by Ruskin Bond
The stranger answered in a pleasant well-bred voice: "No, I have not got lost. I know this forest well; besides I have a useful bump of locality. I am on a shooting expedition. I was just walking to my camp. Still, as it is some way off near the edge of the forest, I should be glad of a lift."
"Right-o!" said Briggs, cordially. "Come along inside. I'll tell you what. We'll drive to a glade I know of a couple of miles ahead and there we'll have breakfast. I have a tiffin basket at the back and I shall be very glad indeed if you'll join me."
"It is most awfully kind of you. My name is Savile. I used to be in the 82nd, but I retired three years ago and now I am just loafing about and shooting when I get the chance."
The car did not take long to carry the forest officer and his guest to the glade of which the former had spoken. Briggs opened the door and got out; he lifted the tiffin basket from the back to a convenient mound. The basket was amply furnished, for its owner liked to do himself well when on the march. Two large flasks held hot tea. Polished white dishes, cups, saucers, plates and cutlery of all kinds offered every aid to the consumption of cold chicken and tongue, ham, pressed beef, currant cake and fruit that awaited the hunger of the travellers.
Briggs carved the chicken and gave his newly-found friend an ample portion. Savile snatched the plate so greedily that Briggs thought to himself 'the poor devil must be starving.' Certainly Savile polished off his helping in no time and was quite ready for a second before Briggs, stout trencherman though he was, had really started on his first. Then Savile said in his clear well-bred voice: "Are you not afraid to go through this forest alone?"
"No," said Briggs with some surprise, "why?"
"Well, of course, it may only be idle gossip; but I have heard from some trustworthy natives that there are panther people about."
Briggs began to wonder whether his guest was not an escaped lunatic; so, instead of asking him incredulously what the devil he meant, he said as calmly as he could: "No, I have never heard that; but what are panther people exactly?"
"They are men and women who have the power to turn themselves into panthers at will; or perhaps they may be panthers that have the power to turn themselves into men and women. After all it does not matter much, for it comes to the same in the end, doesn't it?" And Savile smiled whimsically.
Briggs began to grow deeply interested: "You surely have never met such people, have you?"
"Well, yes. I was so unfortunate some four years ago as to marry one of them."
This was more than Briggs could stand: "I wish the deuce, old chap, you wouldn't try to pull my leg. You cannot expect me to believe such a yarn as that."
Savile's courteous manner never changed. "Well, such a statement does seem rather tall in cold blood; but if you like I'll tell you my story and then you can believe it or not, as you please...."
"Yes, do."
"Some eight years ago I had just got my majority and I thought it was time to marry. Subalterns, you know, are expected to remain bachelors. Married captains are not always popular; but majors are more or less required to have wives. So I began to look for a suitable lady."
"When a man begins to look for a wife, it is wonderful how soon he finds a lady who seems to be his long-looked-for ideal. I met my soul's mate at Dhulia in Khandesh, where her father held a post on the railway. After her marriage she insisted on spending our honeymoon shooting the great jungles of Western Khandesh; and she never seemed so happy as when we were camping in the forest. After our honeymoon we went to Mhow, where my regiment was stationed and the rainy season passed very pleasantly with polo, cricket and tennis—the usual military life, you know. My wife was a bit of a flirt; but I did not mind that. She had only just come out when I married her and I realised that she was wild to enjoy to the full the new life she had just begun to know."
"Among her favourite squires was a Civil Servant, a man called Trevelyan, who was in the Political Department and was officiating as first assistant to Sir William Thompson, the Agent to the Governor-General in Central India. Trevelyan was a good-looking, well-set-up man and I liked him personally so much that I never dreamt of being jealous of his friendly relations with my wife. When in November we received and invitation to spend ten days at Christmas in the Agent's camp at Bundelkhand, I guessed, and rightly, that Trevelyan had got us the invitation. My wife was delighted at the idea of camping in Central India. I was overjoyed at the thought of bagging my first tiger."
"Well, to make a long story short, we reached our destination on Christmas Eve. Although there were not many guests there was an abundance of large and luxurious tents, while a huge shamiana,2divided into two parts, served as a dining room and a drawing room. The Agent to the Governor-General had invited eight guns and three of them, including myself, had brought their wives. A big drive was fixed for Christmas Day and H.H. the Maharaja of Ortha, who owned the jungle where we were camping, had done some splendid staff work. He did not take part in the shoot; but I saw him one day when he came to call on the Agent."
