somewhat of a squeeze +myself. And shall I not use these things that I +have, as do the other Forest Dwellers when their +desire is to live? I am not like Elk that can gallop +fast—flee from a slayer. And so, if I, being strong, +fight for my life, it is temper, eh? Wough! I am +as I am. But go on, Little Master—tell us of this +happening."</p> + +<p>"As I was saying," recommenced Sa'-zada,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +"when Eagle Child in his great eagerness started +after that Bear, I had an idea there would be fun, +and there was—though I must say that I followed +up to give him some help."</p> + +<p>"There was no harm in that," said Grizzly, +magnanimously. "Comrades of the same kind +must help each other."</p> + +<p>"That Eagle Child had ridden up to meet the +Grizzly was in itself a fair promise for excitement, +but also his Cayuse was one of the jerkiest brutes +ever ridden by anybody. He had a great dislike +for spurs."</p> + +<p>"Quite right, too," bubbled Unt the Camel; "I +remember a Cavalry Man on my back once——"</p> + +<p>Sa'-zada interrupted Camel, and continued: "A +dig from the spurs and the Cayuse would refuse to +budge; but, of course, the rider knew that.</p> + +<p>"Eagle Child thought that the Bear was working +down in a certain direction, but, as you know, Comrades, +Muskwa is a fellow of many notions, turning +and twisting and changing his course beyond all +calculations."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we are like that," assented Muskwa. "It +is our manner of life. We find our food in small +parts, and in many places—berries here, and Ants +there, and perhaps Honey on the other side. We +are not like Bagh, who goes straight for his Kill, +for we must keep a sharp lookout or we shall find +nothing."</p> + +<p>"Well, Grizzly evidently turned, for, while my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +Guide was looking for him in one direction, he +bounced out not ten yards from the Cayuse from +a totally different quarter. This rather startled +Eagle Child; and, though he should have known +better, he dug the silly spurs into his erratic tempered +Horse, with the result that the latter balked—bucked +up like a stubborn mule.</p> + +<p>"This looked as though he meant to stop and +fight it out—the Grizzly evidently thought so, for +he gave a snort of rage and tore down the mountain +full at his enemy. I dared not shoot for fear +of striking my comrade; but one bullet wouldn't +have mattered, anyway; it wouldn't have stopped +the charging Grizzly. Luckily for Eagle Child, +his Horse reared just as the Bear arrived, and +though he was sent flying, Muskwa's cousin did +not succeed in clawing him, his time being taken up +in making little pieces of the Horse. Eagle Child +arrived at the foot of the mountain very rapidly, +for all this had happened at the top of a long shale +cut bank, and he did not look for smooth paths, but +just came away without regard to the means of +transport."</p> + +<p>"And is that all of the tale?" inquired Magh, +with a rather disappointed air, for she had hoped +to hear of Muskwa's getting the worst of the encounter.</p> + +<p>"Not by any means," answered Sa'-zada; "that +was but the beginning. My comrade being out of +the way," he continued, "I fired at Grizzly."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;"> +<a name="i_220" id="i_220"></a> +<img src="images/i_220.jpg" width="405" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"THE GRIZZLY ... BOUNCED OUT NOT TEN YARDS FROM THE CAYUSE."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To kill him?" exclaimed Mooswa, reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"That was before I was comrade to the Jungle +Dwellers," apologized the Keeper—"before I +knew they were more interesting alive than dead. +And I fear I struck him, too," he added, "for when +he had finished knocking the Horse to pieces we +saw him go up the side of the Camel's Back limping +as though a leg had been broken."</p> + +<p>"That was a shame," declared Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"It would have been a great shame, an outrage," +asserted Bagh, "if I, or Pardus, or even Hathi +had broken the leg of a Man; we would have been +hunted by a drove of twenty Elephants, and many +of the Men-kind."