Vic mumbled and wept and went to sleep, probably dreaming about the terrible vengeance he was going to inflict on Hal Hunt.
Chapter 18
Midnight Monster
The headman of the village of Bahru dropped by to see the take-‘emalive men, Hal and Roger.
‘A rogue elephant is giving us a lot of trouble. It has trampled down our sweet potato crop, smashed some of our houses, and killed several of our people. Can you help us?’
‘What does he mean? What’s a rogue elephant?’ Roger asked his brother.
‘Once every year a bull elephant is likely to go ‘musth’.’
‘What is musth?’
‘It means wild, crazy. The elephant becomes savage. He tramples down the fields, kills the farmers’ pigs, kills any people he can reach, and makes himself a deadly nuisance. It lasts for a week or so. Usually he is all right after that. but you just can’t be sure.’
The headman said, ‘In a week or two we may all be dead. If anything is done it must be done right away.’
‘What time of day does he bother you?’
‘At night.’
‘All right. We’ll be on the job tonight.’
‘A thousand thanks. I know what you did for Gir Village. That is why I came to you.’ And the headman went home with the hope that the killing and destruction in his village would be stopped.
‘I don’t see how we can do anything with a crazy elephant.’ Roger said.
‘Let’s go and pick a good spot near the village. We’ll gather sticks and logs and pile them up so we can set them on fire about nine o’clock this evening. We’ll also build a boma - you know, a wall made of thorn bushes that we can hide behind and watch the animals that come out to see the fire. Just like humans, they are curious to see what is going on. Perhaps the rogue elephant will be curious too.’
‘But how are you going to tackle him if he comes?’
‘I don’t know. Perhaps he will tackle us. It’s a pretty dangerous business, and I’d like it better if you would stay home.’
‘Stay home, nothing 1 If you can stand it, I can,’ said Roger.
‘We’ll take along a chain and perhaps we can chain one of his feet to a tree.’
‘But he could pull down a tree.’
‘Not if it’s a big tree, and the chain is tied round the very bottom of the trunk.’
‘But we have an elephant - we don’t want another.’ objected Roger.
‘No, we don’t. Any ship’s captain would object to two six-ton monsters. One is all we can ask him to take.’
‘Well then.’ Roger said, ‘if we don’t get anything out of this, why do it?’
‘Just for the people in that village. But I think a lot of animals will show themselves. We might get one of them. Anyhow we’ll take a cage along. We seem to do pretty well with cats - so perhaps we can snare another cat. But whether we do or not, I’ll be satisfied if we can save that village.’
Just outside Bahru village they built their boma. It was made of wait-a-bit thorn bushes. It was about six feet high and a foot thick. Behind this they could hide and watch. Any animal coming up against those thorns would think twice about coming farther. Beside the boma was a tree to which they hoped to chain the elephant - if he appeared. In front of the boma, fifty feet away from it, they piled brush, sticks and logs that would make a good bonfire after they set a match to it at nine o’clock.
They came home for dinner - ‘Perhaps the last we’ll ever have,’ said Roger.
‘0h, don’t be so gloomy.’ Hal said.
‘I was just kidding,’ said Roger. He was much excited about this adventure.
‘Put on warm clothes.’ said Hal. ‘It will get pretty chilly during the night.’
‘But we’ll have a fire.’
‘Yes, but it will just warm our animal guests - not us. We’ll shiver behind our boma. I’ll carry the chain. Do you think you can carry a cat-size cage?’
‘Sure. But I think we’d better take the truck. If we do get anything in the cage it might be pretty heavy to carry home.’
At nine they drove to the boma. They started the fire. Roger made two holes through the thorn bushes so they could see if anything came prowling round the fire. Then they settled down in the boma and waited. At ten o’clock a weasel appeared. At eleven, something a little larger, a hedgehog.
‘I thought we were going to have a lot of company.’ Roger said.
‘I see a good deal of movement behind the bushes.’ Hal said. ‘Evidently there are quite a few animals but they are afraid to come out. Keep very quiet.’
