The Norfolk weekly news., 1900-10-18

|
country, even to the sahlbs at Birbhum
! They indeed vehemently suspected him
of keeping up the old Santhai custom
of human sacrifice and made many in.
| quirics about the matter, but nothing
cslld be learned from the tribcsmen
beyond hints darkly dropped at the
market by Santhais whose tongues had
been loosened by excessive drinking of
toddy or rice whisky, but the sight of
| q white face or police uniform was
! enough to reduce them to silence and
that prctense of stupidity in which,
when he chooses to assume 1t, the ma
tive of India, whatever may be his
| 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
wounding of the tiger.
81 will ask the devi," said the priest
when he had heard all "Blf what
hast thou, Santhal, to give here for thy
| lifeY
What have, Babu, is naught," said
| the poor wretch, trembling. II am but
n poor jangliwala, and l have lost my
best 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 hungcr?"
Thou hast wife and child, San.
thai" said the priest "and thou hast a
good bow" Then Rajandra Lal fixed
his eyes on a little black image over
the door of the temple. He swaycd
| backward and forward, and his eyes
began to roll. Then he spoke
"Son of the Santhai, hear the devi.
The Santha have forsaken my temple
and withheld the sacrifice of blood,
which | love. Return, Santhai Bring
thy child to the place of sacrifice. Of
fer 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 better one. Fail in this, and
the tiger shall defile thy dwelling and
| sweep thee and thine from the face of
| the land"
Sitaram trembled at the command Of
the goddess. He laid two or three
pice, all 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 We're 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 We're in
great fear lest some evil should have
befallcn him. Suddenly the child in
the midst of the anxious consultation
burst into the hut
He had a tale to tell. Oh, he was
quite safe; no evil had happened to
him. What, indeed could happen?
He had the 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 as
we'll as his father though his arrow
would not go so far or penetrate so
deeply. But then he had his AK and
the katas, or knife, Sitaram had bought
for him in Birbhum. He could defend
himself even against the fierce chita.
dead bullock. and the tiger had not re-
turned to it's prey. He had tracked the
tiger through the jangal, but had come
home to report what he had seen.
Sitaram and Mana exchanged looks,
and each mentally vowed that little
Ramachand should never, whatever
might happen, fall under the sacriticial
knife The boy was n true Santhai,
learned in jangal craft beyond his
years and destined in time to become a
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 af-
fairs for himself He found that his
boy had reported correctly. His ene-
my might be expected that very even
ing. low hanging limb Of great
tree, one Of the outlying sentries of the
jangal, almost impended over the spot
where the carcass of the bullock lay.
On 1t Sitaram made a sort of perch, a
small platform from which to shoot
the enemy. Ills wire anu Ills SlSteT,
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
We're to lie hidden 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 be confused and frightened
The sun had hardly set when Sitaram
took possession of his perch. He squat
ted there patiently, wrapped in a coarse
brown blanket After all, according to
our European notions. this man seems
poor creature thus to perch himself
on high out of danger while the women
and the child remain below without
adequate defense. But 1t 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 or
one of the women or the child, but