But Carlin required few words. Carlin always understood. She didn't praise or fall into excesses of admiration5, but she understood, and the older one gets the dearer that becomes. Carlin didn't advise with Skag whether she should speak of the matter. She merely decided7 that her old friend, Malcolm M'Cord, Hand-of-a-God, deserved to be told. The silent Scot knew much about animals and this was an affair that would stand high in his collection of musings and memories. M'Cord observed, in a Scotch8 that had suffered no thinning in thirty years of India, that if he hadn't known Hantee Sahib he would be forced to pass by Carlin's report as an invention, though a "fertile" one. It was M'Cord who decided that Government should get at least a private account of the affair.
A remarkable9 tiger pair had operated for several years in the broken cliff country stretching away toward the valley of the Nerbudda beyond the open jungle round Hurda. As mates they had pulled together so efficiently10 that the natives had started the interminable process of making a tradition concerning them. These were superb young individuals and not man-eaters, for which reason Hand-of-a-God had not been called out to deliver the natives; also on this account Skag had been interested from the beginning.
Their lair11 had never been found, but they had been seen together and singly over a ranging ground that covered seventy miles and contained several dejected villages. Once, hard pressed for game, the male tiger had entered a village grazing ground and made a quick kill—on the run—of one of the little sacred cows—a tan heifer much loved by the people. The point of comment was that the tiger had spared the boy; in fact, the young herder had been unable to run so rapidly as his little drove, which was lost in a dust cloud ahead of him. The tiger had actually passed him by, entered the drove, knocked the heifer down and stood over it as the boy circled past.
There were no firearms in the village, so that the natives did not venture close in the falling darkness. It was evident next day, however, that the tiger had not fed on the spot of the kill. It was supposed that the female had come to help him carry away the game.
Also, this was the same tiger pair that had leaped an eight-foot wall surrounding another village, made their choice of a sizable bullock in a herd12 of ordinary cattle, and actually helped each other drag the carcass over the wall and away—a daylight raid, this, witnessed from the shadows of several village huts.
So the stories went, but nothing monotonous13 about them. Often for months at a time no villager would sight the tiger mates. It was positively14 stated that there were no other mature tigers within the vicinity: that is, within the seventy-miles range. The pair had been known to bring up at least three litters; but the young had been driven at the approach of maturity15 to outlying hunting grounds, as had been all the weaker tigers of the vicinity.
Now the report came into Hurda that an English hunter had wounded the big female. Another report followed that the Englishman had killed the male and wounded the female. The hunter himself did not appear in Hurda; nor was a trophy16 hide recorded anywhere. Skag heard the two stories. Thinking over the affair, he called Nels for a stroll in the open jungle toward the Monkey Glen.
To the American there was a pang17 about the hunter's story. He was altogether unsentimental, but wild animals had to do with his reason for being and there was his fixed18 partiality for tigers. The uncertainty19 about the story troubled him. This was the time of year for kittens and it was seldom far from his mind that these parents were not man-eaters. The stories of the hunter were indefinite. The thing worked upon Skag as he walked. The thought of finding the motherless lair and bringing in a hamper21 of starving young occurred to him as a sane22 performance, but not one to speak about. Also his servant, Bhanah, reported Nels superbly fit for travel and adventure.
The animal trainer rode the elephant, Nut Kut, into one of the villages in the tiger-ranging grounds and left him in charge of the mahout, saying that he might be gone two or three days and that he was out for a ramble23 among the waste places of the valley. Skag took merely a haversack, a canteen, light blanket and a hunting belt, carrying a knife and a six-shooter but no rifle. Nels actually lost his dignity in enthusiasm for the excursion, and they were miles away from a village and hours deep in an apparently24 leisurely25 journey before he subsided26 into that observant calm which was his notable characteristic.
This light travelling, with none other than the great hunting dog, brought him back a keen zest27 of appreciation28 and memories of early days among the circus animals, and his first adventures in India with Cadman. Moreover, there was a fresh mystery that had to do with Carlin after Skag's first supper fire afield. He had always resented the fact that it was straight out-and-out pain for him to be away from the place she had made in Hurda. Suffering of any kind to Skag was a sign of weakness. He had dwelt long on the subject.
