CHAPTER XIII
THE MAN-EATER
During the orchid hunter's stay in this village, the whole party hadimproved their skill as marksmen. The difficulty of procuring any animalfood except by their own exertions, and the excellence of the wildpea-fowl, jungle-fowl, and deer, made Ralph, in particular, very keenafter them; and, with the delight of a boy who had never before had thecommand of firearms, he missed no chance of familiarising himself withtheir use.
Mr. Gilchrist could give him no instruction in the art, but old Willsknew more, and was persuaded that it was necessary for some among theparty to be fair shots, as otherwise their lives might be in terribledanger one day upon these wild adventurous journeys.
He therefore encouraged Ralph to seek sport upon every occasion, and thelad was fast becoming practised in the art, which pleased him much.
Although the village people would not kill for their own food, theyentertained no objection whatever to profit by the peril into which, intheir estimation, these strangers brought their own salvation; and freshmeat was much nicer than the half-rotten flesh, and that of animalswhich had died of disease, upon which they would greedily feed, andwhich entail upon them leprosy and other dreadful disorders. Theygratefully accepted all the Englishmen's benefactions therefore, andDenham went out shooting nearly every day.
The fame of the liberal-handed Englishmen, and their absurd fancy forout-of-the-way plants from the jungle, had spread during their stay inthis village, and on the day before Mr. Gilchrist had determined tostart upon his return to Moulmein, a man arrived from a remote hamlet,bringing with him an orchid of such beauty and rarity as to throw himinto a state of the greatest excitement.
"Denham," he said, "we must secure a good supply of this at any cost; itis a perfectly new one. To send this home will be to secure my fame, andbe the ground-work of my fortunes. It is worth all that we have gotbefore put together, but the fellow has mangled it terribly in bringingit as he has done. I must find the place where it grows, and take thespecimens properly myself, or they would never reach England alive."
"All right, sir," said Ralph; "I'm game."
They made their preparations with all possible speed, retaining theKaren who had brought the plant for the purpose of conducting them tothe spot where it grew.
This man declared that it would be impossible to take thebullock-gharrie with them under any circumstances; the jungle trackswere too much overgrown and tangled to admit of so large a vehiclemaking its way through them. Ponies were therefore hired for thepurpose, little vicious creatures, which were used to scrambling and tothe hilly country for which they were bound. One of these carried suchequipments as Mr. Gilchrist considered necessary.
"I wish," said he sighing, as he added a couple of guns to the otherpreparations,--"I wish that I could have foreseen, in my youth, that Ishould ever be likely to find myself wandering about in places so wildas these in which we are now. I would have made myself a good shot intime. As it is, I fear, Denham, that we must trust Providence not tolet our lives depend upon the accuracy of our aim at any time."
"We are improving, sir," said Denham. "We cannot call ourselves cracksportsmen, I suppose, but I don't feel as much at sea as I used to do,and we have managed to bring in a good deal of game lately."
"You and Wills have, not I," replied Mr. Gilchrist.
"We've got it, at anyrate," said the boy.
Osborn was to remain behind with the driver of the bullock-gharrie. Hedid not mind being left alone among the natives now, for he felt as ifhe knew them all, and was among friends.
The others were soon ready to start, and pursued their way among gianttrees and matted underwood, through marshy spots, ankle deep in water,and over stony ground where little rivulets of water streamed amongbroken rocks. The damp hollows steamed with moisture, heavy clouds hunglow over the jagged hilltops. Now they had to cleave their way throughwalls of climbing plants that cast out great tendrils, or branches;taking root in crevices and crannies, to start afresh into luxuriantlife. Then they emerged upon some long defile where exquisite trees werebudding out into every shade of green among dark cliffs and boulders; orupon some forest glade where flowers of gorgeous hue clung to the trunksof palm and peepul tree, clothing them in purple majesty, or hangingcurtains of crimson, orange, golden yellow or snowy white, across themisty vista.
Birds of radiant hues flitted from bough to bough, chattering andscreaming; occasionally a deer might be seen, or a small sambhur,standing to gaze at the intruders, then bounding away into shadysolitudes where he felt secure.
Once a creature of the wild cat species was observed slinking alongamong the undergrowth; and many lizards were feeding upon white ants andother insects in the coarse grass.
They were approaching the hamlet, when, in some soft ground near to apool of water, their guide uttered a horrified exclamation as he stoopedto examine the pug of some animal very freshly made in the mud.
"What beast's footmarks are those?" asked Ralph.