</p> + +<p>"But," objected Magh, "as Sa'-zada has said, +that was before he had proper wisdom, so we bear +him no malice. Even Muskwa does not, do you, +old Shaggy Sides?"</p> + +<p>"No, I did not know the law of life then," said +the Keeper; "and Eagle Child and myself followed +after poor old wounded Grizzly and in our hearts +was a desire for his life. Eagle Child was cross +because I had laughed at him when he came down +all covered with mud, also he had lost a Horse. +He swore that he would kill that Bear if it took a +week."</p> + +<p>"I know," commented Hathi, swinging his trunk +sideways and lifting Jaruk off his feet with a blow +in the ribs as if by accident. "I hate the smell of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +that Jungle Scavenger," he confided to Magh in a +whisper. "I know," he continued aloud, "I've +heard the Sahibs swear often, over a less matter +than the killing of a Horse, too."</p> + +<p>"We thought that Grizzly was badly wounded +and couldn't go far, and that we should soon come +within range of him up amongst the rocks."</p> + +<p>"Of course, he went up, having a broken leg," +declared Pardus; "that's the way with all Forest +Dwellers—one pitches going down on three legs."</p> + +<p>"But it was getting late, so we hurried fast. I +had tied my Horse to a tree, for the climb was +steep. Up, up, up we went; sometimes catching +sight of Grizzly, sometimes seeing a drop of +blood——"</p> + +<p>"Dreadful," whimpered Mooswa. "Why +should Men be so eager to see the blood of Forest +Dwellers who have not harmed them?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes we saw blood on the rocks," proceeded +Sa'-zada, "and sometimes we followed +Grizzly's trail by the mark of a stone upturned +where his strong claws had been planted. Once +I got another shot at him, and struck him, too, but, +as Greybeard here might tell you, a Grizzly is like +Arna, he can carry off the matter of twenty bullets +unless they happen upon his heart or brain."</p> + +<p>"That is even so," concurred Grizzly. "Whuff! +I have at least a dozen in my own body. The Men +seek to improve our tempers after that manner."</p> + +<p>"It was getting late," resumed Sa'-zada, "but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +still we continued upward, the Bear holding on with +great strength. It was October, and in the hollows +of the upper ranges snow was lying like a white +apron in a nurse's lap. 'He went this way,' said +the guide to me, pointing to a narrow ledge of rock +around the side of a cliff, with a drop from it of a +thousand feet.</p> + +<p>"Now, Eagle Child was a Stony Indian, and +they are like Mountain Sheep in their ability to +climb. We had to work our way down carefully +to this ledge, helping each other lest we fall, and +even when it was reached the yawn of the valley +a thousand feet below caused me to tremble. So, +cautiously we worked along this narrow path, and, +as we rounded the point, to our great fear we saw +that we could go no farther—a dead wall stood +two hundred feet high in front of us. Slowly, cautiously, +we turned our bodies, and went back; and +then we saw what we had overlooked in our eagerness +for poor old Grizzly's life—we could not get +up the way we had come down—we were trapped."</p> + +<p>"It's a dreadful feeling," declared Pardus, "to +be caught in a Trap—though there were no Men +enemies about you, Sa'-zada, to make it worse."</p> + +<p>"Or to be shut up in a Keddah," muttered Hathi—"it's +awful. To be taken out of one's nice pleasant +jungle and led into a Keddah trap with those of +the Men-kind trumpeting and calling, and even +those of our own tribe, Elephant, taking part +against us."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was that what made you friend to the Jungle +Dwellers, Sa'-zada?" asked Muskwa.</p> + +<p>"At the time," answered the Keeper, "I thought +only of the dreadful fix we were in. Below, a +thousand feet or more, the sharp tops of the spruce +and cedar stood like spears——"</p> + +<p>"I've felt a spear in my shoulder, ugh, ugh! it +drives one fair mad with fear and pain," grunted +Boar.