The mystery of that first night out had to do with the fact that Carlin seemed to be near. He had known something of this before, a flash at least, but nothing like this. There wasn't the pain about separation he had known aforetime. It was as if the miracle he had longed for had come—some awakening29 of life within himself that was quick to her presence even at a distance and cognisant that absence was illusion. Carlin's uncle, the mystic of the Vindhas, had told him that there were mysteries of romance that had to do with separation as well as with together, and that real mates learn this mystery through the years. To-night Skag found to his wonder that the mystic had spoken the truth.
He cooked the supper joyously31 and shared it with Nels, talking to him often and answering himself for the Dane. The camp was in the open and the night was presently lustrous32 with stars. There was a sense of well-being33, together with his fresh delight in the unfolding secret of Carlin's nearness, that made him enjoy staying awake. Nels was wakeful also—as if these moments were altogether too keen with life to waste in sleep.
"It's just a ramble, old man. We'll be about it early," Skag said toward the last. "We may find what we're after and we may not. In any case we'll live on the way."
That was Skag's old picture of the Now; making the most of the ever-moving point named the Present.
"And I'm expecting great things from you, my son—an altogether new brand of self-control—if we find what we're out after. I don't mind telling you that it's Tiger, Nels—tiger babies possibly—little orphans34 just grown enough to be demons35 and just knowing enough not to behave."
Nels woofed.
"Half-grown tiger cubs37 are apt to be a whole lot meaner than their parents," Skag went on. "Wild—that's the word. They haven't sense enough to be careful or mind enough to be appealed to. I think that's something of what I mean to say."
Skag was taking more pains to explain than he would to a man. Nels didn't get it—didn't even make a pretense38. He knew what Tiger meant, but so far as he was concerned that subject had been dropped some moments since. He had listened intently to the point in which Tiger ceased to be the topic—sitting on his haunches. Then he dropped to his front elbows, and as Skag's voice trailed away he rolled quietly to his side, keeping himself courteously39 awake.
There was silence. Skag's eyes were far off among the blazing Indian stars.
"We'll manage 'em together," he added sleepily. The next day they wandered—rough desolate40 country in burning sunlight. It gave the impression that the whole surface crust of earth had been burned to a white heat ages ago. Low hills with clifflike faces; shallow nullahs used only a month or two a year to carry the monsoon41 deluges42 to the Nerbudda; the stones of the river bottoms bone-white—everywhere sparse43 and scrubby foliage44 with dust-covered leaves. There was no turf in this stony45 world except the sand of the hollows and the wind eddied46 most of these spaces like water, quickly covering all tracks. It was toward the end of the afternoon that Nels first intimated a scent47.
Tiger of course—that was Nels' orders—but it wasn't fresh. Skag gave the Dane word to do the best he could and followed leisurely. The big fellow worked with painful care for more than an hour before he became sure of himself; then his speed quickened, following a dry nullah at last, for several miles. The dark was creeping in before they came to a deep fissure48 among the rocks where the empty waterway sunk into a pool which was not yet dry. Skag and the Dane drank deep; then the man filled his canteen, with the remark:
"We'll camp a little back, not to obstruct49 the water hole. All trails end here. To-morrow morning we'll get fresh tiger scent if we're in luck. But I wonder what we're trailing?"
It was a fact of long establishment among the villages that only the one mated pair worked this section of the country. According to one of the stories of the English hunter, the male tiger had been killed and the female wounded—in which case what was this? Certainly there was nothing to indicate that the scent was left by a wounded tiger. Others might have doubted Nels' discrimination, but Skag scouted50 that in his own mind. The Dane knew Tiger. It was as distinct and individual to him from the other big cats as the voices of friends one from another.
Nels was said to have met Tiger in battle before he came to Skag, but it was no purpose of his present master to give him a chance now. It was established that several of the great Indian hunting dogs had survived such meetings. Malcolm M'Cord declared that a veteran in the cheetah51 game would show himself master in any ordinary tiger affair.
They were tired and sun drained. Skag laid down his blankets in the early dusk and there were hours of sleep before he was awakened52 by the different activities at the water hole. Nels apparently had been awake for some time, studying the separate noises in a moveless calm. Skag touched his chest affectionately. A panther or some smaller cat had just made a kill among the rocks above the pool, yet Nels' hackles had not lifted in answer to the bawl53 of the stricken beast.
"You're an all-right chap to camp with, son. You'd sit it out alone until they brought the fracas55 to our doorstep rather than disturb a friend's sleep. That's what I call being a white man."
