The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-06-13

NV oi ihuia, Whatever may De MS
tribe or caste, has no equal
The holy man. sitting on his heels on
tiger skin spread in the porch of the
temple, listened to the story Of the
dream, the loss of the bullock and the
wornding Of the tiger
Il will ask the devi," said the priest,
when lie had heard all. "But what
hast thou. Santhai. to give here for thy
lifeY
What have, Babu, Is naught," said
the poor wretch. trembling. II am but
q poor tangliwala, and have lost my
Dest bullock What can do with one?
Is 1t not better the tiger should eat
my wife and child and me than we per-
ish OF hunger?"
"Thou hast wife and child, San.
thni," said the priest "and thou hast
good bow" Then Rajandra Lai fixed
his eyes on little black image over
the door Of the temple. He swayed
backward and forward, and his eyes
began to roll. Then he spoke:
Son of the Santhai, hear the devi.
The Santhai have forsaken my temple
and withheld the sacrifice of blood.
which I love. Return, Santhai. Bring
thy child to the place Of sacrifice. OF.
Ter him on the sacred stone and anoint
thy arrows with his blood. With those
| arrows shalt thou kill the tiger, and
for the beast thou hast lost thou shalt
have q better one. Fail In this, and
the tiger shall deflle thy dwelling and
| sweep thee and thine from the face OF
| the land"
| rn ny, fV-or In6 ok a
the goddess. He laid two or three
pice. oil the money he had In the world,
on the old priests tiger skin and sor-
rowfully made his way home. He told
Mana and Rebi the command of the
goddess, and they, too were very sor-
rowful, for little Ramchand was the
light Of their eyes and the Joy OF their
hearts. But where was Ramchand?
He had not been seen either by his
mother or his aunt, and they were In
great fear lest some evil should have
befallen him. Suddenly the child In
the midst of the anxious consultation
burst into the hut.
He had tale to tell. Oh, he was
quite SAFE; no evil had happened to
him. What indeed, could happen?
He hadTne bow, nearly cubit longer
than he was high, that his father had
shaped for him. Then the little fellow
drew himself up to his full height. He
could shoot and hit mark almost rs
well as his father, though his arrow
would not go so far or penetrate SO
deeply. But then he had his ax and
the katas, or knife, Sitaram had bought
for him in Birbhum. He could defend
himself even against the fierce chita.
He had been to the field where lay the
dead bullock, and the tiger had not re-
turned to its prey. He bad tracked the
tiger through the jangal, but had come
home to report what he had seen.
Sitaram and Mana exchanged looks,
and each mentally vowe,, that little
Ramachand should never, whatever
might happen, fall under the sacrif1cial
knife. The boy was true Santhai,
/; learned in jangal craft beyond his
years md destined in time to become
comfort and support to his parents.
Then they. began to consult. There
could be no doubt that, since the tiger
had not returned during the night or,
the early morning he and his mate or
both, would come that very night. ST.
taram went out to see the state OF az
fairs for himself. He found that his
boy had reported correctly. His enc
mYpmight be expected thatyveryz
Ing. a low hanging limb OF 81 great
tree, one OF the outlying Eentries of the
jangal, almost impended over the spot
where the carcass of the bullock Inv.
On 1t SitaFam madeI q sort of perch; d
the enemy. His wife and his sister,
with little Ramchand, had their parts
In the drama that. was to be enacted.
Armed with sharp little Santhai axes
and rude spears for their defense, they
were to lie bt6den in an adjacent thick
ct, ready to help at the proper time.
They carried brass dishes, too, by the
beating of which and their shrill cries
the tigers, if there should be more than
! one, would he confused and frightened.
The SIM. he'd hardly set when Sitaram
took possession OF his perch. He squat
ted there patiently, wrapped in q coarse
brown blanket. After all, according to
s0ur. european notions, this man seems
p poor creature, thus to perch himself
anshigh out OF danger while the women
tAAA0 sSuC CA1AtA ACAu6lA OStOW WltuOuC /.
adequate defense. But It must be re.
membered that everything depended on
his, strength Of arm. and his eye must
command the whole scene of action.
The tiger might or might not spring on
one OF the women or the child, but
they knew the risk as well as the man
did. and they took It
The night was clear and bright, and
Sitaram watched intentIy. The sus-
pense was almost painful. at length
ttihefe appeared a long. ghostIike form
Stealing from the she,ser OF the trees
across the open country toward tho
carcass OF the dead bullock. Almost
ilamed diately after came another sim.
liar but slightly larger form, dragging
itself along, limping and with diff
Guilty. Any one who has watched the
motions Of pair OF cats on q noe
tIirnal thieving expedition viii have
lively idea iR miniature OF the appear
ance the procession presented.
Sitarnm took his bow and two ar
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