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the delight of thy eyes and thou known that thou never bear another and the co wife working in darkness had sought for that life what then i would have slain her but with no easy a story of west and east death at her man s side and in his arms i would have slain her if she died before my vengeance arrived i would seek for her in hell thou go out in the sunshine and walk in the streets and no man turns his head said the queen bitterly thy hands are free and thy face is uncovered what if thou a slave among slaves a stranger among stranger people and the voice dropped of the favor of thy lord the woman stooping kissed the pale feet under her hands then i would not wear myself with strife but remembering that a man child may grow into a king would send that child away beyond the power of the co wife is it so easy to cut away the hand said the queen sobbing better the hand than the heart who could guard such a child in this place the queen pointed to she came from far off and she has once already brought him back from death her are good and her skill is great but thou she is but a maiden who has known neither gain nor loss it may be that i am and that my eyes are evil thus did not my man say last autumn but it may be yet the i know the pain at the breast and the yearning over the child new bom as thou hast known it as i have known it my house is empty and i am a widow and and never again shall a man call me to wed as i am as i am nay the little one is left whatever else may go and the little one must be well guarded if there is any jealousy against the child it were not well to keep him in this let him go out but whither miss dost thou know the world is all dark to us who sit behind the curtain i know that the child of his own motion desires to go to the princes school in he has told me that much said who had lost no word of the conversation from her place on the cushion bowed forward with her chin supported in her hands it will be only for a year or two the queen laughed a little through her tears only a year or two miss dost thou know how long is one night when he is not here and he can return at call but no cry will bring back mine own only a year or two the world is dark also to those who do not sit behind the curtain it is no fault of hers how a story of west and east should she know said the woman of the desert under her breath to the queen against her will began to feel annoyed at this persistent of herself from the talk and the assumption that she with her own great trouble upon her whose work was pre eminently to deal with sorrow must have no place in this double grief how should i not know said do i not know pain is it not my life not yet said the queen quietly neither pain nor joy miss thou art very wise and i am only a woman who has never stirred beyond the palace walls but i am wiser than thou for i know that which thou dost not know though thou hast given back my son to me and to this woman her husband s speech how shall i repay thee all i owe let her hear truth said the woman under her breath we be all three women here dead leaf tree and the blossom the queen caught s hands and gently pulled her forward till her head fell on the queen s knees wearied with the emotions of the morning tired in body and spirit the girl had no desire to lift it the small hands put her hair back from her forehead and the full dark the eyes worn with much weeping looked into her own the woman of the desert flung an arm round her waist listen my sister began the queen with an infinite tenderness there is a proverb among my own people in the mountains of the north that a rat found a piece of and opened a s shop even so with the pain that thou know and heal beloved thou art not angry nay thou must not take offence forget that thou art white and i black and remember only that we three be sisters little sister with us women tis thus and no other way from all except such as have borne a child the world is hid i make my prayers trembling to such and such a god who thou is black stone and i tremble at the of the night because i believe that the devils ride by my windows at such hours and i sit here in the dark knitting wool and preparing that come back from my lord s table and thou coming from ten thousand away very wise and fearing nothing hast taught me oh ten thousand things yet thou art the child and i am still the mother and what i know thou not know and the wells of my happiness thou not nor the bitter waters of my sorrow till thou hast tasted sorrow and grief alike i have told thee of the a story of west and east child all and more than all thou little sister i have told thee less than the beginning of my love for him because i knew that thou not understand | 39 |
