Evening star., 1928-09-09

cloth ,yh girl had been wearing At
length 1 found her, dead. a sinister
patch ira the sunlight ahead of me.
x x * x
LOST mo time In scrambling up a
leafv tn ee over the kill 1t was two
hours befoE sunset, and there was just
a chance Il ne man-eater would return.
1 determined to sit up until about g.,
when the VI ung moon set, as l had
neither beddi lg nor warm clothes. 1t
would have cen useless to have sat
any later in d tch darkness. My perch
was a good 1871 'eet in the air
Far away ov el the western jungles the
sun sank behi, ii the low line of hills.
and a chilly br eeze rustled the grass
about the grues me object failing into
the shadows at my feet. From far be-
low I heard the 8 )und of some animal
approaching the kal over the dry leaves,
and every pulse in. my body throbbed.
only to die down as the footsteps passed
away uphill The 81 IN set, and chilly
rain pattered down L trough the leaves.
Far below, the blurred lights in the vii
lage and the throb OF "a drum reminded
me that I was Som,e7 two miles from
home, in a man-eate..ii jungle, with a
clouded moon.
1t was distinctly nasty on IT, ground
again, as I wended nv ~ Gown hill,
with many pause to J. Sh n TO the jun
gle noises around me.
There was a Subcons Il, )uS reaction
after the recovery Of the girls body.
The memory remained co psi tant night
mare, which reacted NOR e powerfully
after dark Every night NJ wv I banked
up the campfire immediatel before my
tent door, which was careful y sealed up
after my entry My revolve ready at
my side and with the glin 1ner OF
lamp throughout the night, S eep came
at last, after an hour of Self-tL Tture re-
viewing the man-eater's late move
mentS, and wondering what brageuy
some gloomy nala held for ,ol'e on
waking
Days passed, with no news of "a fur
ther victim. and I felt that vala asle
time was slipping by. Daily the TAFT
tiers returned with no kills and with no
news even of tiger pug marks near me
bats. Much as I dreaded 1t, deciA 20
to range the plateau for signs of Il ee
man-eater. and if he wouldn't come 4 ,
me, to go and comb him out OF IN
haunts.
started one day soon after dawn.
having intinidated two GondS 70 ac-
company me. They asked that might
90 last, as the man-eater'S victim had
always occupied this uncnyiable place
in single file.
4: i i:
THE top - ridge was one mass Of
enormous boulders screened with
clumps of bamboo, thorn anc eight
| foot grass A nasty world of its Cwn,
simmering in the midday sunlight, and
redolent of tiger, where rifle would
have been practically useless, as one
would have been picked out OF the
queue. neck broken and dragged, be-
fore one had a hint of danger.
Toward evening nerve-strained and
| frightened. we came to a collection OF
Gond huts on the edge Of cultivation,
and rather than face the return jour
ney in darkness, decided - spend the
| night in the open fields. lay On a ma
tive string bed, covered by a village
blanket, by the glow of a large log fire;
| it was a chilly night. Around me were
huddled four villagers, tired out with
the gathering of the days crop, which
| was stacked nearby ready for the next
days winnowing. The forest lay dark
line of shadow, a hundred yards across
the fields. For one night, sleeping
within this safe circle of humans, pro-
tected by large fire, I let all thoughts
of the man-eater slip from my mind.
It must have been after three hours
sleep that I awoke, every sense alert to
intense danger. The fire had burned
low and three petrified Gonds were
crouching to the ground, too terrified
even to shout. The fourth man was
missing.
The moon had struggled free of cloud
and family lit the near countryside.
Thirty yards away full-grown tiger
was dragging a pitiful bundle of rags
away 1 raised myself to sitting pos
ture, shaking as with ague. A move
ment to rise on my r art was answered
by a Snarl from the shadows and the
tiger walked slowly away into the
gloom of the near Jungle