</p> + +<p>"Under our feet was a narrow ledge of rock not +the width of Hathi's back; behind us, and on either +side of us, the cliffs ran up hundreds of feet. On +the upper peak of the Camel's Back a snowstorm +was shutting out the last grey light of day—the +darkness of night was fast coming on. I could see +nothing for it but to stand perfectly straight with +our backs to the rock wall all through the bitter +night and talk to each other to keep sleep away. +The next day our comrades might find us, and let +down a rope to help us up."</p> + +<p>"You could also think in the night of how we +feel, O Little Brother, when we are hunted," declared +Pardus. "Even perhaps Grizzly with his +broken leg had to lie on some rock, afraid to travel +in the night lest he fall."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was a good time to think of the troubles +of Jungle Dwellers," concurred Hathi.</p> + +<p>"I thought of many things," said the Keeper, +softly; "and but for Eagle Child I fear I should +have fallen a dozen times; I felt his hand on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +my arm more than once pressing me against the +wall. But at last morning came. I never felt +so cold in my life, for, you see, we dared not +move about. But it was noon before I saw +my two comrades riding up the valley looking for +us.</p> + +<p>"Eagle Child called, 'Hi, yi, yi—oh, yi!' The +rocks threw his voice far out, and they heard it. It +took them a long time to climb up to the place from +where we had descended. They had brought their +lassos with them, for they knew that we were cut +off; and soon, but with much cautious labor, we +were safe."</p> + +<p>"And what of Grizzy?" asked Muskwa, solicitously.</p> + +<p>"I hope he, too, got away all right," answered +Sa'-zada, "for I never saw him again—we did not +follow him."</p> + +<p>"I think Wie-sah-ke-chack led you to that place, +Little Master, to give Grizzly a chance for his +life," commented Mooswa.</p> + +<p>"I like our Master's story," declared Hathi; +"so often I've heard the Sahibs boasting of the +Animals they have killed, but Sa'-zada tells only of +the times fear came to him because of his wrong-doing."</p> + +<p>"That happening was of Greybeard, and he is +but a cousin of mine," complained Muskwa the +Black Bear. "Did you never meet with my family, +Little Master?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you insist upon it, Muskwa," answered +the Keeper, "I might tell a little tale of your +people."</p> + +<p>"I should like that—do," pleaded Black Bear; +"in all the stories there has been nothing of our +doing."</p> + +<p>"But they were also only relatives of yours, +though they were black, for the happening was in +India, and there they are called Bhalu the Bear. +And the happening was not of my doing, either, +for I was hunting Bagh, the Tiger."</p> + +<p>"Every hunter takes me for a choice," growled +Raj Bagh.</p> + +<p>"But this was a bad Tiger," declared Sa'-zada; +"he had killed many people."</p> + +<p>"And what of that—Waugh-houk! what of that, +Little Master?" demanded Raj Bagh. "Have not +many people killed many of my kind—are they not +always killing us?"</p> + +<p>"Still the Little Master is right," objected +Hathi. "If a Bull Elephant becomes Rogue, and, +neglecting his proper eating which is in the Jungle, +goes seeking to kill the Men-kind, does he not +surely come into trouble?"</p> + +<p>"But we be flesh eaters and slayers of life," answered +Raj Bagh.</p> + +<p>"Even so, though that were better otherwise, but +do you not know of your own people that the Men-kind +are not for Kill? Before all other Dwellers +of the Jungle you stand forth and are ready to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +battle, but just the <i>scent</i> of Man causes you to slink +away like Jaruk the Hyena."</p> + +<p>"I think that is true," commented Mooswa. +"Wie-sah-ke-chack has arranged all that."</p> + +<p>Said the Keeper: "It is not right to kill the animals +as men do, for sport, but when Bagh, or any +other Jungle Dweller, turns Man-eater, he should +die."</p> + +<p>"And Sher Abi, too," squeaked Magh; "his +tribe are all Man-eaters—they should be all +killed."</p> + +<p>"At any rate," continued the Keeper, "I was +after this Man-eater. I had a <i>machan</i> built in a +Pipal tree, and a Buffalo calf tied up near it——"</p> + +<p>"One of your young, Arna," said Bagh, vindictively.</p> + +<p>"And early in the evening I climbed into my +<i>machan</i> and prepared for Mister Stripes."