Skag always thought of Cadman as the unparallelled comrade for field work. In fact, he had learned many of the little niceties of the open from the much-travelled American artist and writer—finished performances of comradeship, a regard for the unwritten things, reverence56 for those rights which never could be brought to the point of words, but which give delicacy57 and delectation to hours together between men. Skag never ceased to delight in the silence and self-control of the Dane. The dog rippled58 and thrilled with all the fundamental elements of friendship and fidelity59, but his big body seemed able to contain them with a dignity that endeared him to the one who understood. Bhanah's work in the training of this fellow was nothing short of consummate60 art.
Breakfasting together, Skag refreshed Nels' mind with the work of the day—that it meant Tiger, that all lesser61 affairs might come and go. The big fellow was up and eager to be off, before Skag finished strapping62 his blanket roll. There was rather a memorable63 moment of sentiency just there. Skag was on one knee as he glanced into Nels' face. His own powers were highly awake that minute, so that he actually sensed what was in the dog's mind—that they must go down to the pool for a look before moving on. The thing was verified a moment later when Nels led the way down into the dim ravine to the margin64 of the water.
Tiger tracks—full four feet on the soft black margin of the pool—a huge beast, unmarked by any toe scar or eccentricity65. Long body, heavy, a perfect thing of his kind. It was as if the tiger had stood some moments listening. Yet the natives declared that only the mated pair operated in this range and the hunter was said to have killed the male. If these were the tracks of the tigress she certainly was not badly hurt. There wasn't the overpressure of a single pad to indicate her favouring a muscle anywhere. And this couldn't have been the track of anything but a mature beast—the finished print of a perfect specimen66.
"That hunter didn't tell it all, Nels, or else he didn't do it all," Skag remarked. "We started out to find a sick tigress and a hamper of neglected babies. I'm not saying we won't find that much. The thing is, we may find more."
Nels was already five yards away across the pebbly67 hollow, waiting for Skag to follow along the ravine. Not a sign of a track that human eye could detect after that—straight, dry, stony nullah bed, deeply shadowed from the narrow walls and stretching ahead apparently for miles. At least it was cool work; the sun would not touch the floor of the fissure for hours yet. Nels never faltered69. His pace gradually quickened until Skag softly called. The Dane would remember for fifteen or twenty minutes, when Skag, again finding that he had to step uncomfortably fast to keep up, would laughingly call a check. The man was watching the walls and the coverts70 of broken rock, and Nels' speed, if left alone, altogether occupied his outer faculties71.
It was eleven in the forenoon and Skag reckoned they must be close to the Nerbudda when Nels halted—even bristled72 a bit, his broad black muzzle73 quivering and held aloft. Skag came up softly and stood close. He touched his finger to his tongue and drew a moist line under his nostrils74, trying to get the message that Nels was working with so obviously. Presently an almost noiseless chuckle75 came from the man, and he touched Nels' shoulder as if to say that he had it too. The thing had come unexpectedly—the faintest possible taint20 of a lair.
They would have passed it a hundred times if it had not been for the scent. The silence was absolute and the walls of the fissure apparently as unbroken as usual. No human eyes would have noted76 the wear of pads upon the stones, and one had to pass and look back to see the cleft77 in the walls of the ravine, far above the high-water mark, which formed the door of significant meaning for the man. Nels hadn't seen this much, but he couldn't miss now. He nosed the pebbles78 again and made an abrupt79 turn to the right. They climbed to the rocks near the entrance. The taint was unmistakable now—past doubt a bone pile of some kind in there—and Nels had followed Tiger to the door.
Skag sat down upon a stone a little below and mopped his forehead, with a smile at the Dane. For ten minutes he sat there. He thought of the first time he had ever entered a tiger cage as a mere6 boy, way back in the Middle West of the States, travelling with the circus. A bored show tiger in that cage, and he had blinked unconcernedly at the boy. Years of circus life had atrophied80 that tiger's organs of resentment81. Miles and miles of the public stream had passed his cage with awe82, speculating upon the great cat's ferocity. Skag had merely to learn after that, the trick of it all—that one's perfect self-control not only soothes83 but disarms84 most normal beasts. Skag had cultivated such self-control in recent years to a degree that made him the astonishment85 of many Hindu minds. India had shown him that the attainment87 of this sort of poise88 is a stage of the same mastery that the mystics are out after—to gain complete command of the menagerie in one's own insides. Hundreds of times after that, night and day, in storm, in sultry weather, Skag had entered the cages of all kinds of animals in all their moods.