Since the fire was not doing them any harm, the creatures of the forest began to appear. A couple of wolves came out, looking about suspiciously, and sat down where they could get the warmth of the fire.
Then came a Gir lion. Most other animals were afraid of him, so he expected this strange bright thing would also fear him. He walked straight up to it, growling, and expected the bright thing to run away. It did not run. He pushed his way into it and the fire caught in his whiskers. In great surprise, he backed off and rolled about on the ground to put out the blaze in his beard and his mane.
The boys saw a leopard hiding behind the bushes. He always took care not to be seen so he did not venture farther.
A sambar, and his friend a chital, came out together and these two fine deer joined the lion and the leopard.
At twelve, the most important guest appeared on the scene. He came galumphing in, pounding the earth with his enormous flat feet. He was screaming like a steam whistle. The other animals ran for their lives from the rogue elephant.
One black cat of some sort ran up the tree and took refuge in the branches.
The rogue, trumpeting loudly, flung up his trunk, and danced the strange little two-step that all elephants do when about to attack. To him, the fire was a living thing and therefore to be killed. He rushed into it, stamped about on the embers, raging and squealing. But the fire won the contest. He ran out with scorched legs and made for the leopard behind the screen of bushes.
The leopard, instead of running away in a panic, took a flying leap and landed on the rogue’s back. He dug in his long sharp claws and sank his teeth into the elephant’s neck.
The elephant with a scream of pain and rage whirled his trunk about and knocked the leopard from his back.
Then the monster noticed the boma. He came at full speed and plunged his trunk and head into the thorns. His very sensitive trunk was pierced in many places. He was furious. If he charged again, down would go the boma and also two young hunters. He crashed once more against the boma and down it fell.
But the boys were no longer in the boma. They were at the base of the tree with the chain in their hands, like lightning, the chain was flung around the tree and one of the legs and locked fast.
Now the song of the rogue could be heard for many miles. It so terrified the cat in the shaking tree that it fell from a branch into the boma. Hal pushed it into the cage. He played his torch on it.
‘It’s a panther. What a lucky catch!’
‘What’s a panther?’ Roger wanted to know.
‘It’s one of the leopard family. But it looks quite different.
It’s as black as coal. So they give it another name - panther. In a way it’s better than a spotted leopard, because it’s so unusual. Dad will be glad to have it.’
The villagers were streaming out to see what was going on. They saw their tormentor who had destroyed their crops, smashed houses, killed neighbours, now safely put out of business. The rogue was still dancing and trumpeting, but the tree, although shaking, did not come down.
Hal and Roger were glad to go to their cabin and get some sleep.
In the morning, Roger said, ‘You can’t leave him there. What are you going to do with him? Why not shoot him?’
That’s not necessary,’ Hal said. ‘He’s a very big, strong, powerful animal. He ought to be of great use to somebody after he gets over these tantrums. I’m going to see
Abu Singh.’
‘Who’s Abu Singh?’
‘Don’t you remember - the Abu Singh Teak Company?’
They couldn’t make use of a crazy beast like that.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ said Hal. ‘We’ll see what Abu Singh thinks about it.’
At the timber-yard they met Abu Singh himself.
‘We have a rampaging rogue elephant chained outside the village of Bahru, We can’t do anything with him but perhaps you can.’
‘What’s the matter with him?’
‘It’s a case of musth,’ Hal said. ‘He’s no use to you the way he is now, but in about a week he may be all right. He looks very strong and healthy and perhaps you could train him to be a good logger. It won’t cost you one rupee’
Abu Singh thought it over. ‘Well, I can’t lose on a deal like that. I’ll send a couple of our tame elephants. With one on each side of him, firmly locked together, he can’t do much. We’ll keep him chained up until he gets over his heebie-jeebies. But I don’t understand why you don’t keep him yourself. You are take-‘emalive men.’
‘Yes,’ Hal said, ‘but we already have an elephant. One is enough.’