i have told thee my sorrows all and more than all thou when i laid my head against thy breast how could i tell thee all thou art a maiden and the heart in thy bosom beneath my heart betrayed in its very beat that it did not understand nay that woman there coming from without knows more of me than thee and they taught thee in a school thou hast told me all manner of healing and there is no disease in life that thou dost not understand little sister how thou understand life that hast never given it hast thou ever felt the of the child at the breast nay what need to blush hast thou i know thou hast not though i heard thy speech for the first time and looking from the window saw thee walking i should know and the others my sisters in the world know also but they do not all speak to thee as i do when the life under the breast they waking in the night hear all the earth walking to that measure why should they tell thee to day the hospital has broken from under thee is it not so and the women went out one by one and what thou say to them the the woman of the desert answering for her spoke she said come back and i will make ye well and by what oath did she her words there was no oath said the woman of the desert she stood in the gate and called and upon what should a maiden call to bring wavering women back again the toil that she has borne for their sake they cannot see it but of the pains that a woman has shared with them a woman knows there was no child in thy arms the mother look was not in thy eyes by what magic then thou speak to women there was a charm among the they said and their children would be what thou know of the springs of life and death to teach them otherwise it is written in the books of thy school i know that such things cannot be but we women do not read books it is not from them that we learn of life how should such an one prevail unless the gods help her and the gods are very far away thou hast given thy life to the helping of women little sister when wilt thou also be a woman the voice ceased s head was buried deep in the queen s lap she let it lie there without stirring ay said the woman of the desert the mark of has been taken from my head a story op west and east my glass are broken on my arm and i am unlucky to meet when a man sets forth on a journey till i die i must be alone earning my bread alone and thinking of the dead but though i knew that it was to come again at the end of one year instead of ten i would still thank the gods that have given me love and a child will the miss take this in payment for all she did for my man a wandering priest a woman and a stone in the water are of one blood so says the talk of our people what will the miss do now the queen has spoken the truth the gods and thy own wisdom which is past the wisdom of a maid have helped thee so far as i who was with thee always have seen the gods have warned thee that their help is at an end what remains is this work for such as thou is it not as the queen says she sitting here alone and seeing nothing has seen that which i moving with thee among the sick day by day have seen and known little sister is it not so lifted her head slowly from the queen s knee and rose take the child and let us go she said hoarsely the merciful darkness of the room hid her face nay said the queen this woman shall take him go thou back alone vanished the chapter the law whereby my lady moves was never law to me but ti b enough that she whatever law it be for m that law and by that law my constant course v steer not that i heed or deem it dread but that she holds it dear tho asia sent for my content her richest those would i and bid return if that should give her ease with equal heart watch depart each sail from sight bitterness desiring less great gear than her delight yet such am i yea such am i sore bond and free the law that my lady s ways is mystery to me i to sit still and to keep sitting still is the first lesson that the young must learn was learning it in bitterness of spirit for the sake of his town for the sake of his love and by co a story of west and east above all for the sake of his love s life he must go the town was waiting his horse was at the door but his love would not come he must sit still the burning desert wind blew through the open as as s hate looking out he saw nothing but the city asleep in the sunshine and the above it yet when evening fell and a man might be able by bold riding to escape to the railway certain figures would creep from the walls and take up their position within easy of the one at each point of the compass and between them all night long came and went a man on horseback could hear the steady beat of the hoofs as he went his | 39 |
rounds and the sound did not give him fresh hope but for but for he repeated to himself he would have been long since beyond reach of horse or bullet the hours were very slow and as he sat and watched the shadows grow and it seemed to him as it had seemed so often before that this and no other was the moment that would choose to throw her chances from her he had lost already he counted eight and forty precious hours and so far as he could see the remainder of the year might be spent in an equally fashion the meantime lay exposed to every imaginable danger was sure to assume that he had the from her for the sake of the frail white girl she had said as much on the it for s sake in a measure but tar in reflected bitterly that an oriental had no sense of and like the snake strikes first at that which is nearest and how in the world was he to explain the case to her he had told her of danger about her path as well as his own and she had decided to face that danger for her courage and devotion he loved her but her obstinacy made him his teeth there was but one grimly element in the terrible what would the king say to when he discovered that she had lost the luck of the state in what manner would she veil that loss and above all into what sort of royal rage would she fall shook his head it s quite bad enough for me he said just about as bad as it can possibly be made but i have a wandering suspicion that it may be