_How Nandha was Avenged_
The travellers from beyond Moradabad having reached Kaladoongie, were
discovered to be men of consequence by the Thanadar, and were invited by
him to join the circle of the great round his fire on the evening of
their arrival.
It was very warm, and the dismal silence was only accented by the
distant howl of a lonely jackal. The sheet lightning flickered fitfully
over the foothills, mocking the gasping Terai with its faint promise of
a coming change.
The conversation round the fire flagged, and the hookah passed languidly
from hand to hand. Those present would have retired to sleep, had sleep
been possible; but as that was a consummation not easily attained at
this season of the year, they preferred their present miseries to those
that come in the wakeful night watches when the Terai is athirst.
Ram Deen's arrival was a nightly boon to those who were wont to assemble
round the Thanadar's fire; there was always the possibility of his
having news; and, besides, men seemed to acquire fresh vitality from
contact with his vigorous personality.
The strangers were especially grateful for his arrival; and when he had
taken his usual place beside the fire, the hookah was at once passed to
him.
"Any tidings, coach-wan ji?" inquired the Thanadar.
"None, sahib; save that the great frog in the well at Lal Kooah--who is
as old as the well, and wiser than most men--gave voice just ere I
started, and the bunnia said it was a sure sign of rain within two days,
as the frog's warning had never been known to fail."
"Nana Debi send it be so," exclaimed the little carrier, "for my
bullocks be starved for the lack of green food, and _bhoosa_ (chaff) is
past my means."
"Thou shouldst not complain, Goor Dutt," said Ram Deen, with a smile;
"their very leanness is thy passport through the jungle. Fatter kine had
been devoured, and their driver with them, long ere this."
Hint of danger that might be encountered in the jungle having been thus
given, one of the strangers was moved to ask concerning the lame tiger
of Huldwani, part of whose biography they had heard from Ram Deen at Lal
Kooah on the previous day.
"Coach-wan ji, wast thou not afraid to carry the mail after the slaying
of thy hostler, Nandha?"
"Those who carry the Queen's mail may not stop for fear. Nevertheless,
fear rode with me a day and a night after the death of Nandha."
"It is a great telling," said the little carrier, nodding at the
wayfarers, whilst Ram Deen "drank tobacco."
When Ram Deen had passed the hookah to his neighbor, he went on:
"Brothers, on the day that Nandha was carried off by the tiger, I sent
word to the postmaster of Naini Tal concerning the killing, and the
out-going mail brought me word that the sircar (government) would send
me help.
"Ye know that a tiger kills not two days in succession; so I had no fear
when I traversed the road to and from Lal Kooah till the second day
after the slaying of Nandha. Ere I started on that morning, the munshi
told me to drive to the dak-bungalow for a sahib who had been sent to
slay the slayer of men.
"Brothers, when I went to the dak-bungalow, there came forth to me a
man-child--a Faringi--whose chin was as smooth as the palm of my hand.
"I would have laughed, but that I thought of the tiger that, I knew,
would be waiting for us; and taking pity on him, I said, 'The jungle
hereabout is full of wild fowl, sahib, an 'twere pity, when shikar is so
plentiful, you should waste the morning looking for a budmash tiger who
will not come forth for two days as yet.'
"He answered me never a word, but went into the dak-bungalow for
something he had forgotten; and, whilst he was gone, his butler spake
to me, saying, 'Coach-wan, make no mistake; thy life depends upon thy
doing the sahib's bidding. He is a very Rustum, and he knoweth not fear,
for all he is so young.'
"'He is a man after my own heart then, sirdar; but, mashallah! I would
he had a beard,' I replied.
"Presently the young sahib came forth with an empty bottle in one hand
and his gun in the other. Throwing the bottle into the air, he shattered
it with a bullet ere it reached the ground. Startled by the report, a
jackal fled from the rear of the cook-house towards the jungle, and the
sahib stopped its flight with another bullet. Then, replenishing his
gun, he took his seat beside me on the mail-cart, saying 'Blow on thy
bugle, coach-wan, and announce our coming to Shere Bahadoor, His Majesty
the Tiger.'
"It was a brave jawan (youth), brothers; but he was very young, and,
belike, he had a mother; so I swore in my beard to save him, whatever
might befall.
"As we proceeded, he questioned me concerning the killing of Nandha,
speaking lightly, as one who goeth to shoot black partridge.
"'He is lame, coach-wan, and will doubtless be waiting for us by the
Bore bridge,' said the sahib. 'As soon as he appears, stay the horses
for an instant whilst I get off the mail-cart, and then return when your
horses will let you.'
"'Bethink thee, sahib,' I answered; 'the Lame One of Huldwani is old and
cunning; it is no fawn thou seekest this morning. Perchance the sircar
will dispatch some great shikari to help thee in this hunting. Gunga
send we may not meet the tiger; but if we should, shame befall me if I
permit thee to leave the mail-cart whilst the horses are able to run!'
"For answer, my brothers, the sahib flushed red, and, calling me coward,
he drave his elbow into my stomach with such force that the reins fell
from my hands. Taking them up, the while I fought for my breath, he
turned the horses round, saying, 'A jackal may not hunt a tiger! I have
need of a man with me this morning, and Goor Deen, my butler, shall take
thy place.'
"'The sahib, being a man, will not blacken my face in the eyes of
Kaladoongie,' I said. 'I spake for thy sake, sahib; but I will drive
thee to Jehandum an' thou wilt,--for no man hath ever called me coward
before.'
"Then the sahib looked in my face, as I tucked the ends of my beard
under my puggri; and seeing that my eyes met his four-square, he gave up
the reins to me, saying, 'If thou playest me false I will kill thee like
a dog;' and he showed me the hilt of a pistol that he had in his pocket.
"We spake no more together, but when we came to the Bore bridge I shook
the jungle with a blast from my bugle.
"'Shabash! coach-wan,' exclaimed the sahib; 'thou art a man, indeed, and
shalt have Shere Bahadoor's skin as recompense for the hurt to thy
stomach. Bid him come again.'
"Half a mile beyond the bridge, as we sped along the level road above
the river, I again blew upon the bugle. The sound had scarcely ceased,
when we heard the angry roar of a charging tiger.
"'Stop!' exclaimed the sahib; and I threw the frightened horses on their
haunches, whilst he leaped to the ground.
"Then, whilst the horses flew along the road, I looked back over my
shoulder and beheld the Lame One bound into the middle of the road; and
the sahib blew on his fingers, as one would whistle to a dog. The great
beast stopped on the instant and crouched on the ground, ready to spring
on the sahib as he advanced towards it, and I prayed to Nana Debi to
befriend the young fool.
"When he was within thirty paces or so from the tiger, the sahib halted
and brought the gun to his shoulder. The next instant there was the
crack of a rifle, and the Lame One leaped straight into the air.
"I knew the tiger was dead; and immediately thereafter the mail-cart ran
into a bank and spilled me on the road. Leaving the stunned horses tied
to a tree, I proceeded to seek the sahib.
"Wah ji, wah! brothers, we must pay taxes to the Faringis until we can
raise sons like theirs. When I joined the boy sahib he was smoking, and
taking the measure of the tiger with a tape!
"His bullet had struck the beast between the eyes, and the Lame One had
died at the hands of a _man_!"