"Did you know him?" asked Savile, pausing.
"No," said Briggs, "I am afraid my acquaintance with Maharajas is somewhat limited."
"Well, if you had seen him once you would never forget him. He stood six feet high and was very handsome; his bearing was such as can only be found in a Rajput chief who claims descent through two hundred generations from the divine Ramachandra himself. However, I must not begin telling you about Hindu divinities and Rajput descents or I shall never finish. I must get on with my story.
"My wife and I had separate tents—it was her wish always to sleep alone as she said I snored so badly that I disturbed her— and our tents stood at the edge of the encampment. On Christmas Day we all met cheerfully in the big tent for tea and eggs and toast and to wish each other a Merry Christmas; then we set out. Most of the way we were carried on the Maharaja's elephants—interesting at first but slow after a bit, for their maximum speed is some two miles an hour. When we got near the place where the tigers were supposed to be lying up, we got off the kneeling elephants and walked to the machans assigned to us. I was rather a junior, so I was given an outside place and never really expected to shoot anything: nevertheless, in big game shooting luck lies upon the knees of the gods.
"Suddenly I heard the heavy, dull footfalls of a great beast and into the open space below my tree stepped a magnificent male tiger. It was in the prime of life, brilliantly striped and wearing its deep winter fur. I took careful aim at the point of its shoulder and fired. It fell; I gave it a second barrel and then, reloading, waited, hoping for another animal. Then I heard two shots with a little interval between them; they came from the direction of the A.G.G.'s machan and I guessed that he had secured a tiger too. I was right. When the beaters came up, we compared our experiences. There had been a tiger and a tigress in the beat. I had got the one and my host the other."
"You were jolly lucky," murmured Briggs, "to bag a tiger in your first beat."
"Yes; I was, and there was no lighter-hearted guest in the A.G.G.'s camp that evening at dinner; but now I am coming to the sinister side of the story. I am afraid I am boring you?" Savile paused on a note of interrogation.
"No, please do go on: I am deeply interested."
"Very well. Next morning as we sat in the big tent at our tea and toast, a young fellow, Howard of the Central India Horse, rushed in greatly excited. Addressing Sir William Thompson, he cried: 'I say, Sir, a panther came into our camp last night. There are pugs3 close to my tent and just outside Trevelyan's!' His statement brought answering cries of 'Rot!' 'Not really!' and we all ran out to see the panther's tracks. Yes; there they were. There was no doubt about it. The beast could not have been very large, six foot six or seven foot at most judging from its footprints.
"After talking the subject threadbare, we turned to other topics. That day we beat another part of the jungle but drew a blank. Next morning Howard again brought news of fresh panther's tracks in the camp. This time they were visible o
utside my wife's tent. I began to get seriously alarmed. Trevelyan, too, looked so shocked at the news that I thought he was going to faint. Whether Sir William noticed his assistant's weakness or not, I do not know; but, if he did, he covered it by saying: 'I tell you what. One of you fellows must sit up for the panther this evening close to the camp. We'll tie up a goat and it will probably come about five or so this afternoon. It must be desperately hungry and quite unafraid of men, or it would not enter my camp at night. Will you sit up for it, Savile?'
"I agreed readily, and after tea, on our return from another drive in which Jowers, the Superintendent of Police, bagged a bear, I went and sat up in a tree a couple of hundred yards from the camp. A goat was brought and tied up, but there was not sign of a panther. No monkeys chattered; no birds struck warning notes; even the goat seemed perfectly calm and collected. It grazed for a while and then lay down quietly; so far as I could judge, it fell fast asleep.
"I was disgusted, as you can imagine. At the same time I could not get out of my head Trevelyan's appearance at chota hazri. I had begun indeed to regret having accepted Sir William's invitation. The first and second evenings Trevelyan had been too attentive to my wife for my liking, but the third day he had seemed to avoid her and all the fourth day he had appeared to be terrified of her.
"Just before dinner time I slipped out of my tree, went to my tent and changed for dinner."
