13 Tiger Adventure Page 2

  Then lie walked out, hitch-hiked his way to New York and stowed away in a lifeboat on a freighter bound for Calcutta. His Indian ramblings led him finally to the Gir Forest where he bought a rifle and fancied himself as a great hunter like Jim Corbett or Ernest Hemingway. And here he was, armed with nothing but a silly rope.

  Vic, wandering through the forest, thinking about the meanness of Hal who gave him only two hundred dollars and offered only fifty dollars for every wild animal he brought in, nearly bumped into the largest and shyest deer in India. He didn’t know it was the famous sambar that makes its home on the mountainside four thousand to fourteen thousand feet up, but comes down at times to enjoy the shade of the Gir Forest.

  He saw that the animal had sharply pointed horns. The skin was a dark, smoky brown. The throat was covered with bristles and the tail was long.

  Now, if he only had his gun. He tried to lasso but the animal was already moving away and the rope merely slapped him on the back and fell off.

  Now a chital joined the sambar - Vic knew the chital because he had just killed one the night before. The two deer turned and looked defiantly at their tormentor. Deer stick together, help each other out.

  The sambar was as big as a horse and the chital as big as a pony. Then Vic saw a third deer, but this one was smaller than a rabbit. He was to learn later that it was called a mouse-deer. Vic didn’t know the correct name for it but he gave it a name, Tiny Tim.

  Tiny Tim ran and got squarely between the chital and the sambar. The giant deer lowered its head and licked the hide of its little friend.

  What an opportunity! Vic couldn’t possibly miss all of them. He threw his lasso, hoping it would snare the antlers of the giant or the chital. He didn’t care about Tiny Tim. ft was too small to matter.

  The lasso caught on the branch of a tree. At once a growl came from the same tree. Looking up, Vic saw a snarling leopard. It leaped to the ground and glared at Vic who decided that this was the last moment of his life. Luckily the sambar sounded, The leopard turned and made for the three deer. The sambar and chital ran. Tiny Tim was not so quick. The grass around him was as high as he was and prevented him from moving fast.

  The sambar looked back at the little fellow struggling among die grass blades. The giant, risking death in the claws of the leopard, ran back, picked up Tiny Tim in his jaws and joined the chital in a race for safety.

  The leopard, although the greatest killer in the cat world, could not keep up with the deer. They left him far behind and Vic heard him a mile away roaring his anger because his quarry had escaped him.

  Vic went back to the Hunt cabin. He told the boys about his bravery in facing three deer and a leopard.

  ‘Well, I don’t suppose you got the leopard,’ Hal said, ‘but it’s great that you brought home three deer. Did you put them in a cage?’

  ‘No,’ Vic admitted. ‘I didn’t bring back all three.’

  ‘1 suppose you got the two big ones.’

  ‘Not exactly.’

  Too bad,’ Hal said, ‘but it’s great that you got the mouse-deer. It can’t go fast so it was easy to catch. It’s really the most important of the three. It’s unique and valuable because of its remarkably small size. So we must congratulate you on bringing home one of the most unusual deer in the world. Where did you put it, this Tiny Tim as you call it?’

  1 couldn’t catch it.’

  ‘But it’s so easy to catch in the long grass and rocks. What was the trouble?’

  The big fellow came back and carried it off.’

  Neither Hal nor Roger could think of anything more to say.

  It was getting dark, Vic went to his quarters nearby.

  Roger was angry with Hal. He blamed Hal for taking on this stupid city bum.

  As they entered the cabin Roger noticed something moving into a dark corner. It looked like a harmless garter snake. It was small, not more than four feet long.

  ‘Good,’ thought Roger. ‘I’ll give him a treat. I won’t do anything but scare him half to death.’

  After Hal was in bed and asleep, Roger picked up the snake by the tail and slipped it into Hal’s bed. That suited the snake to a T. It snuggled up to Hal to get his warmth;

  Hal woke, felt something squirming about on his ribs, let out a yell and threw the serpent out on the floor. Roger laughed till he ached.

  ‘You love animals so much, how about that one?’ he said.

  Hal looked at the snake and his face went white.

  ‘You don’t need to worry,’ Roger said. ‘It’s not poisonous.’

