The sun., 1907-04-14
THE DEATH OF A Man EATER.
HUNTERS STORY OF THE KILLING
Of A DREADED TIGER.

Native whose WiTe II Had Carried OF
and VINO Had Gone Insane From Grief.
10 was In India, came out TO breakfast
one morning and found a chap numbering
on the veranda-queer sort Of Niger;
never saw anything like him before or
since-good deal Of Bhil in him, I think.
writes Francis Campbell in the Westminster
Gdsettc. Anyhow. he came to ask me IL
I'D go and shoot a man eater that had
afiioted his village for two months and
carried OF twenty persons, the last two
being his own wife and his sister. He
was the headman Of the village He had
come himself to make quite sure Of the
sahihs hearing all about it. 1t was a
great tiger--very great and powerful
not old or NANCY he would answer for it.
He had seen the tiger when IL carried Oh
his wife
And all the while he talked he kept
folding the ends of a piece OF muslin he
wore across his body like a scarf-a frayed,
torn piece of stuff, just the color of a WALL
flower, brownish red Fifteen little ones
and FIVE women hath this tiger killed out
Of my people" he said. will my lord come
and slay it?' Well, I said. I'd have a try,
making ND my mind. for all he said. that
ID was both ancient and NANCY. Tigers
don't take 10 man eating till they've lost
their teeth However, this particular beast
seemed to come It rather strong, and
thought I'd like to pot him. l got leave
and we went OF together, the man showing
me the way.
Tsoon spotted the fact that he was mad
mad as halter II the tiger had taken
his wife il had also taken his brains; he
was bit creepy as travelling companion,
and the oldest part OF his lunacy was to
be forever caressng that torn muslin
thing be wore-kissing = and stroking IL
and talking to it as If the thing understood
and all about MY Lord the Tiger" and
the sudden destruction that was coming
on him. When we got to the village
didn't wonder he was dotty.
He had been married only a week and
the wife was, according to the village, a
speckless beauty. They had been prom
ised to each other from childhood and
ii had taken him nearly all his life to save
enough to buy her--pretty hard luck. The
tiger came on them as they were drawing
water-came out Of the jungle behind them
and took the woman. The Lunatic had
pursued II till brought forcibly back by
the villagers How is that for luck-a
naked, unarmed man against tiger?
began to respect my Lunatic and since
he couldn't fire a gun gave him an Afghan
knife and showed him how to use II. The
first night we had no luck.
The second night the brute drank mile
below it's usual place. But early on the
dawn OF the third day they came racing
to tell us that the tiger had carried away
a man from the well and had taken
to the Jungle. The Lunatc got out his
knife and wiped it. To-day. Sahib, he
said quietly I'VE shall kill him. 1 will
lead the way" How he picked up the
track through the jungle I don't know;
but he did. Then we lost it, but found it
again in the river bed and followed it up
ward for about mile. the stream growing
thinner and the bed narrower, till at last
il disappeared and we had to burst our
way through vines and bamboo grass over
a ladder Of red hot stones.
The Lunatic was dripping from every
pore and painting like a motor; but he never
ceased to taunt the invisible tiger. as II it
were already dead-harking back to its
remote ancestry and mOcking at the vir-
tues of tigresses dead a thousand years
ago, and all the time lingering that end
OF brown muslin. Suddenly we came into
a nttle level where the now dried up stream
poured over a ledge Of rock, followed out
beneath into a narrow cave, cool and shad-
owy. And there, crouched to spT1ng-my
Lord the Tiger. I felt him coming and
had Just time to fling myself aside. Blest
IL didn't go rolling down over the water
amoothed stones into the cave and arrived
with nv right hand clutching the gun out
flung beside me. Why it didn't go OF is a
I lust had time to aim when my Lord
crashed back, his spring having landed him
among the bamboos. The Lunatic was
making such fendish row with two dat
stones, shrieking and believing stimuli
taneoUsly that the brute In the strong
sunlight was dazed-and furious, OF course
and made for his lair, open uouthed and
nnarling. I was standing right In the en-
trance when he came at me. put the
charge down his throat. he came on at
me, but expected him TO drop. He didn't.
He mauled my arm pretty badly before
When came to was propped up against
the bank. dripping wet. The Lunatlc
must have flown Tor the water was go9u
ing. He was sitting before II among the
stones. calling IL every name IN his language
that was bad. l can curse pit mysell
when 1t 10 necessary, but that chap was a
snus, IN tbs sSTsd Of to
stand on. When he paused to take breath
Tot no and Investigated. He was a young
tiger, and in splendid condition, but one
eve had been shot away, and all the teeth
on one side Of his jaw. l suppose that was
Why he had taken 20 man eating | men
toned TO the Lunatic that l would like him
skinned Immediately, and that wrought a
curious change in him. 49,,
.oh, Sahib. mol he protested this 4
nv wtfe-my sister,. be threw mis- arms
around the bleeding brute and began calling
Il by every endearing name he could think
Of caressing IT, embracing IT. Then al
at once he took of the piece OF brown muslin
and kneelinR in front OF the dead tiger
he spread IL out as one might spread some
thing precious before a woman or child,
@Oh, pearl Of the world-my belovedl'
he cried -See-I have brought thee thy
veil"
Suddenly he dipped il in the gushing
blood and spread il out again. AS
promised thee, beloved" he added softly
Il have not slept, nor eaten, nor rested
till have wetted il with the blood Of
thv SLAYER. even as he wetted il with thine
can stand a good deal. but somehow
that fiDished me. left him there with thC
dead animal and got back, pretty SICK
with my arm to the village. thinking all the
time Of that chaps endurance and patience
II gave me cold creeps to think that haC
run him mercilessly for nearly week
and all that time, as had not the slightest
denbt, he had neither tasted food or drink
cor cIosed his eyes-just subsisted on tha
certainty OF vengeance.
The villagers went out to fetch him IN
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