"I am generally a very sound sleeper; but whether I had eaten or drunk too much, I found myself wide awake at two o'clock in the morning. I was about to turn over when I saw in the bright moonlight—it was nearly full moon—a panther pass close by the chicks (screen) of my tent. It was warm and I had not let down the kanats.4 I did not know quite what to do. I was frankly afraid. I thought the best thing was to wait a minute or two and then peep out. I did so, and putting my head through the tent door, I looked about for the panther. It had vanished! Then I went to my wife's tent. It was empty! Her nightdress lay on her bed and her slippers under it. For a moment I thought that she might have paid Trevelyan's tent a visit and the blood rushed to my head; but I grew calm again as I saw that all her clothes lay on her chair. I decided not to make myself ridiculous by rushing into Trevelyan's tent. I would get back to bed and wait until my wife returned and ask her. Once, however, under the bedclothes, I fell asleep and did not wake until my wife came into my tent fully dressed to ask me whether I was not going to have any chota hazri. I pulled on my clothes as quickly as I could and went to the dining room.
"There I found more excitement. Fresh tracks had been noticed outside my tent this time and again outside Trevelyan's. I looked at Trevelyan. His appearance was ghastly; rising from his place, he excused himself, pleading fever. I asked my wife later why she had left her tent in the night: she looked me in the face and, laughing, asked me what I meant. When I told her that I had entered her tent and found her bed empty and her nightdress lying on her bed, she said: 'My dear boy, you must have been dreaming. Is it likely that I should walk about the camp at 2 a.m. stark naked?' I could find no answer and for a time I really thought that I must have been dreaming. I resolved, nevertheless, to keep awake the following night, rifle in hand, and shoot the panther should it come again into camp. I told no one, not even my wife, of my intention. I was afraid that everyone else would want to sit up, too, and the panther would be scared.
"After dinner I drew my chair close behind the chick of my tent and, as before, I did not lower the kanat. I kept awake until one, and then I must have dropped off to sleep. About two I awoke with a start and saw in the brilliant moonlight the same panther walk just in front of my tent. I rose as quietly as I could and, peeping outside, saw it entering Trevelyan's tent. I had my rifle in my hand; I opened the breech quickly to make quite sure the cartridges were there, and then went on tiptoe after the invader. I was terribly afraid it might be a man-eater and would kill Trevelyan before I got there.
"When I reached his kanat I pushed it gently on one side and saw the panther standing by Trevelyan's bed. He was sitting up with a look of terror on his face. It seemed to me as if the next moment the panther would spring on my friend and carry him away. I raised my rifle carefully and noiselessly and, aiming at the panther's heart, fired. It sank in a heap on the ground. I rushed in and said: 'Thank God, old chap, I was in time.' To my surprise he did not thank me nor indeed did he speak at all. With an agonised expression he pointed with his finger to the dead animal. I looked and saw a change come over the panther. Its fur disappeared; its forelegs lengthened and became arms; its body shortened, its face lost its bestial shape and became human. Lastly, to my horror, the beast that I had shot changed into the naked corpse of my wife. I turned to Trevelyan and said 'In Heaven's name, what is the meaning of this?' He replied, as if half out of his wits, 'I have behaved like an infernal blackguard, Savile. While pretending to be your friend, I have made love to your wife. On Christmas Day I made her promise to come to my tent that night. This she could do, unseen as I hoped, as you had separate quarters.'
'"You damned sweep, Trevelyan!'
" 'Yes, that is just what I was—and well, I was suitably punished. Your wife came about 2 o'clock when I was asleep. I woke up to find her standing by my bedside clad only in my old overcoat. As I put out my arms, she kissed me. I took her into my embrace and she offered no resistance; but when she was about to go I noticed that she had brought no clothes. I asked her what she would do and how she had come. She could not have crossed the open space in the moonlight, mother naked. She laughed and said that she needed no clothes. She stood by the bed without a stitch on and then before my eyes changed slowly into a panther. I was too horrified to say a word and I watched her leave my tent and walk back to her own. I went to bed but I could not sleep. I lay wide awake until morning. Indeed since then I have not slept at all and every night she has come. I have seen her enter as a panther, change into a beautiful woman, and again into a panther. I daresay you have noticed how ill I have looked. I have been on the verge of madness; and now, thank God! you have shot the monster and I am free.'
