They had been asleep several hours, when all three were suddenly
awakened by the barking of Fritz. During night hours the faithful
creature stayed habitually within the hut--where he also had his bed of
dry grass. On hearing any unusual noise without, he would rush forth
and prowl about for awhile; and, after satisfying himself that there was
no enemy in the neighbourhood, would return quietly to his lair.
Fritz was far from being a noisy dog. He had seen too much service, and
gathered too much wisdom, to waste his breath in idle barking; and it
was only upon grand and important occasions that he condescended to give
tongue. Then, however, his bark--or bay, it should rather be termed--
was terrific.
On the occasion in question--which happened just about the hour of
midnight--the three sleepers were suddenly awakened by his expansive
"yowl," that filled the whole valley, and reverberating from the cliffs,
appeared continuous. The dog, after uttering this warning note, had
rushed out of the hut--which had no door to it--and it was from some
place down near the lake that his barking appeared to proceed.
"What can it be?" was the prompt and _very_ natural inquiry of the three
individuals, whom Fritz had so abruptly awakened from their slumbers.
"Something Fritz is frightened at," said Caspar, who knew the dog's
nature better than either of the others. "He don't bark that way at any
sort of game that he knows he can conquer. It's some animal that's a
match for him, I warrant. If the old yak bull were still alive, I
should say it was he."
"There may be tigers in this valley; I never thought of that," rejoined
Karl. "Now that I do think of it," continued he, drawing upon the
reminiscences of his zoological reading, "it is quite probable. People
believe the tiger to be exclusively an inhabitant of tropical or
subtropical regions. That is an error. On this continent (the speaker
was in Asia) the royal Bengal tiger ranges at least as far north as the
latitude of London. I know he is found on the Amoor as high as the
fiftieth degree."
"Mercy on us!" broke in Caspar; "it may be a tiger, and we have never
thought of having a door to our hut! If it should be one--"
Here the hypothetic speech of Caspar was abruptly brought to a
conclusion, by a singular noise from without--which was heard mingling
in chorus with the baying of Fritz.
The noise in question bore some resemblance to the sound of a trumpet,
only sharper and more treble in its character. It was in effect more
like the squeak of a _penny trumpet_ than the real article; and yet,
withal, there was something terrifying in the sound.
It must have terrified Fritz: for the moment after it was heard, the dog
came rushing back into the hut, as if pursued by a legion of horned
bulls; and, though he kept up his angry baying, he appeared altogether
disinclined to venture out again.
Just then, the singular noise was heard outside the door--something
between a shriek and a whistle--and this time with a far more terrifying
effect: since, whatever produced it--bird, beast, or man--was evidently
near, and still approaching nearer.
Of the three individuals within the hut, only one had ever before heard
a sound exactly similar to that. Ossaroo was the one. The old shikaree
recognised the noise the moment it reached his ears, and knew perfectly
well the sort of instrument that must have been producing it; but he was
hindered for a time from proclaiming his knowledge, by surprise, as well
as a strong feeling of terror at hearing such a sound in such a place.
"By de wheels ob Juggernaut car!" he gasped out. "Can't be--can't be;
no possible him be here."
"Who? What?" demanded Karl and Caspar, in a breath.
"See, sahibs! it him--it him!" hurriedly rejoined the Hindoo, in a sort
of shrieking whisper. "We all perish--it him--it him--de god--de
mighty--de terrible--"
There was no light within the hovel, except a faint glimmer from the
moon shining brightly enough outside; but it did not require any light
to tell that the shikaree was frightened pretty nearly out of his
senses. His companions could discover by his voice that he had suddenly
changed position, and was retreating backward to that corner of the hut
furthest from the doorway. At the same time his words reached them in
whispers, cautioning them to lie close and keep silent.
Both, without knowing what the danger was, of course obeyed injunctions
thus emphatically delivered; and remained sitting up on their couches
without uttering a word. Ossaroo, after having delivered his cautioning
speeches, kept equally silent.
Once more the strange sound fell upon their ears--this time as if the
instrument that produced it had been thrust into the doorway of the
hovel. At the same instant the turf outside, hitherto glistening under
a bright moonlight, became darkened by the shadow of an enormous
creature--as if the queen of night had suddenly disappeared behind the
blackest of clouds! Still the light could be seen beyond, and the moon
was shining. It was no cloud that had obscured her; but some vast body
moving over the earth, and which, having come up to the front of the
hovel, was there halting.
Karl and Caspar fancied they could see a gigantic living form, with huge
thick limbs, standing outside; but, indeed, both were as much terrified
by the apparition as Ossaroo himself, though perhaps for a different
reason.
Fritz must have been as much frightened as any of the four; and fear had
produced upon him an effect exactly similar to that it had produced upon
Ossaroo. It kept him silent. Cowering in a corner, Fritz was now as
quiet as if he had been born a voiceless _dingo_.
This speechless trance seemed to have its influence upon the
awe-inspiring shadow outside the door: for, after giving utterance to
another specimen of shrill piping, it withdrew with as much silence as
if it had been but the shadow it appeared!
Caspar's curiosity had become too strong to be kept any longer under the
control of his fears. As soon as the strange intruder was seen moving
away from the hut, he stole forward to the entrance, and looked out.
Karl was not slow in following him; and Ossaroo also ventured from his
hiding-place.
A dark mass--in form like a quadruped, but one of gigantic size--could
be seen going off in the direction of the lake. It moved in majestic
silence; but it could have been no shadow, for on crossing the stream--
near the point where the latter debouched into the lake--the plashing of
its feet could be heard as it waded through the water, and eddies could
be seen upon the calm surface. A simple shadow would not have made such
a commotion as that?
"Sahibs!" said Ossaroo, in a tone of mysterious gravity, "he be one ob
two ting. He eider be de god Brahma, or--"
"Or what?" demanded Caspar.
"An ole rogue."