So the rogue was left with Abu Singh who notified the boys two weeks later that the great animal was piling logs as if he had done it all his life.
Chapter 19
Wolf and Dogwolf
‘Oh-oh-ah-ah-ah-oo-oo-oo-oo-WEE-WEE-Wee-Wee-oo-oo-oo-oo-ah-ah-oh-oh.’
The weird sound woke Roger.
‘What in the world is that? Hal, wake up. Did you hear that? It sounded like a wolf. It started low, went away up to a scream - ‘wee-wee-wee-wee’, then down again.’
‘You’re right,’ said Hal. ‘It was a wolf. Strange - because Indian wolves don’t often howl.’
He was interrupted by another cry: ‘Oh-oh-oh-ah-ah-ah-00-00-wooF-wooF-wooF-ah-oo-oh-oh.’
‘I can’t understand it.’ Hal said. Those woofs in the middle. Those are barks, not howls. The wolf doesn’t bark. The middle was dog sound. The start and finish were wolf sounds. How do you explain that?’
‘I don’t,’ said Roger. He was already out of bed and pulling on his clothes. Hal dressed hastily. They didn’t stop
for breakfast.
They hopped into the truck and took off in the direction of the howls and barks.
‘If we don’t hurry,’ Hal said, ‘we may lose them because they don’t stay long in one place. They can cover from twenty-five to forty miles in a day. They run very fast and hardly anything can beat them except a cheetah.
‘A cheetah can do seventy miles an hour but soon tires. A wolf can run all day or all night. If they have found something to eat we may get there in time.’
‘What do they eat?’
‘Anything from a mouse to a deer. They have a great taste for rabbits and rats. In America they used to follow the herds of buffalo, feeding on the stragglers, the sick and
the dead. They have been known to kill and eat horses. In Russia they have chased sleighs, not to kill the people in the sleighs, but to kill the horses.’
‘You mean they don’t kill people?’
‘Almost never.’
‘That’s good,’ Roger said. ‘Perhaps they don’t like the taste of us.’
‘They are very intelligent. Quite as clever as a fox. They know that if they kill people they will be killed. But if there are enough wolves in the pack they may attack men. That’s not likely here because I understand that there are seldom more than six or eight wolves in an Indian pack.’
‘You say they travel a lot. Don’t they have any home?’
‘Yes, and they come back to it every once in a while. If there is a hollow log lying on the ground they use that as a home. Or they will dig a hole into the side of a hill and keep digging until it may be thirty feet long. At the end of it is their home, sweet home.’
‘I think we must be getting close to them,’ Roger said. Their howling seems to get louder all the time.’
Hal slowed the truck to make it as quiet as possible. They rounded a little hill and there was a pack of seven wolves. They stared at the truck, but did not run away.
Now the boys were to discover why one of these animals could both howl and bark.
They were all large beasts, about five feet long. They had thick, shaggy coats so that they could go up into the mountain snows without getting cold.
Hal said, ‘You notice how short their ears are. Up in the mountains long ears would get frost-bitten. So nature has given them short ears that are not so likely to freeze.
‘What terrific jaws they have,’ Roger said.
They can kill almost anything with those jaws. They have forty-two big teeth, each one as strong as a rock.’
‘Look at that one jump. He must have made sixteen feet in one bound. Why aren’t they afraid of us?’
They are very wise animals,’ Hal said. They can see that we have no guns.’
‘Look. One of them is trotting this way.’ cried Roger.
This animal seemed glad to see human beings. He came very close. He whimpered as if he wanted to be petted. Roger took a chance. He reached down and stroked the shaggy neck of the animal. Then out came the howl and right in the middle of it were the barks of a dog.
This is the one,’ exclaimed Hal, ‘the one we heard woof-ing. It’s not a wolf, and it’s not a dog. One of its parents was a dog and the other was a wolf. We were asked to get a wolf. All right, we’ll get a wolf - but we’ll also take home this dogwolf. He’s a curiosity that will bring a lot of people to the zoo.’