"Before I could reply, the A.G.G., the Superintendent of Police, Howard and two or three other men crowded into Trevelyan's tent, Howard crying joyfully—'Well, did you get old Spots?— Who fired? Then a hush fell on the group when they saw me, gun in hand, and close in front of me the dead body of my wife, with a hideous expanding bullet wound in her side. The A.G.G. said in a grave, quiet voice: 'Please explain what has happened, Savile.' I replied 'Ask Trevelyan, Sir, he will explain.' Sir William turned to Trevelyan, but he only burst into a fit of maniac laughter: 'He thought he was shooting a panther and he has shot his own wife! Ha! Ha! Ha!'
"Sir William again turned to me said 'You must explain, Savile!'
'"It is quite true, Sir, what Trevelyan said. I saw the panther enter his tent. I followed it and, seeing it about to spring on him, I shot it, and now it has turned into my wife. I cannot understand it.'
'"You can hardly expect us to believe that tale, Savile,' said the A.G.G., his lips grimly set. 'I must ask Mr. Jowers, the Superintendent of Police, to do his duty.'
"Jowers stepped forward and arrested me. I was sent back under police guard to Mhow and there I was allowed to engage counsel. I briefed Lawrence and told him the whole story; but it was clear from his expression that he did not believe a word I said. At last he cried in despair—'Look here, Savile, I am your counsel and, as such, bound to believe what you tell me. Frankly, I cannot; and if I, your advocate, cannot, how can you expect a judge and a jury to do so? So I tell you what: let me conduct your case in my own way. You had plenty of grave and sudden provocation. You were armed as you were sitting up for the panther; and seeing your wife enter Trevelyan's tent at night, you rushed blindly after her, and in a fit of ungovernable rage shot her dead. In France you would be acquitted; even in India the offence will be adjudged culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and you will get two years at the outside.'
"What could I do? My only witness,
Trevelyan, had gone raving mad. If my own counsel scoffed at my story, what chance had I with a jury? I should certainly hang. I agreed to plead guilty to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. After a few formal witnesses had been examined and I had made a statement such as Lawrence had advised, I was convicted on my own plea and sentenced to three years' imprisonment—Lawrence had been unduly optimistic. I got a month or two remission for good conduct and after two and three quarter years in Yeroda jail near Poona, here I am. I have no job and no money."
Savile stopped and rose to his feet as if to stretch himself, and Briggs began to wonder whether it would be possible to squeeze him in as a temporary subordinate in the Forest Department so as to give him a chance to make a fresh start. As he wondered, he saw, or seemed to see, a curious change come over Savile; his yellow coat appeared to be developing round black spots; his fingers that were slender and shapely seemed to be growing into long curved claws; his ears were slipping back to the top of his head and becoming small and pointed; his whole face was jutting out and becoming bestial. Suddenly Savile said with a harsh snarl quite different from the clear cultured voice, in which he had told his story: "And so you will give me all your money, or by God...."
Briggs' brain worked like lightning. He realised that, strong as he was, he would have no chance against the feline monster into which Savile was rapidly turning. Then he remembered that the only animal that a panther fears is a wild buffalo. He pretended to look at something over Savile's shoulder and cried—"Look, look! Buffalo! Buffalo!" Savile swung quickly and nervously round to see. At that moment Briggs sprang to his feet, and with all his strength hit at Savile's jaw. As Briggs rose Savile turned round his head, just in time to receive a tremendous blow on the point of his chin. He collapsed and fell. Briggs, leaving his tiffin basket and its contents where they lay, sprang into his car and pressed the self-starter. Plugs refused to fire, with the result that the car rolled on with only four out of six cylinders working. After a minute or two Briggs looked round anxiously and to his horror saw that the monster—now definitely a panther—had recovered from the blow and was racing after him. He tried to make his car move quicker, but no matter how much he pressed the accelerator, the panther gained on him. At last he felt a shock at the back of the car, and looking round saw the head and forequarters of the panther struggling to climb over the folded hood. He snatched at the cranking handle that lay on the seat at his side and with all his might struck at his enemy's head. The blow caused it to let go the back of the car and it fell to the ground, evidently hurt. Briggs drove on a few hundred yards to where the road rose steeply. He had to drop into second speed and then he looked back again. Once more the panther was following him as hard as it could. In his nervous anxiety to get on, Briggs went back too soon into third speed, with the result that the engine stopped altogether.
