Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-04

came screams OF uncOnCrOIlaDe 1ear from t00
women; Teloa Of them all, made no sound.
"Quiet, foolish ones" Missed Ahmad do
you wish to bring the White One TO our very
door,"
At his voice the wailing cries stopped In
stantly-but it was too late Peering through
one of the window-hOles cut In the bamboo
wall Igi saw q white figure glide IKE a ghost
toward the house and caught the CLEAN Of ter
rible green-shadowed eyes showing like molten
gold in the dark.
Suddenly, not so yards from the cabin, came
the deep moan which a tiger gives when he
Is Of his kill In the sound was the very
essence Of cold-blooded cruelty and withal q
certain quality Of triumph which made it
doubly horrible. There was moment of still-
ness and then from the edge of the jungle
came grunting cough.
Stand fast my brother" whispered old
Ahmad; now he charges"
Igi nodded and, loosening the barOng on his
belt, drew back the clumsy hammer Of his
musket. AS he did so, from without came the
pad, pad of hurrying feet, and In a moment
the light bamboo house shook and creaked
under the weight of the great beast. Mis-
judging his distance, the tiger had sprung
short and for instant chung to the edge
Of the sloping thatch with bent fore paws as
he tried in vain to pull himself up on the
roof itself second later there the thud
of his body striking the ground within couple
Of yards Of the two men, crouched back Of
the thin bamboo wall. Snarling horribly, the
tiger rose up on his hind legs and clawed at
the door. making deep grooves in the thick
pinang planks
Before Ahmad could stop him, the younger
hunter clapped his musket to his shoulder, and
aiming hurriedly through one Of the Window
holes, pulled the trigger. The crashing report
was followed instantly by q dreadful screech
from without as the bullet cut through one of
the great cats ears. the most sensitive part Of
. tigers body.
With a thunderous roar the enraged brute
sprang again, landing this time on the very
peak of the roof, and began to rip of great
masses Of the loose thatch. With a quick move
ment old Ahnad put out the smoking lamp
and motioned to the Sobbing women to take
refuge in the farthest corner of the room, 30
as to clear q space for the fight to the death
which he knew must now come. As the two
men looked to their weapons and the women
huddled together, the moonlight shone through
the great gap in the roof, white and stin as
II there was no such thing in the world as fear
or death.
Suddenly the opening in the roof was dark
ened by such q head of horror as few men In
deed have had to face. The eyes Of the tiger
glared down upon them like incandescent en-
sralds, his terrible mouth snarled open, show
Ing his glittering white teeth and the hot red
gullet beyond, while his grim face was wrinkled
with a Snarl Of utter fury
While Igi was frantically trying to load his
musket in the dark, Ahmad took careful aim
and fired at the tigers head, shouting the sorak
as he did So The handful of stones which the
old man used for bullets failed to pierce the
thick bones, and the great cat, maddened by
the pain, thrust his head and burly shoulders
clear through the roof. Grasping his spear,
Igi jabbed up at him desperately, but the
weapon was suddenly caught out of his hands
by the clutch of a great paw and hurled up
against the ceiling, to fall across the little loft
where Teloa lay. InStinctvely she gripped it
with her slim, strong hands, with a rending
crash the great beast burst through the himsy
roof and leaped to the floor below.
As he landed, Ahmad dubbed his gun and
struck tremendous blow at the beasts head
with its flashing eyes and snarling mouth just
as Igi slashed at him with his barOng. Neither
stroke went home. Springing back out of range
of their blows, before either could recover his
balance the fierce brute was upon them. To
the girl watching from above it seemed as
though he gave each q soft pat with his great
paw, yet both men went spinning back against
the opposite wall, bruised and disabled.
THROUGH the ripped-out roof the moon
slnone so brightly that every detail Of the
life-and-death struggle in the little room
showed wildly to the watcher above. In a
corner huddled the women, wfimpering with
terror. Against wall Igi moved feebly.
while Ahmad lay stunned near the door. The
great head Of the tiger seemed to mask his
10-foot body, while his long tail switched back
and forth and the giant muscles rippled up
and down his sleek sides he moved toward
the men.
For a moment he crouched before he sprang,
as If choosing his victim. On that moment,
that tiny tick Of time. hung the lives of every
one there. As It was passing, the girl from
the jungle gripped the great spear nightly,
and, leaning far out over the side of the little
platform on which she lay drove it with q
sure eye and a steady hand clear through the
great body crouched below her. The yard-long,
d0uh1e-ed0ed point. raZOr-SnarD and keen n
rapier slipped through the white skin and
tough muscles Just hack Of the beasts left