St. Tammany farmer., 1914-10-10

10, 1914
crotch Of which reposed- ! platform,
and upon this platform sat shrine,
A few withered flowers hung about
the gross neck Of the Idol. and with.
cred flowers lay scattered ct the base
Of the tree. There was also bundle
Of dry rushes which some devotee had
forgotten. At least, yonder platform
would afford safety Through the night
So. with tho last bit Of strength ct hef
command. she gathered up the rushea
and climbed to the platform. arrang.
| ing her bed behind the idol. She GOV.
cred her shoulders with the rushes
and drew her knees up 10 her chin.
She had forgotten her father, Bruce.
the happy days n far country: she
had but . single thought, to sleep.
What the want Of sleep could mot per
form exhaustion could. and presently
she lay still.
Thus, she neither saw nor heard the
ptous pilgrims who were On their way
to Allaha to pray In that temple
known to offer protection against
wild beasts. Fortunately. they did not
observe her.
The pilgrim II always 4 pilgrim IN
India: It becomes, one might say. =
fascinating kind Of sport. To most
Of them, short pilgrimages are % tame
as rabbits would be to the hunter Of
lions They will walk from Bombay
to Benares, from Madras to Lhassa,
begging and Dragging all the way.
Eventually they become semi-holy.
distinguished citizens In . clutter Of
mud huts.
They deposited some ooen and fruit
at the foot Of the tree and departed.
leaving Kathlyn In peace. But later.
when the moon poured its white. cold
radiance over her face It awakened
her, and It took her some time to
realize where she was.
Below, belly deep IN the river
stood several water bulfaloes. their
sweeping horns glistening like old
ivory in the moonshine. Presently Z
leopard stole down to the brink ana
Tapped the water sreedily. from time
to time throwing . hasty. apprehen-
sive glance over his sleek shoulders.
The buffaloes never stirred; where
they were It was safe. Across tho
river q bulky shadow moved In the
light. and fat, brown bear took his
1.-THE Of the water. The leopard
snarled and skunk OF. The bear
washed his face. possibly sticky with
purloined wild honey. and betook
himself back to his lair. 81
Kathlyn suddenly became aware q
the fact that she was . spectator Of
scene such q few human beings are
permitted to see; truce water where
the wild beasts do mot kill each other.
She Erw 20 interested that she forgot
her cva plight The tree stood only
few feet from the water. % she saw
everything distinctly.
Later. when his majesty the tiger
made his appearance Dramatically. the
buffalo simply moved closer together.
presenting . formidable frontage Of
horns.
Never had Kathlyn seen such an
enormous beast From his great pad
ded paws to his sloping shoulders he
stood easily four feet IN height and
hio stripes ware almost - broad %
her hand. He drank, doubtless, eying
the buffalo speculatively: some other
time. Then he, too. sat On his haunchss
and washed his face, but with In
finite gracefulnsss. It occurred 70
the watcher that, familiar - she was
with the habits Of wild beasts. never
had she Witnessed tiger or = lion
enact this domestic scene. Either they
were always pacing their cages, ga1.
ing far over the heads Of those who
watched them. or they slept Even
when they finished q meal Of raw
meat they merely licked their chops:
there was no toilet.
Here, however. was an elaborate
toilet. The great cat licked his paws.
drew them across his face: then
licked his beautiful sides, .purring: for
the night was 90 still and the beast
was 20 near that she could see him
quite plainly. He stretched himself.
took another drink, and trotted of to
the jungle.
Then came q herd Of elephants. Tor
each species seemed to have IN ap-