for i can spare time to be very sorry for my fat friend you should have held straight that first time outside the city walls i he rose and looked out into the sunlight wondering which of the scattered by the a story of west and east roadside might be an from the palace a man lay apparently asleep by the side of his near the road that ran to the city stepped out casually from the and saw as soon as he was fairly in the open that the rolled round to the other side of his beast he strolled forward a few paces the sunlight above the back of the on something that shone like silver marched straight toward the glitter his pistol in his hand the man when he came up to him was buried in innocent slumber under the fold of his garment peered the of a new and very clean rifle looks as if was calling out the and supplying them with from her private s gun was new too said standing over the but this man knows more about guns than hi he stooped down and stirred the man up with the of his revolver i m afraid i must trouble you for that gun and tell the lady to drop it will you it won t pay the man understood the eloquence of the pistol and nothing more he gave up his gun sullenly enough and moved away his now i wonder how many more of her army i shall have to said his the m the captured gun over his shoulder i wonder no i won t believe that she would dare to do anything to she knows enough of me to sure that blow her and her old palace into to mom w if she half the woman she to l e she ll reckon with me before she goes much further in vain he attempted to force himself into this had shown him what sort of thing her mercy might be and might have tasted it ere this to go to her now to be or crippled at the least if he went to her now was yet he decided that he would go he returned hastily to whom he bad left not three minutes before flies off in the sunshine at the back of the rest house but lay on his side groaning and dying could hear his groom a bit round the corner and when the man came up in response to his call he flung himself down by the side of the horse howling with grief an enemy hath done this an enemy hath done this he my beautiful brown horse that never did harm except when he kicked through fulness of meat where shall i find a new service if i let my charge die thus i wish i knew i wish i knew said a op west and east puzzled and almost despairing there d be a bullet through one black head if i were just a little get up you old man i forgive you all your sins you were a good old boy and here s luck the blue smoke enveloped s head for an instant the head fell like a hammer and the good horse was out of his pain the groom rising rent the air with grief till kicked him out of the and bade him then it was noticeable that his cries ceased suddenly and as he retreated into his mud house to tie up his effects he smiled and dug up some silver from a hole under his dismounted looked east west north south for help as had looked on the dam a wandering gang of with their lean and dogs turned an angle of the city wall and rested like a flock of birds by the city gate the sight in itself was not unusual but city forbade within a quarter of a mile of the walls some of the lady s poor relatives i suppose they have blocked the way through the gate pretty well now if i were to make a bolt of it to the | 39 |
missionary s they d have me wouldn t they muttered to himself on the whole i ve seen prettier professions than trading with eastern the queens they don t seem to understand the rules of the game at that moment a cloud of dust whirled through the y camp as the escort of the clearing the way for the scattered the dark band to the left and right l what this might the escort halted with the customary rattle of at the rest house door the behind them a single er two hundred yards or more in the rear lifted his voice in a shout as he pursued the carriage he was answered by a chuckle from the escort and two shrill screams of delight from the of the a child whom had never before seen stood upright in the back of the carriage and hurled a torrent of abuse in the at the again the escort laughed the come and look at us for a moment fancied this a fresh device of the enemy but reassured by the sight of his old and trusted ally the he stepped forward prince he said as he took his hand you ought not to be out oh it is all right said the young man hastily though his little pale face it i gave the a story of west and east order and we came miss gives me orders but she took me over to the palace and there i give orders this is my brother the little prince but j shall be king the second child raised his es slowly and looked full at the eyes and the low broad forehead were those of and the mouth closed firmly over the little pearl like teeth as his mother s mouth had closed in the conflict on the he is from the other side of the palace answered the still in english from the other side where i must not go but when i was in the palace i went to him ha ha and he was killing a goat look his hands are all red now opened a tiny palm at a word from the in the and flung it outward at it was dark with dried blood and a bearded whisper ran among the escort the turned in his saddle and nodding at muttered caught the first word and it was sufficient for him providence had sent him help out of a clear sky he framed a plan instantly but how did you come here you young he demanded oh there are only women in the palace yonder a the