The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-05

greatest motive of anyone for wish
ing him of the earth. Do you know
that this dacoit is OF the old royal fam
ily-a lineal descendant, it is said, OF
Raj Kehab? If the old dynasty had
not been overthrow 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 a little viii
lage at the jung1e's edge, where the
people had already gathered the wood
for the fires which they would burn
ut 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 spot where the path emerged into
an open. grassy space. On the right,
across a nullah, a ruined wall encir-
cled the face of an eminence, and
vast heap of fallen stone rising like
hill within it was Nahrabad, Raj ke-
habs city. Wild vines and bushes hid
the ruin in places, and a few trees had
forced 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 RAJ
janis palace and from it rock stair
way. on which ten men might have
marched abreast, could be traced down
to a broad platform where q gate had
opened in the city wall. The gate and
its posts were gone, but a flight of
steps, with the hewn stones broken and
awry but still in place, remained, lead
ing from the platform down to the
foot of the slope below the wall. Be
tween the foot of the wall and the null
lah, which once had been a 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 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 followed 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 pugs of
tiger which, not many hours before,
had descended from the jungle into
the nullah and thence up the other
side to the foot of the broken steps
leading up to the gateway.
The tiger is at home" the shikari
said. IF he comes out to range to-
night he will pass here. We must
await his coming beyond the nullah"
We went back across the nullah to
49,.
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 loop
holes from which we could command
the patch 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 plunged down
behind the ruins, and soon the black
ness of the Indian night hid the ruin
ed city a hundred yards away. The
very stars were shut from our view
by the overlapping branches above
our heads. We tipped our rifle sights
with phosphorus in order that they
might readily be caught in the dark
ness, and then made ourselves as COM
Portable as possible There were the
usual night noises of the jungle, and
our ears quickened at the rustling of
small animals in the grass about us,
but there was no sound to indicate
that the tiger had come forth. In an
hour the round moon came up behind
us, flooding the scene with light, and
the shikari, crouching behind me,
touched my arm.
See, Sahb! Below the wall, to the
left of the steps"
Just above the tops of the bushes,
between the nullah and the foot of
the wall, white spot was moving,
as if afioat in the air, toward the steps
that led down from the gateway to
the ground.
What is it, Khatra?" I whispered
but the shikari did not answer. With
puzzled curiosity, Murdoch and
watched the thing slowly skirting the
foot of the wall. 1t was not difficult
to understand that superstitious native
should see in it the spirit of Raj Ke-
hab patrolling the bulwark of his city.
Up in the ruins two jackals, chas-
ing each other about the palace steps,
suddenly checked their play, paused in
an attitude of listening, and skunk
away out of view. The shikari, crouch
ing Deh1nd me, trembled violently.
Turning our gaze upward, Murdoch
and 1 looked at the palace doorway
where n new figure had appeared. The
capstone on which, by tradition Raj
Kehab's tiger emblem stood carved in
marble had in the daylight rested level
and bare upon the posts. Now upon
the capstone in the full rays of the
moon, white as the marble beneath it,
the form of a tiger was silhouetted
against the night sky. For a few long
seconds, while we waited and wonder
ed, it remained like a statue of alabas-
ter. then in an instant vanished. It
was all Yei,Y n11eer q nd aerie