His first adventure in India came back, when with his friend Cadman he had fallen into the pit trap and the grand young male tiger had tumbled after them. Skag had prevailed upon the nervy Cadman to sit tight and not to shoot, against all that the writer man knew; also he had appeared to prevail upon the tiger to keep his side of the pit until they were rescued. And now Skag recalled the big tiger that had lain on the river margin near the Monkey Glen while he had told Carlin that he had never really seen what a woman was like before. The presence of the big sleepy cat down among the wet foliage had nerved him and called out all his strength for that romantic crisis.
He thought of the moment under the poised89 head of the great serpent in the place of fear in the grass jungle; and of the coming of Nut Kut, the incomparable black elephant, whom he had forced to listen in spite of the red hell in the untamable eyes. Always between and in and round, his thoughts were of Carlin—her voice, her presence, the curious art of her ministration and the utterly90 wise lure91 of her heart. Even now he couldn't quite be calm under the whip of memory of the afternoon of the cobra fight. The whole panorama92 might have been named Carlin so far as Skag was concerned.
He didn't think of his own danger now. It wasn't that he ignored it; rather that he had entered upon a new dimension of his power. He had no thought of failure. No thought came to him that Carlin would have prevented his entering had she been near. This was different from anything he had ever been called to do, but his power was different. The thing that engaged his mind was utterly clear from every angle. He couldn't have missed the novelty from the unusual stress of Nels' manner. The big Dane was actually burning with excitement. His eyes were filled with firelight and back of the smoky burning was a dumb appeal turned to his chief. Hyenas93 alone had been able to break Nels' nerve for himself, but he was frightened now for the man. The big bony jowl was steadily94 pressed like a knuckled95 hand against Skag's knee, the body only half lifted from the dry stones and cramped96 with tension.
Skag's eyes were turned up toward the mouth of the lair and his left hand fell to the Dane's head. The beast actually shook because his eyes were covered a second.
"Of course you're to stay outside, Nels," he said softly as he rose.
The dog lowered his breast to the stones. It was like a blow to him—the one thing he had feared most.
"Don't, Nels!" the man muttered. "You're to stand at the mouth of the lair and watch there. I need you there—outside, of course."
The dog followed him heavily up the slope past the high-water mark. Skag turned with a cheering whisper, shielding his eyes from the light for a moment before peering in. There was a sound like blown paper across a marble floor and then another sound—low, soft, prolonged, like the hiss97 of escaping steam.
Skag shoved himself into the narrow, rocky aperture98. He could see nothing for the moment. The taint was oppressive at the first breath of the still air. There were kittens—no doubt of that. He heard their scurrying99; he felt their eyes and the sort of melting panic in the place that would have utterly unstrung any but a perfectly100 keyed set of nerves.
It was a cave, the mouth higher than the floor. The way down was jagged and precipitous. Skag, advancing softly, had to feel for each step and yet give no distracting attention to keep his footing, for the full energy of his faculties was directed ahead.
The sound of blown paper was from the kittens—that was clear enough. Yet the hissing101 continued and this was the mystery of it all—that there appeared to be no movement besides. If this sound came from the tigress, at least, she had not stirred to meet him.
The hiss sunk to a low guttural grating. No cub36 had a cavernous profundity102 of sound such as that. Still there was not the stir of a muscle, so far as his senses had detected.
Skag was puzzled. Big game before him, possibly nerved to spring, and yet the tensity was not like that. The man stood still, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness—waiting for the mystery to clear. Then to the right, like a little constellation103 suddenly pricking104 through the twilight105, Skag saw a cluster of young stars. His heart warmed—kittens hunched106 there in a bundle and watching him. Their pricked107 ears presently shadowed somewhat from the blacker background; then he saw the little party suddenly swept and overturned, as if a long thin arm had brushed them back out of reach of the intruder.
Now his eyes turned slightly to the left and began to get the rest—the great levelled creature upon the darkened floor. Skag kept his imagination down until his optic nerves actually brought him the picture. The long thin sweep was the mother's tail, yet she was not crouched108. Skag saw her sprawled109 paws extended toward him. She lay upon her side.
Thus it was that he was rounded back to the original proposition. He had found the lair of the wounded tigress and her young. For fully110 two minutes Skag stood quiet before her, working softly—her hiss changing at slow intervals111 to the cavernous growl112. The kittens were too young to organise113 attack—the tigress was too maimed for resistance, even though at bay in lair with her kittens to defend.