"Big tiger, paya," replied the man. "He has been here last night."
"Do you consider that there is any danger of our meeting it in thejungle?"
"Well, paya, they wander very far sometimes in the night, but thesemarks are fresh. It is not long since he was here."
"I suppose," said Denham, "that if we do not disturb him, either ineating or sleeping, he would take no notice of us? If we 'nothing say tohim, he'll nothing say to me,' eh?"
"Perhaps not, paya," said the man, "but there is no knowing. He may behungry, we must be very careful."
"Pleasant," murmured Mr. Gilchrist.
"All in the day's work, sir," said Ralph cheerfully. "Hi,there!--orchids, orchids!"
"And the very ones we want!" cried Mr. Gilchrist, so delighted that heforgot the tiger forthwith.
It was not a particularly good specimen of the orchid, but the nativesaid that there was plenty of it, as well as of other varieties, in thejungle around; they would not have to go far for them.
"There is a lot of what they call tiger-grass here, zur," said Wills;"will it be safe when we know that there is one of those gentry near athand?"
"It may be miles away now," replied Mr. Gilchrist. "We may have passednear to him, or to another, as we have come through the jungle already.Don't let us die several deaths in fearing one."
"Just as you please, zur," said the old man.
"Are the guns loaded?"
"Ay, zur, all right."
"Keep a wary lookout then; but if we were to come across the creature,ten to one it would rather slink away than attack us."
"It won't do that," said the Karen; "this is a man-eater."
"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Gilchrist quickly, turning upon thenative.
"Man-eater tiger, paya,--tiger that roams about alone, and eats nothingbut human flesh. There was one about the village a little while ago, butwe thought it had gone, for we have not seen it lately. It has eatenfive or six men that I know of. It is an old beast, very large, veryfierce, and very cunning. Nobody can kill it."
This description fired Denham's ambition at once--he longed to kill thattiger. What a feather in his cap could he but contrive to do so! He wasjust about to exclaim in his eagerness, when Mr. Gilchrist expressed anopposite desire, so he thought it best to hold his tongue.
"I hope we shall not come across it," said the more pacific elder man."Do your best to keep us out of its way. How shall you know whether itis the man-eater if we should be so unlucky as to fall across it?"
"Man-eater dark coloured, paya. Mangy about its head, fur worn off inpatches,--man flesh bad for him, not agree, you know."
"I have heard something about that before," said Mr. Gilchrist. "Ibelieve that it is a question as to whether the creature is diseasedfrom improper food, or whether it be too old to chase its natural preyas nimbly as would be necessary to secure enough, so is driven toentrap men, who are more unwary. But, see, there is a very choice clumpof the orchids, let us set to work."
They
were busily engaged in selecting orchids, when a rare and beautifulbutterfly came sailing along on widespread painted wings, and Denham,who collected these insects with ardour, gave chase. He followed itsomewhat deeper into the jungle, unheeding of the distance from hisparty to which it was leading him; but Wills cast an uneasy eye in thedirection which he had taken, and presently moved to follow him.
Just as he had done so, he saw the boy's light figure come tearing backat headlong speed.
"The tiger! the tiger!" he cried. "It is there, it was asleep, butlifted its head and looked towards where I was, as I stepped among somebranches. It could not see me, for there was a big tree between us; Isaw part of its back and tail first, then hid myself and peeped. Give mea gun, Wills, quick! Come along."
"Massa paya will be breakfast for tiger if he go along like that," saidthe Karen. "He must climb a tree, and watch till it pass him. Keepquiet, no get excited, keep steady hand."
The man knew what he was about, it was not the first time that he hadassisted upon a similar occasion. He selected a tree, up which Mr.Gilchrist climbed; then posted Ralph in another at a short distance,commanding a somewhat open glade, into which a track from the jungleled, and passed out of it again towards a large pool of water.
Wills joined the Karen and the coolies, who proposed, in two parties, tomove from opposite directions round by a detour, and try to drive theanimal down this path, where each gentleman might have a chance ofshooting it from the safe elevation of his tree.
They had pistols, and moved off to right and left as quietly as possibleat first, but as soon as they had attained to suitable positions, theybegan to fire into the jungle, to utter loud cries, to throw stonesamong the bushes, and do all in their power to disturb the animal, andto perplex him as to whence the assault proceeded.