  ‘Not poisonous!’ roared Hal. That’s a hooded cobra!’

  Roger apologised. ‘Gee whiz, I didn’t know.’ He fully expected Hal to blow up and was astonished when his patient brother merely dropped the snake into a burlap bag and said:

  That’s just fine. One of the chief things we were told to get - a hooded cobra! Thanks a lot for what you did, little brother. And if you ever do it again I’ll knock your head off.’

  Chapter 4

  Three Prizes

  Early in the morning Roger, Hal and Vic went back to the spot where Vic had failed to capture the sambar, chital and mouse-deer. Perhaps the animals liked this place and would return to it.

  The first thing Hal saw was a rope in a tree.

  That must be my lasso. Why didn’t you bring it home,

  Vic?’

  Vk stared at the lasso as if he had never seen it before. 1 forgot it. Guess I was too excited. The leopard came down and I was afraid he was going to come after me.’

  ‘Well, there’s no leopard today, so you can rest easy. Listen. I believe they are coming. They like this place. Be very quiet so we won’t frighten them.’

  The sambar led the way. The chital came next. Then Tiny Tim, the little mouse-deer, bunted his little head against the grasses and pushed his way in beside his friends.

  Vic said, ‘Won’t they run when they see us?’

  ‘I don’t believe so,’ said Hal. ‘Deer are friends of man. They are like the dolphin and porpoise that swim along close to a ship because they like people. Deer don’t run from men unless they see guns.’

  Hal pulled his lasso down out of the tree. He had a problem. If he snared the sambar, the other two would be alarmed and would run away. He wanted to get all three.

  The animals solved the problem. Deer not only like humans, they like each other. The chital, being a little nervous, got as close to the sambar as possible and raised its head so that the two were cheek to cheek. Hal’s lasso came flying through the air and settled over both heads.

  ‘Wc should have brought the truck,’ Vic said.

  Hal replied, ‘We don’t need it. Keep very quiet. Let them get used to the rope.’

  It was very hard for Vic to stand still. He was very nervous. His heart was pounding away like a sledgehammer. He started to speak but Hal put his hand over Vic’s mouth. They stood so for fifteen minutes.

  But how about the mouse-deer? It was still tangled in the long grass. It struggled on until it came up beside its big friends.

  The boys stood as still as the trees around them.

  Then Hal began to pull very gently on the rope. At first the two deer resisted. But the pull was so gentle that it could not mean any harm,’ They took a step forward, then another, and another. Soon they were walking slowly along without any sign of fear.

  Roger picked up the mouse-deer and slipped it into a big pocket of his hunting jacket.

  ‘Good.’ said Hal. That little fellow is first prize. I’ll bet Dad can sell it for five hundred dollars. So far as I know, there isn’t a zoo anywhere that owns a mouse-deer. Any zoo that buys this will have crowds coming to see the smallest deer on the face of the earth.’

  Five hundred dollars! It rang like a bell in Vic’s head. What couldn’t he do with five hundred dollars?

  A bush ahead of them came alive. Part of the bush walked out. When had anyone ever seen a walking bush? But there it was, a bundle of twigs, ambling across t
he path.

  The strange sight brought a yelp out of Nervous Nellie. That was the name that Hal and Roger had secretly given Vic. The bundle of twigs was about two feet long.

  ‘Keep away from it and it won’t hurt you,’ Hal said.

  ‘What is it?’ Nervous Nellie stammered.

  ‘A porcupine.’

  The things that looked like twigs were the animal’s quills. They started at the back of the head and extended far back over the tail, ending in points as sharp as needles.

  Vic, fearing the teeth of this beast, stepped to one side and came around directly behind the needles.

  ‘Oh no, not there,’ Hal cried. That’s the really dangerous end of him.’

  ‘You’re kidding me,’ Vic said. ‘I’m safe here.’

  ‘You’re not safe. Get out of the way before it charges.’

  ‘Who ever heard of an animal charging backwards? He can’t charge unless he turns around, head first.’

  ‘You’ve a lot to learn about porcupines. I’m telling you, get around in front of it.’

  ‘You think you can fool me,’ Vic stormed. ‘I’m safe here and here I’ll stay.’