Now the man saw the gleam of her eyes. She had followed his movements and was holding him now, but half vacantly. The pity of it all touched him; the rest of the story cleared. Her tongue was like a blown bag, the blackness of it apparent even in the dark. She was dying of thirst, the bullet wound in the shoulder turned up to him. The little ones were still active, for the tigress had fed them until her whole body was drained. He saw how her breast had been torn by the thirsty little ones—the open sores against the soft grey of her nether114 parts. Skag backed out. Nels pressed him—half lifted his great body in silent welcome.
"Oh, yes," Skag was saying, "we got the call, all right, my son. Four little duds in there eating their mother alive, and she full of fever from a wound—no water for days. I'm just after the canteen, Nels."
Skag entered again. His movements were deliberate, but not stealthy. He spoke30 softly to the creature on the floor—his voice lower than the usual pitch, yet sinking often deeper still. The words were mere nothings, but they carried the man's purpose of kindness—carried it steadily, tirelessly. The great beast tried to rise as he stepped closer. Skag waited, still talking. He had uncorked the canteen and held it forward—his idea being not only that she would smell the water but become accustomed to the thing in his hand. Each time he pressed a bit nearer she struggled to rise toward him—Skag standing115 just out of reach, tirelessly working with his mind and voice. He keenly registered her pain and helplessness in his own consciousness and was unwilling116 to prolong it, yet at the same time he had a very clear understanding of the patience required to bring help to her.
It was fully a quarter of an hour before he bent117 close, without starting a convulsion of fear and revolt in the huge fevered body upon the rocky floor. Skag poured a gurgle of water upon the swollen118 tongue, watching the single baleful tortured eye that held his face. The water was not wasted, though not drunk, for it washed away some of the poison formed of the fever and the thirst. Skag poured again and for a second the great holding eye was lost to him and the tongue moved.
Thus he worked, permitting her fear and rage to rouse no answer in kind from himself; talking to her softly, luring119 her out of fury into the enveloping120 madness of her own great need.
He waited a moment and her tongue stretched thickly to draw to itself the water on the rock; then he turned toward the cubs. They scurried121 back deeper into the cave. He poured a gill or two of water into a hollow of the rock and returned to the mother. Presently as he moistened her tongue again, one of the little ones crept forward and began to lap the puddle122 on the rock.
Skag smiled in the gloom. The others were presently beside the baby leader. A few moments later Skag interrupted his ministrations to the mother to fill the hollow for the kittens again. All this with less than three pints123 of water—the work of a full half hour as he found when he emerged to Nels and the light.
"It's only a beginning, old man. We've got to get more water. It's five hours' march back to the pool where we camped. I'm gambling124 that we're a lot nearer than that to the Nerbudda."
Nels' jubilation125 was stayed by the unfolding of fresh plans that were not slow to dawn upon his eager mind. They hastened along the river bed, continuing in the direction they had come. Skag was in a queer elation126, dropping a sentence from time to time. Suddenly he halted. It had occurred to him to recall something his mind had merely noted during the work in the cave. There was fresh meat there. He had not looked close, but at least two partly devoured127 carcasses had lain in the shadows.
"They were mighty128 thirsty, Nels," he muttered. "The mother dying of thirst, but the little ones were only sultry compared. Yes, they're old enough to tear at fresh meat. They weren't so bad off and there was plenty of meat there. Only thirsty," he added thoughtfully.
It was clear to his mind that the tigress had been helpless at least three days, possibly four. She could not have brought the game. There was one conclusive129 reason—that the meat was in an altogether too fresh condition to have been brought by the mother before she gave up. Skag walked rapidly. They did not reach the Nerbudda, but sighted a village back Horn the river bed after nearly two hours' walk.
They refilled the canteens and procured130 two water skins besides; also a broad deep gourd131 which Skag carried empty. The man's difficulty was to escape without assistance. A white man in his position was not supposed to carry goatskin water bags over his shoulders. The boys of the village followed him after the elders had given up, and Skag halted at last to explain that this was an affair that would interest them very much—when a teller132 came back to tell the story; but that this was the doing part of the story and must be carried to its conclusion alone.
A little later in the nullah bed he fastened the canteen and the gourd to Nels' collar, but continued to pack the two skins himself—a rather arduous133 journey in full Indian daylight with between forty and fifty pounds of water on his shoulders. It was four in the afternoon when they neared the mouth of the lair and Nels was drooping135 again.
