If one heeded all they say about tigers one
would never travel at all. I am a juggler, and we are on our way
down the country through Cawnpore and Allahabad. Had it not been
for the valor of my lord sahib, we should never have got there; for
had I lost my Rabda, the light of my heart, I should have gone no
further, but should have waited for the tiger to take me also."
"There was no particular valor about it," Bathurst said shortly.
"I saw the beast with its foot on your daughter, and dismounted to
beat it off just as if it had been a dog, without thinking whether
there was any danger in it or not. Men do it with savage beasts
in menageries every day. They are cowardly brutes after all, and
can't stand the lash. He was taken altogether by surprise, too."
"My lord has saved my daughter's life, and mine is at his service
henceforth," the man said. "The mouse is a small beast, but he may
warn the lion. The white sahibs are brave and strong. Would one of
my countrymen have ventured his life to attack a tiger, armed only
with a whip, for the sake of the life of a poor wayfarer?"
"Yes, I think there are many who would have done so," Bathurst
replied. "You do your countrymen injustice. There are plenty of
brave men among them, and I have heard before now of villagers,
armed only with sticks, attacking a tiger who has carried off a
victim from among them. You yourself were standing boldly before
it when I came up."
"My child was under its feet--besides, I never thought of myself.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33