  Suddenly the porcupine rushed back with the speed of lightning and plunged its needles through Vic’s trousers and deep into his legs. He let out a yell that could have been heard a mile away.

  The porcupine, well satisfied, disappeared into the bushes, leaving half a dozen of its spines in Vic’s flesh.

  ‘So,’ said Hal, ‘now you see I wasn’t fooling.’

  Vic wailed, ‘Get these spikes out of me!’

  ‘lie down and I’ll try,’ said Hal. ‘But they are going to hurt a lot more coming out than when they went in.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘Because every spine has a little hook at the end - like a fish hook. That will tear your flesh as it comes out. But we can’t leave them in. They’re not clean and the chances are they would give you gangrene, then a doctor might have to amputate both legs.’

  This horrifying prospect did not do much to comfort Nervous Nellie.

  ‘Both legs!’ he cried. ‘Why did I ever come to this, country? There’s nothing here but murder and germs.’

  ‘Don’t forget,’ Hal said, ‘you’ve done a good deal of the murdering. Think of all those animals you’ve killed just for fun.’

  ‘It’s all your fault,’ Vic shouted. ‘If you hadn’t hired me I’d be all right.’

  This was a ridiculous thing to say and Vic knew it, Hal did not bother to answer.

  ‘Now.’ He took firm hold of a quill and pulled it out. A tiger couldn’t have roared louder than Vic did.

  Every quill brought another roar. The hook on each, quill not only tore Vic’s legs but tore his trousers as well. When they were all out, Hal rolled up the trouser-legs, tore his own shirt in two, and bandaged each leg in an effort to stop the bleeding.

  ‘As soon as we get to the cabin I’ll dose these wounds with disinfectant and I think they will soon heal. Get up, and let’s move along.’

  But Vic was not movable. He wouldn’t even try. He was in great pain and, of course, he blamed it all on Hal.

  ‘I’ll get the truck,’ Roger said.

  There’s an easier way,’ said Hal. ‘Put him on the sambar’s back.’

  The sambar stood patiently while they laid Vic across the animal’s back, his head hanging down on one side and his feet on the other. So they completed their trip to the cabin. Vic was carried inside and the little mouse-deer followed. Going out again, Hal put both of the larger deer into the same cage, knowing they would be happier if kept together.

  Then Vic’s legs were dosed with antiseptic and he was left to rest until he was able to walk to his own cabin. Hal and Roger went out to feed the caged animals.

  Vic noticed that Tiny Tim, which Roger had removed from his pocket, was roaming around inside the cabin. A five-hundred dollar animal - and his for the taking. He picked up the little beast and put it in his own pocket. Somehow he felt better right away. With something worth five hundred dollars in his pocket, his legs didn’t hurt so badly after all.

  He slipped out of the Hunts’ cabin and walked through the woods to his own. His friends, Jim and Harry, were both there. He showed them his treasure. They had never seen anything like it in their lives. It didn’t look real - it had the perfect graceful shape of a deer and yet it was the size of a kitten.

  That’s what makes it special,’ Vic said. ‘It’s worth five hundred dollars. I’ll give a hundred to each of you and keep three hundred. We can have a lot of fun on five hundred dollars.’

  ‘Fun in jail,’ Harry said. That’s where we’ll all wind up. And it won’t be just for a night. It will put us away for months.’

  There was a rap on the door and Hal came in. ‘Did you see - oh, there it is. How did it ever get here?’

  ‘Well,’ began Vic, thinking hard what to say, ‘you weren’t in your cabin. I was afraid it might slip out and get lost. So I brought it here - just until you were ready to take care of it’

  ‘Mighty good of you.’ said Hal. He guessed the truth but decided not to say anything about it. Nervous Nellie had suffered enough for one day. ‘How are your legs?’ he asked.

  They sting as if they were on fire. Must be that antiseptic you put on them.’

  Hal thought, ‘You can always trust this guy to say something nasty.’

  ‘Well anyhow,’ he said aloud, ‘thanks for taking care of Tiny Tim,’ He took up the little animal and walked off.

  Chapter 5

  The Laughing Leopard

  The great sambar deer captured by the boys was as good as a horse.

