The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-09-11

on the n1gn road to the hunting
steppes of the Bakit, or hill country
Punda was good sort of Malay, which
means bad sort of anything else.
That is, he would plumber only on the
securest principles, and never QUAR- ell
with bigger man or better armed
one than himself. In this he differed
from other Malays, who would plumber
and knife upon no principle or provo
cation whatever, if they thought there
was a ten-anna piece to be gained
thereby.
But deeper reading of this pros
porous Boniface of the jungles revealed
the fact that he was capable of love-
yes, even tender, human affection;
and that little Iali, his five-year-old
daughter, was the object of worship
in his heart even more fervent than
that which he bestowed upon the five
homemade clay gods before which, in
dark corner of the Oak, he burned
vast deal of ill-smelling incense. The
second year of Tsang's married life
had hardly begun when his beautiful
wife was bitten by yellow viper while
gathering healing herbs down in the
valley. When they found the poor
creature she was dying-with her new
born babe in her arms. This calamity
the bereaved husband regarded as
direct visitation of the clay gods in the
corner; only the day before he had
robbed King hunter of his rife,
leaving the poor fellow to make his
way unarmed down to the sea, where
he ran upon pair of halfstarved ku-
hangs, vicious species of Malay
chimpanzee, in fleeing from which he
fell over cliff and was dashed to
pieces. And Punda-Tsang always felt
that that yellow viper was sent direct
from the land of the judging gods to
avenge the blood of the poor King
hunter. But there was one thing that
mitigated the harshness of this VEN
geance-the presence of the little
child, whom he tenderly cherished,
and whom he had called Iali, which is
to say, forgiven"
One day two officers of Fl. NJ. ship
Scorpion stopped at the Oak on their
way down from a hunt in the hill
country. We were seated under the
palms before the bungalow after tiffin,
smoking cheroots, while 1 listened to
their exploits with interest. Suddenly
four native Malays approached, wheel
ing live tiger in clumsy wooden
cage, and halted before the Oak.
They were going to dispose of him to
naturalist down on the coast, who
had method of killing and stuffing
animals by which the marvellous lustre
of their skins was preserved. The
forest king was certainly a magnificent
specimen, and the officers evidently
thought so, too, as they concluded to
buy him, perhaps to swear that they
had captured him. They bought the
animal for good round sum, sent the
natives back rejoicing, and started
down toward the coast, while Pnnde-
Tsang, not contented with exacting
fifty per cent. commission from the
poor fellows for using his Oak for a
tiger mart, committed the meanest act
of his life. He slyly sawed one of the
hind bars nearly through in four
places. Then he went to work planning
to waylay the tiger on his way back to
his haunts after he should break loose,
which he knew would happen before
the purchasers could.get many miles
down the valley. He quietly pursued
his planning until late that night,
when he heard from good authority
that the tiger had broken Jail, and
nearly killed one of his owners. Then
he prepared to put his plans into &C
ton.
Punda knew well enough that the
instant tiger smells blood he will
drop fiat, and, even if the feast is 0
mile away, will begin slow, creeping
journey toward it, wasting hours, per-
haps. When he has approached with
in twenty feet of the prize, quiverine
with desire and terrible with greed, be
will leap into the air like cannon bal
and plunge down upon his victim
Punda- Tsang knew all this; SO he dug
q pit down the valley, constructed
network of branches over it and laid q
quarter of bullock upon 1t. Then ht
waited for the tiger to scent the blood
aud make his slow, crawling journey
knowing that when he made the grand
twenty feet leap he would 60 crashing
through the network into thelpit be
low. Then Tsang planned that h