</p> + +<p>"That's Man's way," sneered Raj Bagh. +"What chance have we against them up in +a <i>machan</i>? No chance; and they call that +sport."</p> + +<p>"And what chance has a village woman against +a big-fanged Tiger?" grunted Boar. "No chance. +It seems to me there are few in the Jungle as decent +as Hathi and myself; we meddle not with the +Men."</p> + +<p>"Just before dark," continued Sa'-zada, "I heard +a noise coming through the Khir bushes. 'Bagh +comes early,' I thought to myself."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He must have been hungry to scent a kill before +dark," muttered Raj Bagh.</p> + +<p>"He smelt a man and thought it a good chance +to commit murder," sneered Magh.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't Tiger at all," said the Keeper, "but +three noisy Black Bears—Bhalu the Bear. I +thought they would soon pass, for they do not meddle +much with cattle."</p> + +<p>"No, we are not throat cutters like Bagh," +whuffed Muskwa.</p> + +<p>"But they seemed in an inquisitive mood. Now, +the calf was tied to the foot of a toddy palm, and +they looked at him as much as to say, 'What are +you doing here?'"</p> + +<p>"I would have explained matters to them had I +been there," exclaimed Arna, shaking his head. +"A poor Calf!"</p> + +<p>"No doubt they meant to help him out of his +trouble," volunteered Muskwa.</p> + +<p>"Presently one of them proceeded to climb the +toddy palm, and I thought they were looking for +me perhaps. On the tree was a jar the natives had +put there for catching the toddy liquor; and you can +imagine my surprise, Comrades, when I saw Bhalu +take a big drink out of this. When he came down +one of his comrades went up. There were half-a-dozen +toddy trees there, and the Bears helped +themselves to the toddy until in the end they became +very drunk."</p> + +<p>"I know how that feels," said Oungea the Water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +Monkey; "have I not told you, Comrades, of the +gin my Master——"</p> + +<p>"Caw-w-w, caw-w-w!" interrupted Crow. "I +also know of that condition. I ate some cherries +once that had been thrown from a bungalow in +Calcutta, and they made my head wobble so I +couldn't fly. A Sahib stood in the door and laughed +and said I was drunk."</p> + +<p>"The cherries had been in brandy, I suppose," +explained Sa'-zada. "But Bhalu was most unmistakably +drunk. They wanted to play with the Calf, +but he became frightened and bawled. I could see +there was small chance of a visit from Bagh with +three drunken Bears and a bellowing Calf at the +foot of my tree."</p> + +<p>"This is a nice story, Muskwa," sneered Magh. +"I'm so glad to hear of your people and their +ways."</p> + +<p>"Only cousins of mine," declared Muskwa, "and +called Bhalu."</p> + +<p>"All Bears are alike," snapped Coyote; "meddlesome +thieves."</p> + +<p>"They steal little Pigs," added Boar.</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't go away," said Sa'-zada, "and +I began to fear that I shouldn't get a shot at +Stripes. I did not want to shoot, because if Tiger +was anywhere in the neighborhood it would put an +end to his visit. I had nothing heavy to throw at +them except my water-bottle; but, finally, taking a +long drink to keep the thirst away for a time, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +stood up in the <i>machan</i> and let fly the bottle. +It caught the Bear just behind the ear, and +Bhalu, thinking one of his comrades had hurt +him, pitched into the other two, and there +was a fierce three-cornered fight on in a minute."</p> + +<p>"I can swear that it is a true tale," barked Gidar, +"for twice I've seen a family of Bhalu's people in +just such a stupid fight. Not that they were possessed +of toddy, for they are silly enough at all +times. But it is known in the Jungle that when +Bhalu is wounded, he fights with the first one he +sees, even his own brother, thinking he has done +him the harm."</p> + +<p>"One chap got the worst of the encounter and +reeled off into the Jungle, the other two following. +I could hear them wrangling and snarling for a +long distance—all the world like a party of +drunken sailors."</p> + +<p>"These Bear stories are just lovely," grinned +Magh. "Aren't they, Muskwa?"</p> + +<p>"Did you kill Bagh, the Man-eater?" asked +Muskwa, to change the subject.