  He was half tame, having been used in the Sherpa villages on the mountain slopes much as the reindeer is used in Lapland.

  The sambar had not been bothered by Vic’s weight on its back. So Hal wondered if he could ride it.

  He took the animal out of the cage. He had no saddle. He had no bridle. He climbed up on the broad back very close to the neck. He gave the sambar a little punch with his heels and was pleased when the sambar began to walk.

  But how could Hal make it turn right or left? He could just reach the head. He found that by pressing the head to one side or the other, he could make his mount turn right or left. He practised for some days and became an expert sambar rider. A sort of affection grew up between the man and beast.

  One day the headman of a large village just outside the Gir Forest stopped Hal on his way through the woods.

  Tears ran down the old man’s face.

  ‘My wife and my daughter have just been killed by a leopard. This devil has killed five hundred and twenty-five of our people during the past few years.

  ‘We have been told that you and your friends are good hunters. Would you come and kill this beast?’

  ‘We’ll come.’ said Hal. ‘We want the leopard - alive, not dead.’

  ‘You’ll never take it alive.’

  ‘Well,’ Hal said, ‘we’ll see about that. We’ll be with you in about an hour.’

  In less than an hour Hal and Roger and Vic were on their way to Gir Village.

  Hal rode his sambar. He called him Sam for short. He knew that Sam hated the big cats, because the big cats hated Sam and all other sambars. The tiger and the leopard found the meat of the sambar very delicious food.

  But sometimes the sambar beat the cat. One kick from his powerful heels could knock out any animal he didn’t happen to like.

  Hal rode Sam. Roger drove a Land-Rover and took Vic, who had no liking for this adventure. He would rather have stayed home and nursed his punctures.

  Arriving at the village, they found it deserted, except for one person - the headman - also a cow and some goats.

  ‘Where are all the people?’ Hal asked.

  ‘Inside their houses. They are afraid to come out. Come quickly, we will go to my house.’

  In the house they found the headman’s son - but it seemed a cold forlorn place with no wife and no daughter. They
had already been buried.

  There was a strange man with a knife carving a piece of wood to make it look like a leopard.

  ‘He just came,’ said the boy. ‘Says he can help us.’

  The man turned and bowed. ‘I am a magician,’ he said. 1 can take the ‘vil spirit out of your leopard. When I get the bad out of him, then he will not do you any more harm.’

  Hal asked, ‘How can you get the bad out of a leopard?’

  ‘It is easy when you know how.’ said the stranger. ‘I make this piece of wood look like a leopard. Then I will take it to Katmandu and put it into the river that flows into the Ganges. That is holy water and I will make a prayer that the holy water will take all of the sin out of the leopard. The Ganges will carry the evil spirit far out to sea where it can do no more harm to human beings. And it will only cost you one thousand rupees.’

  ‘One thousand rupees!’ exclaimed the headman. 1 have no such money.’ He turned towards Hal. ‘How much do you charge?’

  Hal laughed. ‘Nothing at all. All I want is your leopard. I want to take it back to my country where I will teach it good manners. There is no evil spirit in your leopard. The beast just wants something to eat. If we feed it well, it won’t go chasing after human beings.’

  ‘I don’t believe you can do it,’ said the headman. ‘But since you charge nothing I’ll give you the first chance and if you fail I will try to dig up a thousand rupees for this man of magic’

  ‘Listen!’ said the boy. ‘He’s scratching every door. No wonder everybody is scared. I hope this door is locked.’

  ‘It is locked.’ said the headman. ‘He’s scratching at it now but he can’t get in. We are safe.’

  The leopard stopped scratching and broke into a series of coughs that sounded like laughter. ‘Har-har-har.’

  ‘He’s laughing at us,’ the boy said. He was badly frightened.

  ‘Never mind,’ said his father. ‘He can’t get in.’

  ‘Har-har-har!’ laughed the leopard. He was not scratching the door now. There was a new sound. The leopard was climbing the outside wall of the house, which was made of sticks and mud. He reached the roof. What would he do now? There was no way to lock a roof. There was a sound of scratching right over their heads. The roof was not solid. It was made of thatch - sticks and twigs and brush.