Crawford avalanche., 1899-10-05


dark bungalow FOR something he had
forgotten; and while he was gone his
butler spake to me, saying: Coach.
man, make no mistake; thy life de,
pends upon thy doing the sahib's bid.
ding. He Is very Rustum, and he
knoweth not fear, for all he IL SO
young He is a man after my own
heart, then sirdar; but. mashallah! !
would he had beard replied.
Presently the young sahib came
forth with an empty bottle in one
hand and gun In the other. Throw
ing the bottle into the air he shattered
Ii with bullet ere 1t reached the
ground. Startled by the report, a jack
al fled from the rear of the cookhouse
toward the jungle, and the sahib stop
ped its fight with another bullet. Then,
replenishing his gun, he took his seat
beside me on the mail cart, saying,
Blow on my bugle, coach-wan, and an
his majesty the tiger
''It was a brave jawan (yOuth),
brothers; but he was very young, and
belize he had mother; so / swore In
my beard to save him. whatever might
befall. AS we proceeded he questioned
me concerning the killing of Nandha,
speaking lightly as one who goeth to
shoot black partridge.
He Is lame, coach-wan, and will
doubtless be waiting for us by the Bore
bridge said the sahib. AS soon as
he appears stay the horses for an in
slant whilst get off the mail cart, and
then return when your horses will let
you. The lame one of Huldwani is
old and cunning; 1t is no fawn thou
seekest this morning. Perchance the
sirdar will dispatch some great shi-
kari to help thee in this hunting. Gun
ga send we may not meet the tiger;
but If we should shame befall me If
permit thee to leave the mail cart
whilst the horses are able to run!
For answer, my brothers, the sa-
hib flushed red, and. calling me cow
ard, he drove his elbow into my stom-
ach with such force that the reins fell
from my hands. Taking them up, the
while fought for my breath, he turn
ed the horses round, saying: "A jackal
may not i,unt tiger. / have need of
q man 18th me this morning, and Goor
Deem. my butler shall take thy place"
1.-The sahib, being a man, will not
blacken my face in the eyes of Kala-
doongie.' said. Il spake for thy sake,
sahib; but l will drive thee to Jehan
xyiIf M hnth
ever called me coward before Then
the sahib looking in my face as tuck
cd the ends of my beard under my pIg
gri and. seeing that my eyes met LIS
.our-square, he gave up the reins to
me, saying. If thou playest me false
will kill thee like a dog;' and H.
showed me the hilt Of pistol that he
had in his pocket. We spake no more
together, but when we came to the
Bore bridge l shook the jungle with a
blast from my bugle.
'Shabash. coach-wan,' exclaimed
the sahib; thou art man, indeed, and
shalt have Shere Bahadoor's skin as
recompense for the hurt to thy stom-
ach. Bid him come again.
Half a mile beyond the bridge, as
we sped along the level, road above the
river l again blew upon the bugle. The
sound had scarcely ceased when we
heard the angry roar of charging
tiger.
Stop" exclaimed the sahib; and
threw the frightened horses on their
launches, whilst he leaped to the
ground. Then whilst the horses flew
along the road, l looked back over
my shoulder and beheld the Lame One
bound into the middle Of the road; and
the sahib blew on his fingers. as one
would whistle to a dog. The great
beast stopped on the instant and
crouched to the ground, ready to
spring on the sahib as he advanced to-
ward it, and l prayed to Mana Debi to
befriend the young fool.
when he was within thirty PAGES or
brought the gun to his shoulder. The
next instant there was the crack Of a
rifle, and the Lame One leaped straight
into the air.
IL knew the tiger was dead; and i'm
mediately thereafter the mail cart ran
into the bank and spilled me on the
road. Leaving the stunned horses tied
to tree, l proceeded to seek the sa-
hib. Wah il wah! brothers, we must
pay taxes to Faringis until we can
raise sons like theirs. When 1 joined
the boy sahib he was smoking, and
taking the measure of the tiger with
tape! His bullet had struck the beast
between the eyes, and the Lame One
had died at the hands of manw-The
Speaker.