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I stopped his murderous career that +night," answered Sa'-zada. "He was an evil animal +and deserved to die. Now it is late and you +must all go to your cages."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad your people had a chance to be heard +from, Muskwa," lisped Magh as she slid down +Hathi's trunk. "You always looked so terribly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +respectable and honest, that I was really afraid +to speak to you."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"> +<a name="i_230" id="i_230"></a> +<img src="images/i_230.jpg" width="406" height="600" alt=""/> +<span class="caption">"BHALU ... PITCHED INTO THE OTHER TWO."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Phrut, phrut!" muttered Hathi through his +trunk; "I have lived for a matter of forty years or +so, amongst the Jungle Dwellers and with the Men-kind, +and I think that we are all alike, all having +some good and some bad qualities."</p> + + +<p class="center">THE END</p> +<hr class="full" /> + + + +<h2>Books by W. A. Fraser</h2> + +<p class="center">Published by Charles Scribner's Sons</p> + + +<h3>BRAVE HEARTS</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>With frontispiece. 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Like the thoroughbred he writes about, Mr. +Fraser's narrative is always full of action. He has +the knack of telling a story."—New York <i>Evening Sun</i>.</p> + +<p>"The author has caught the spirit of the paddock, +track, and betting ring, and ... he manages to +show them to us in their true colors."—Newark <i>Advertiser</i>.</p> + +<p>"It has the stir and go of a healthy sporting +blood."—New York <i>Evening Post</i>.</p> + +<p>"Of rapid movement, and as refreshing as the +outdoor air in which the scenes are laid."—Boston <i>Herald</i>.</p> + +<p>"Clever, spirited, and sympathetic."—<i>The Outlook.</i></p> + +<p>"Few stories of outdoor sport and exercise of any +sort equal these in vigor, reality, and suspense."—Washington <i>Evening Star</i>.</p> + +<p>"Stories that all lovers of the noblest of domesticated +animals will enjoy."—<i>The Churchman.</i></p> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>BY W. A. FRASER</h2> + +<h3>BLOOD LILIES</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>With illustrations by</i> F. E. <span class="smcap">Schoonover</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>12mo, $1.50</i></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The quality of the story is strong and seamed +with the invigorating life of nature, and at times reads +like a Longfellow prose poem. The illustrations by +Mr. Schoonover are of remarkable excellence."—Boston <i>Herald</i>.</p> + +<p>"Will keep the reader both interested and amused, +for the author has humor as well as a sharp dramatic +faculty."—New York <i>Sun</i>.</p> + +<p>"The tale is one of both emotion and action. +It has elements that will give it a hold upon the sympathies +of its readers."—New York <i>Times Review</i>.</p> + +<p>"No one can read the story without a thrilling +of the pulses. He will be exhilarated and moved.... +It is well worth mention among the best books +of the fall."—Los Angeles <i>Times</i>.</p> + +<p>"The men we meet here are men of flesh and +blood and of passion.... One really cannot describe +the beauty and pathos of the story."—San Francisco <i>Post</i>.</p> + +<p>"The art that can so graphically draw such a +poetic, dramatic, and pathetic picture as this of the +wild life of these rude Northland folk is viable and +enduring."—<i>The Independent.</i></p> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>BY W. A. FRASER</h2> + +<h3>MOOSWA<br /> + +and Others of the Boundaries</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated by</i> <span class="smcap">Arthur Fleming</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Crown 8vo, $2.00</i></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In these stories we find somewhat of a return +to the Ęsopian presentation of animals, touched by +the spirit of modernity, and, thrown over them all, +a thorough knowledge of the animal life of the +wilderness."—New York <i>Mail and Express</i>.</p> + +<p>"One of the best nature books ever published."—Brooklyn <i>Eagle</i>.