The animal that Hal had called a dogwolf leaped up on to the truck, walked up to the back of the seat and put its head in between the two boys.
‘I think he’s adopted us,’ said Hal. That’s the easiest catch we ever made. In fact, we didn’t catch him, he caught us. What a friendly beast! We have the dogwolf, now we must get the wolf.’
With a skilful fling of the lasso Hal necked the largest and finest of the wolves. He and Roger both laid hold of the rope and drew the howling wolf to the back of the truck.
‘I’ll get him up on to the truck,’ Roger said.
‘You can’t do that,’ Hal said, ‘he must weigh nearly two hundred pounds.’
Roger went back. He jerked on the rope until the wolf angrily leaped up on the truck, snarling, ready to punish this boy for annoying him.
But Roger was no longer there. He was standing behind the cage, the door of which stood open. The animal was not used to cages. What he wanted was to get at the boy whom he could see plainly through the back of the cage. He walked in. Roger slipped round and closed the cage door.
Captured - one wolf. The dogwolf did not need to be captured. Evidently he had not seen human beings for a long time and he elected to stay with them. He didn’t need to be caged. The dog in him trusted a dog’s best friend - man.
So, wolf and dogwolf travelled back to camp. The wolf was caged. But the dogwolf ran free. He could be relied upon to stick, around where he was petted, well fed, and safe.
At their long-delayed breakfast, Hal said, ‘Roger, you remember reading White Fang by Jack London - about the animal called White Fang who was part dog, part wolf. And then there was that story by Kipling about the little boy called Mowgli who was brought up by a wolf. Since that was written there have been more stories about children being brought up by wolves. They are very common in India. One of these stories is about a small boy who had been abandoned at birth but was cared for by the wolves.
He walked on his hands and feet, he could not speak any language, but he could howl like a wolf. Of course it was just a story, but many people believed it. Anyhow, such stories show that some people trust wolves and find there is much good in them. But I think the best qualities of all come out when you put dog and wolf together as you see them in our new friend, Dogwolf.’
Chapter 20
The Houseboat
Hal had been working very hard collecting animals. He was very tired, almost sick. He
needed a rest.
‘You look like a ghost.’ Roger said. ‘Why don’t you let up for a little while?’
‘I’ve been thinking about doing just that,’ Hal said. ‘How would you like to go to the Vale of Kashmir for a week or two? It’s just one of the loveliest places on earth.’
That would be great,’ said Roger. ‘I’ve heard about it. Vale means valley, doesn’t it? They have houseboats. Perhaps we could rent one and live on it. But who would take care of our animals?’
That’s the trouble,’ admitted Hal. They would have to be fed every day, and they would have to be protected against crooks like those three in the barn-house. We’ll have to find someone to take care of them. Suppose I go and see Abu Singh. We’ve given him an elephant worth millions of rupees. Perhaps he would be willing to do something for us.’
Hal found Abu Singh eating his breakfast. Abu Singh was happy to see him. ‘Come, my good friend, sit down and eat with me.’
Thank you, but I’ve already had breakfast,’ Hal said.
‘You look as if you needed more. Either that or rest. You are doing very hard work - why don’t you relax for a little while?’
‘I’ve been thinking about it. But someone will have to look after our animals. They would have to be fed. And it would be necessary to protect them against thieves who are very anxious to steal them.’
‘Why don’t you let me help?’ said Abu Singh. ‘I can’t stay there myself, but I could have one of our men posted there.’
‘Very kind of you,’ Hal said. ‘But he would have to be on the job day and night. He could use our cabin.’
It will be a pleasure to do this for you.’ said Abu Singh. ‘You have done so much for me. The elephant you gave me is one of our best.’
He went to the door and called in a mahout. He said to Hal, This mahout’s name is Akbar. Akbar, this is Hal Hunt who has a permit to collect animals in the Gir Forest. He has already made a fine collection. But it is very hard work and he and his brother are going away for a week or two. While they are away, I want you to look after their animals, feed them, and don’t let anybody steal them. You may use their cabin. Can I rely upon you?’
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