The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-09-23
THE NAHRABAD
GHOST TIGER
ey CLARENCE PUllEN.

| Cehleu, the captain continued. III ne
were friendly to the Rajah 1 could un.
derstand, but his Majesty has the
greatest motive Of any one for wishing
| him off the earth. Do you know that
this dacoit is of the old royal family
a lineal descendant, It is said, of Raj
Kehab? If the old dynasty had not
been overthrown by the help of the
English he might be Rajah Of Budhra-
pore to-day. We are going to his an
cestral city tonight to wait for the
tiger"
Our preparations for the hunt were
simple-two heavy rifles, haversack
with provisions, and a mat to sit on
We made our start for Nahrabad in the
afternoon and rode to n little village
at the jungle's edge, where the people
had already gathered the wood for the
fires which they would burn at night
to keep the tiger away.
Leaving the horses there in charge Of
the captains orderly, We walked along
the bullock path which led through a
dense jungle to the ruined city. An
hours walking brought us to n spot
where the path emerged into an open,
| grassy space. On the right, across
nullah, ruined wall encircled the face
Of an emlnence. and vast heap of
fallen stone rising like hill within it
was Nahrabad, Raj Kehab's city.
| Wild vines and bushes hid the ruin in
their way into the open among the
stones of the fallen walls. Here and
there a carved column or stretch of
wall stood in place. Far up in the
ruins, at the very top. there rose from
the debris two marble posts, with the
capstones still resting upon them. Here
had been the main entrance of the
Rajah's palace. and from it rock
stairway, on which ten men might have
marched abreast, could be traced down
to broad platform where n gate had
opened in the city wall The gate and
its posts We're gone, but flight of
steps, with the hewn stones broken
and awry, but still in place, remained,
leading from the platform down to the
foot of the slope below the wall. Be
tween the foot Of the wall and the
nullah, which once had been n moat,
there was thick growth of jungle
shrubs as high as mans shoulders.
With Khatra leading, we went eau
tiously on until he paused at a line of
bent and trampled grass where some
large, soft-footed creature had made a
pathway between the jungle and the
nullah opposite the gateway. We fol-
lowed the path into the nullah, which
was swampy at the bottom. On the
hard ground the tracks were invisible
to the white mans eye, but here they
were deeply imprinted in the moist
soil, the great paws of a tiger, which,
nas many hours before. had descended
frcm the jungle into the nullah and
thence up the other side to the foot of
the broken steps leading to the gate
way.
"The tiger is at home" the shikari
said. "If hQ comes out to range to-
night he win pass here We must
await his coming beyond the nullah."
We went back across the nullah to
chose our places. The sun was near its
setting. and we had no time to lose.
About thirty yards from the brink was
a korinda bush large enough to shelter
us all. We crawled under this, and
the long, horizontally growing branches,
with their tips dropped to the ground
on every side, made a perfect place
OF concealment. Through the LEAKAGE
we cut loopholes from which We could
command the path on both sides of
the nullah and the steps and gateway
beyond. This done, we opened the
haversack. ate our supper and settled
ourselves for waiting. The sun had
plunged down behind the ruins, and
soon the blacbness of the Indian night
hid the ruined city hundred yards
away. The very stars were shut from
our view by the overlapping branches
above our heads. We tipped our rife
sights with phosphorus in order that
they might readily be caught in the
darkness, and then made ourselves as
comfortable as possible. There were
the usual night noises of the jungle
and our ears qulckened at the rustline
Of small animals in the grass about us
but there was no sound to indicate thai
the tiger had come forth. In an houi
the round moon came up behind us
flooding the scene with light, and the
shikari, crouchlng behind me, touched
my arm.
"See sahib! Below the wall, to tn,
left Of the steps"
Just above the tops of the bushes
between the nullah and the foot of tn,
wall, a white spot was moving, as A
afoat in the air. toward the steps tina
led down from the gateway to tn,
| ground.
: "What is It. Khatra?" l whispered
but the shikari did not answer. Witt
puzzled curiosity Murdoch and
watched the thing slowly skirting tn
:. foot OF the wall. 1t was not Difficult
4 to understand that q superstitious ma
g tive should see in It the spirit of Ra
b Kehab patr0lling the bulwark of hi
, city.
Up In the ruins two jackals. chasing
I each other about the palace steps