"Buck136 up, old man!" Skag said. "I'll go in for a while with the thirsty ones. Then we'll make a camp and have some supper together."
Skag heard the hiss again as he entered the darkness, and the kittens were not so still as before. Only a trifle less leisurely he approached the mother. He knew that any strength that had come would only feed her hostility137 so far; that a man was not to win the confidence of a great mammal thing like this in a day. His first impulse was to silence the kittens with a gourd of water, but he could not bear to make the mother wait.
She raised her head against him as before, but the smell of the water caught and altered her fury more swiftly this time. Skag saw the glare go out from the great eye as the tortured mouth was cooled; and now the hope grew within him that the tigress might actually be saved. He talked softly to her as he poured drop by drop upon her tongue from the side—the little ones pressing closer and closer. Even in the convulsive trembling that took her body from time to time there was an inflowing rather than the ebb68 of strength.
Presently he left her long enough partly to fill the big gourd for the babies. He had scarcely drawn138 back before the first was at the edge. Lapping was not enough for this infant. He wanted to cover himself; apparently to overturn the dish upon himself. The others helped to balance the gourd for a moment or two, but the massed effort became too furious and over it went among them. Skag laughed. Only a portion was wasted, for the kittens followed the little streams on the rock, tonguing them as they moved and filled. He tried them again, only covering the bottom of the gourd, but it was as swiftly overturned. Still the young had drunk enough presently and went to tearing at the meat in the deeper shadows.
Skag went back to the mother, still using the canteen for her. Alternately now he dropped the water upon the wound in her shoulder. There were hours of work here to soften139 the fever crust and establish drainage. Some time afterward this work was stopped abruptly140 by the warning of Nels at the door. Skag stood his canteen against a rock and hurried forth141. Nels stood at the mouth of the lair, his head turned up the river bed. His eyes did not alter from their look of fixity as the man emerged. The shoulder nearest Skag merely twitched142 a trifle, the left paw lifting to the toes. Skag followed the Dane's eyes.
The great male himself stood stock-still in the centre of the river bed, the carcass of a lamb having dropped from his mouth. So strange, so vast and still, the picture, that it seemed dreamlike; the great, round, sunny eyes unwinking—serious rather than savage—a dark-banded thing of gold in the ruddy gold of late afternoon.
Skag was silent, the magic of the moment flowing into him. Nels had not moved. Skag had been forced to walk round him to find room to stand. They faced the big Bengali together for an instant, the man's hand dropping softly to the dog's shoulder.
"The king himself, son," Skag whispered raptly. "He's the loveliest thing in stripes. We'll have to look out for this fellow, Nels. There's no fear in him. We're on his premises143 and the missus is sick and needs quiet. He's apt to charge, and I can see his point of view. We'll back down, son, and not obstruct the gentleman's door."
They couldn't have been three seconds clambering down the rocks to the nullah bed, yet the male tiger was twenty feet nearer when they looked up. Moreover, he had brought the lamb with him, and this time he kept it in his mouth as he watched.
"We mustn't let him see our dark side again, Nels," Skag muttered.
"See if we can't stare as straight as he does. God, what a picture!
Yet I'm rather glad he's got that lamb. He must have brought it far.
Carrying out her orders doubtless. Only a great male would do that.
Oh, it's not that he cares for the babies, Nels. It's to please her
that he does it! And she's down and done, but running the lair!"
So Skag talked, hardly knowing what he said, keeping in touch with Nels with his hand and holding the eyes of the royal beast that seemed to be made of patience and poise and gilded144 beauty. Skag didn't step back, but presently to the side, away from the mouth of the lair. The tiger's counter movement was not to lessen145 the distance between them this time, but to drop to his haunches, still holding his game. He rocked a little on his hind86 feet, that ominous146 undulation which portends147 the charge. Not more than ten seconds passed and no outward change was apparent, yet there was a relief of tension in Skag's voice.
"It's the little lamb that saved us that time, Nels. I think we've passed it—passed the crisis, my boy. We'll just stand by now and measure patience with him."
It was two minutes before Skag ventured a further movement to the right. The tiger made absolutely no counter this time. Skag now spoke to Nels:
"You're doing beautifully, son."
The dog had stood by like part of himself. The droop134 and the quiver that he had known twice that day when the man disappeared into the lair had given way in the real test to unbreakable nerve and defiant148 heart. Yet it was less the courage than his absolute obedience149 that entered the man with a charge of feeling that instant. A minute later Skag took another ten steps to the right.