They did not succeed in catching any glimpse of the beast, however; andbut for Ralph's certainty that he had seen it, would have doubtedwhether there had not been some mistake. The Karen climbed a tree, whichgave him a sort of bird's-eye view of the surrounding jungle, but if thetiger were there it was well concealed. He descended the tree, andrecommenced beating round the circle agreed upon.
Hardly had he done so, when one of the two coolies with him suddenlycaught hold of him, and pointed with his long skinny arm in silentexcitement.
A crackling of twigs might be heard, a long line of tawny yellow colourseen gliding among the scrub, and, as an open place intervened, amagnificent creature appeared, half concealed as it slunk along, itshead depressed till it was in one line with its body, and its taildrooping at the other end.
It walked a little lame, and presently lay down and licked one of itspaws, which seemed to be sore.
The beaters held their breath, and it did not seem to be aware of theirvicinity; the air, such as there was of it, leading their scent awayfrom them; but the other party was drawing nearer, and the tigerevidently was more alive to danger approaching from that side, for itlifted its head, pricked up its ears, and listened. Then it resumed itstrot in the direction of the pool; and the beaters, allowing it to gaina little way ahead, recommenced to drive it forwards by every means intheir power.
The other party was drawing near to them, also acting on the offensive,and the tiger increased its pace, though evidently inconvenienced by theinjury to its paw.
Both parties now coalesced; and, forming a wedge-shaped cohort, followedupon the animal's track, driving it forward by all sorts of annoyance.
The distance was not great, it soon reached the tree in which Ralph wasperched, eagerly looking out for it, with his gun commanding the pathupon which it was heard crashing heavily along. The fierce, stripedface, and angry eyes, emerged from the jungle; one cruel, strong pawprotruded, the beast looked warily round, then emerged wholly, andproceeded on its way.
Ralph waited till he considered his aim secure,--he covered thecreature's head, nerved his arm--fired!--and nearly fell out of the treefrom the terror induced by the awe-inspiring, wrathful howl of painwhich resounded through the air. He had hit the tiger, certainly woundedit, but by no means had he administered its death-blow. It paused,staggered, and bounded forwards.
Mr. Gilchrist fired hastily and injudiciously, missed his aim, and thetiger abandoned its former intention of making for the water, and,hurriedly turning to the right, was lost sight of once more among thescrub.
Ralph and Mr. Gilchrist set themselves to reload their guns with allspeed; and as they did so, the beaters came up.
"This is unlucky," said the Karen. "It has gone off to the bed of astream among the rocks, in a defile there. It will have a den or lairamong the caves there, from which we should find it almost impossible todislodge it; but it is wounded certainly, and was lame before; it maystop to drink at the stream before seeking its hiding-place. See, hereis blood, it is hard hit, let us make haste."
Only pausing to complete the reloading of their weapons, the whole partyproceeded _en masse_ upon the trail. The path was difficult, for astream carried off the rains from a height at a short distance, andbrought stones of a considerable size with it after a heavy downpour,emptying itself into the large pool or lake before mentioned.
There was not much water in the bed of the stream yet, but sufficient tomake the stones slippery, and fill many hollows between them withhalf-liquid mud. It was not easy to proceed with caution, yet never hadcaution been more desirable. Silently, slipping, scrambling, holdingtheir guns aloft, reaching a helping hand from one to another, theyproceeded for a couple of hundred yards; then caught sight of themagnificent brute, extended at full length upon its stomach beside abasin-shaped pool, lapping eagerly, yet crimsoning the limpid water withits blood the while.
Ralph sprang upon a rock which commanded his prey, fired again, hit thetiger in the neck, behind the ear, and it rolled over, faintly kickingfor a minute, then becoming still in death.
They could hardly believe, at first, that the danger was over,--Ralphhimself least of all. Mr. Gilchrist fired again at the animal as it lay,to make its death quite certain; and, after all, approached itcautiously. It then appeared that Ralph's first shot had taken effect inits shoulder, the bone of which was splintered, and from the wound aquantity of blood had flowed. But the poor creature had previouslyinjured its foot, in the cushion beneath which a large thorn had becomeembedded, and caused a gathering, or abscess, to form. This was thereason why it had been lame, for it must have been very painful to treadupon it. Without this accident it might not have been so easy a prey,for it was a huge fellow, measuring nine feet from tip to tail.
Wills set himself to skin it immediately, and they camped out for thenight, as it was far too late to return to the village then, but theovation with which they were greeted next morning was very great.
The villagers had become superstitious with regard to this tiger, andcould not sufficiently praise their deliverers.