The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-10-01

! taking his claws out of the dead animal
and shaking himself rs he did so, he be-
gan to creep stealthily around the court.
! yard like cat stealing march upon 8
mouse. He made no noise whatever
! raising and placing his huge paws as
silently as a rose leaf flutters TO the
ground.
! It was not scene to be forgotten
The king, with his courtiers, both Eu-
ropean and Indian, about him in the
! gayly-decorated gallery above, the eyes
and figures Of the servants dimly seen
peering through the railing of the We
randa below, Burrhea making his
stealthy rounds, while in the center oi
the courtyard stood the man-eater, slow
, ly turning, as the tiger moved, so as al
ways to keep his eyes fixed upon the
glaring eyes of his opponent, his foreleg
still advanced and slightly bent, his
name bristling, and his ears now erect
and defiant.
: The profound silence was interrupted
only by the grating SOUND of the iron
hoofs Of the horse as he slowly turned
! in exact concert with the movements oil
the tiger.
At last, and without the slightest visi-
bile preparation, the tiger sprang, cutting
the air like flash of lightning, but the
horse was prepared. =.
1t had evidently been Burrhea's inten-
tion to seize the head and fore quarters,
but the man eater was too quick for him,
and by a sudden diving motion of his
head and shoulders, received his antago-
mist upon his muscular launches instead.
The claws of the tiger sank deep in the
flesh, while his hind feet made desper-
ate effort to secure holding upon the
horses shoulders, but before this could
be effected the man-eater lashed out with
his iron heels with resistless vigor that
sent Burrhea sprawling upon the ground
with broken Jaw.
The king seeing this, frowned, and
gave orders to let the tiger out and turn
in another. Another came, but he
seemed unwilling to fight. All the ef-
forts of the keepers failed to arouse him.
The king was furious.
take away that fool of tiger and
bring in lion!" screamed he, bending
over the railing and menacing the tiger
with his fist.
The trembling attendants fastened to
raise the doors of railing and cage, and
the tiger bounded in with infinitely more
alacrity than he had shown in coming
out.
There was brief pause, and than the
attendant at the door announced the
keeper Of the lions, who begged the audi
ence of the king.
Bring him I'M" ordered his majesty.
The lion-master tremblingly advanced,
and prostrating himself, announced that
not one of the royal beasts under his
charge was in fighting trim, one of them
being sick. and the rest just finishing an
unusually large repast.
by the beard of my father, but you
shall replace them yourself, wallah! p
growled the king, whose iil-humor had
reached its height. "Arm yourself with
Il tulwar and 90 in to fight the man-eater.
Kill him. or he shall kill YOU"
A profound silence followed this COM
mand, which all who heard it under
stood as q sentence of death against the
unfortunate man whose only offence
consisted in having been too indulgent
to the animals under his charge.
But in Dude to hear was to obey, even
more blindly than in the East generally,
and the ion-keeper, with his face
blanched and his eyes rolling wildly,
salaamed to the ground and withdrew.
At the same instant a slight noise was
heard in the women's gallery below,
and as some of us bent over to ascertain
the cause, we saw one of the bamboo
ratings torn from it's fastenings and a
light figure fill the opening and leap
lightly to the ground. It was Numah, a
nautch girl, whom the king had just
bought from the dishonest nautch wal
lah, with whom she hal agreed to dance
for a certain time. Her home, her lover,
were now lost to her forever, and she
sought to save the poor mans life at the
cost of her own.
| The king saw her as soon as any of US,
and an expression Of terror crossed his
face, but Immediately gave way to fero-
cious satisfaction.
1T is well done, Numah, " Shouted he.
go and tell the admee-kanawallah
your sorrows and your wrongs. Hewill
console you"
The nautch girl turned and raised her
eyes to theroyal gallery.
death will comfort me, 0 king"
said she, salaaming low, with the supple
grace inseparable from her every move
ment. Then she walked firmly and
! fearlessly toward the man-eater, who
watched intently her approach, and with
neck and tremulous nostrils seemed to
question her intentions.
Arrived within arms length of him,
! Numah paused and sank upon her knees,
crossing her arms and bowinS her head
rs in submission to her fate.
| A silence like that of death rel eigned
throughout the place, broken at last by
the grating sound of the horses hoofs, as,
cautiously moving them. he approached
her step by step, and finally stood
directly over her, his head grazing her
! shoulder, while nostril. eye and ear were
evidently alert to satisfy the mind OF
their master.
| ma halla! he will not hurt her." ex.
claimed the king; and indeed the man
cater had no intentions of so doing, for
: he was now resting his chin on the girl's
shoulder, and whinnying with satisfac-
tion.
! Numah, more surprised than any one,
raised her head, looked in the eyes OF
the animal, rose cautiously to her feet,
and laid her hand upon his name. The
man-eater whinnied again and rubbed
his head against her shoulder.
An irrepressible burst of applause
tilled the royal gallery, raised by the
European spectators. After an instant's
hesitation it was Joined by the king. -.
"Shavash, Numah! Bravo, girl"
shouted he. clapping his hands. "Yor
have conquered the conqueror o.
Burrhea and shall be rewarded. Ma
wah, see that Numah receives five thou
sand rupees and is sent back safe to hel
home with the horse"