</p> + +<p>"These stories of the doings of the fur-bearing +animals in winter will be greatly relished by readers +of all ages and both sexes. Besides being good stories, +they contain any quantity of interesting information +about the lives of these animals, their relations with +one another, their food, and how they build their +homes."—Boston <i>Herald</i>.</p> + +<p>"He has succeeded in introducing several very +real and charming forest acquaintances to his readers."—New York <i>Tribune</i>.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Fraser has mingled a deal of natural history +with folk-lore and the interests of the far fur-bearing +lands in a volume that ought to please all +readers of animal stories."—<i>The Interior.</i></p> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2>BY W. A. FRASER</h2> + +<h3>THE OUTCASTS</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated by</i> <span class="smcap">Arthur Fleming</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Crown 8vo, $1.25 net</i></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It has all the charm of the 'Jungle Book,' of +which it is in no sense an imitation, of Ernest Thompson +Seton, of Gilbert Parker's tales of Northland. The +writing is charming, almost flawless; it is pathetic, +curious, interesting. The woodcraft and the intimate +knowledge of animal life and habits are a revelation."—Chicago +<i>Tribune</i>.</p> + +<p>"A book worthy to be classed with Thompson +Seton's 'Wild Animals I Have Known' and Kipling's +'Jungle Book.'"—Boston <i>Evening Transcript</i>.</p> + +<p>"Should be ranked among the very best.... +It is full of interest, kindly humor, and is sympathetically +and delightfully told."—Atlanta <i>Journal</i>.</p> + +<p>"This book is a delightful picture of the woodland +life of the vast stretches of that flank of the +Rockies toward the Arctic Circle.... It is one of +the best nature books ever published."—Brooklyn <i>Eagle</i>.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> + + +<p class="transnote">Transcriber's Notes<br /><br /> + + +Added missing hyphen to "Sa'-Zada", but kept the lowercase z variation +"Sa'-zada" which was used throughout the book. Removed the hyphen in +"Sher Abi" for consistency. Corrected mismatched quote marks, and made +the following changes:<br /><br /> + +<a href="#Contents">Contents</a>: Changed "Bheh" to "Bagh" to match chapter title and +character name.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Orig.: Raj Bheh, the King Tiger</span><br /><br /> + +Page <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>: "<span class="smcap">Hansor</span>, (the Laugher) Hyena" is only mentioned in the list +of "The Dwellers in Animal Town." "Jaruk the Hyena" is used throughout +the remainder of the book.<br /><br /> + +Pages <a href="#Page_5">5</a> and <a href="#Page_177">177</a>: "Pard" is used instead of "Pardus;" it might be +a nickname rather than a typo.<br /><br /> + +Page <a href="#Page_129">129</a>: Changed "tale" to "tail".<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Orig.: I pulled the tale of every Donkey of the line</span><br /><br /> + +Page <a href="#Page_225">225</a>: "Grizzy" may be a typo for "Grizzly," or just Muskwa's +nickname for Grizzly.<br /><br /> + +Note: Bakri apparently refers to a sheep or goat:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"> Page <a href="#Page_71">71</a>: a jungle Bakri (sheep)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"> Page <a href="#Page_83">83</a>: I sprang on Bakri the Goat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"> Page <a href="#Page_175">175</a>: kill Bakri, the Men's Sheep</span><br /> +<br /> +Spelling variations:<br /><br /> + +Pages <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>: Wie-sak-ke-chack<br /> +Pages <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>: Wie-sah-ke-chack<br /> +</p> + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Sa'-Zada Tales, by William Alexander Fraser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SA'-ZADA TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 38289-h.htm or 38289-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/8/38289/ + +Produced by Darleen Dove, Shannon Barker, Diane Monico, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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