In the deeper shadows, less than an hour afterward, he struck a match to the little supper fire a hundred yards up the slope from the mouth of the lair. Skag then loosened his hunting belt, dropping the weight from him to the blanket with a sigh of content. The hardware had chafed150 him all day and had only been really forgotten in the stresses of action.
"I didn't pack that gun for tiger," he said softly. "Why, I would as soon have shot our good Arab, Kala Khan, or put a bullet between Nut Kut's eyes, as to stop that big fellow bringing young mutton home—to please her! Won't Carlin love to hear that! Oh, yes, it's been a day, son, one more day! I've loved it minute by minute, and you've been—well, I can't think in words, when it comes to that."
The big fellow drowsed in the firelight, his four paws stretched evenly toward the man.
In the morning and afternoon of the next two days Skag brought water to the tigress and bathed her shoulder long. On the third day he could not be sure that the male had left the lair until late afternoon, and when he finally ventured to the mouth and his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness within he saw that the tigress was watching him from the deeper shadows—not prone151, but on three feet.
He filled the gourd and weighted it with stones; then backed out.
"We're starting for Hurda to-night, son," he said to Nels. "I've left her a drink or two, and by the time she needs more, she'll be able to get to the river herself."
Carlin must have caught the reality of that moment of crisis from Skag's telling—the moment when the male tiger might have charged but didn't, because she succeeded in making Malcolm M'Cord see it, too.
"And you say there was no sign from the tiger, but that Hantee Sahib knew when the instant was past?" the famous marksman repeated curiously152.
Carlin nodded.
"But how did he know?"
"Ask him," she said.
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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2
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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3
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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4
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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5
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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6
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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8
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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9
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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10
efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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11
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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12
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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13
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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14
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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15
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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16
trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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17
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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18
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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19
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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20
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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21
hamper
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| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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22
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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23
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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24
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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25
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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26
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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27
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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28
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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29
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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30
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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31
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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32
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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33
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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34
orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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35
demons
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|
| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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36
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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37
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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38
pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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39
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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40
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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41
monsoon
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| n.季雨，季风，大雨 | |
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42
deluges
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| v.使淹没( deluge的第三人称单数 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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43
sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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44
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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45
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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46
eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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48
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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49
obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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50
scouted
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| 寻找，侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 )； 物色（优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等） | |
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51
cheetah
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| n.(动物)猎豹 | |
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52
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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53
bawl
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|
| v.大喊大叫，大声地喊，咆哮 | |
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54
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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55
fracas
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| n.打架；吵闹 | |
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56
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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57
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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58
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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59
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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60
consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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61
lesser
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|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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62
strapping
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| adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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63
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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64
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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65
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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66
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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67
pebbly
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| 多卵石的，有卵石花纹的 | |
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68
ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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69
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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70
coverts
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| n.隐蔽的，不公开的，秘密的( covert的名词复数 )；复羽 | |
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71
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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72
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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73
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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74
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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75
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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76
noted
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|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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77
cleft
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|
| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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78
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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79
abrupt
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|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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80
atrophied
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|
| adj.萎缩的，衰退的v.（使）萎缩，（使）虚脱，（使）衰退( atrophy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
resentment
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|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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82
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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83
soothes
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| v.安慰( soothe的第三人称单数 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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84
disarms
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| v.裁军( disarm的第三人称单数 )；使息怒 | |
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85
astonishment
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|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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86
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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87
attainment
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|
| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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88
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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89
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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90
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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91
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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92
panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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93
hyenas
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| n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 ) | |
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94
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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95
knuckled
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| v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的过去式和过去分词 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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96
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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97
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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98
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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99
scurrying
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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100
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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101
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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102
profundity
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| n.渊博；深奥，深刻 | |
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103
constellation
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| n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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104
pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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105
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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106
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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107
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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108
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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110
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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111
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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112
growl
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|
| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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113
organise
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| vt.组织，安排，筹办 | |
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114
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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115
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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116
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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117
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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118
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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119
luring
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式） | |
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120
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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121
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122
puddle
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| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
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123
pints
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| n.品脱( pint的名词复数 )；一品脱啤酒 | |
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124
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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125
jubilation
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| n.欢庆，喜悦 | |
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126
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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portends
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| v.预示( portend的第三人称单数 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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150
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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