and i am a and a man he cannot speak any english at all he added pointing to his companion but when we have played together i have told him about you and about the day you picked me out of my saddle and he wished to come too to see all the things you show me so i gave the order very quietly and we came out of the little door together and so we are here he said to the child at his side and the child slowly and gravely raised his hand to his forehead still gazing with fixed eyes on the stranger then he whispered something that made the laugh he says said the that you are not so big as he thought his mother told him that you were stronger than any man but some of these are bigger than you well what do you want me to do asked show him your gun and how you shoot and what you do that makes horses quiet when they kick and all those things all right said but i can t show them here come over to mr with me i do not like to go there my monkey is dead and i do not think would like to see us she is always crying now she took me up to a story of west and east the palace yesterday and this morning i went to her again but she would not see me could have the child for the blessed assurance that at least still lived isn t she at the hospital then he asked thickly oh the hospital has all gone there are no women now they all ran away no i cried say that again little man what for devils said the briefly what do i know it was some women s talk show him how you ride again whispered to his companion and put one leg over the side of the he says he will ride in front of you as i told him i did interpreted the prince i a flung himself out of the saddle on the word and stood to attention at the horse s head smiling to himself at the perfection of his opportunity said nothing but leaped into the saddle picked out of his and placed him carefully before him would be rather restless if she could see me he murmured to himself as he tucked his arm round the little figure i don t think there will be any while i carry this young man in front of me the as the escort opened to allow to take place at their head a wandering priest who had been watching the episode from a little c turned and shouted with all the h of his lungs across the plain in the direction of the city the cry was taken up by unseen voices on to the city walls and died away on the sands smiled as the horse began to trot and urged to go faster this the forbade he wished to see the sight comfortably from his seat in the as he passed the camp men and women threw themselves down on the sands crying da and the faces of the darkened that means cried the victory to the king of the desert | 39 |
i have no money to give them have you in his joy at being now safely on his way to could have flung everything he possessed to the crowd almost the itself he emptied a handful of copper and small silver among them and the cry rose again but bitter laughter was mingled with it and the folk called to each other mocking the s face turned scarlet he leaned forward listening for an instant and then shouted by it is for him scatter their tents at a a story of west and east wave of his hand the escort plunged through the camp in line driving the light ash of the fires up in clouds the with the flat of their swords until they and carrying away the frail brown tents on the of their reversed looked on at the of the group which he knew would have stopped him if he had been alone bit his lip then turning to the he smiled and put forward from his belt the of his sword in sign of it is just my brother he said in the but i here he raised his voice a little would not drive the folk too far they always return ay cried a voice from the huddled crowd watching the wreck of the camp significantly always return my king so does a dog said the between his teeth both are kicked drive on and a pillar of dust came to s house riding in safety in the midst of it telling the boys to play until he came out he swept into the house taking the steps two at a time and discovered in a dark corner of the parlor with a bit of sewing in her hand as she looked up he saw that she was crying the nick she exclaimed nick he had stopped hesitating on the threshold she dropped her work and rose breathless you have come back it is you you are alive smiled and held out his arms come and see i she took a step forward oh i was afraid come she went doubtfully toward him he caught her fast and held her in his arms for a long minute she let her head lie on his breast then she looked up this isn t what i meant she protested oh don t try to improve on it said hastily she tried to poison me i was sure when i heard nothing that she must have killed you i fancied horrible things poor child and your hospital has gone wrong you have been having a hard time but we will change all that we must leave as soon as you can get ready i ve her claws for a moment i m holding a but we can t keep that up for ever we must get away we she repeated feebly well do you want to go alone she smiled as she released herself i want you to a story op west and east and you i m not worth thinking of i have failed everything i meant to do has fallen about me in a heap i feel burnt out nick burnt out all right we ll put in new works and you on a fresh system that s what i want there shall be nothing to remind you that you ever saw dear it was a mistake she said what everything my coming my thinking i could do it it s not a girl s work it s my work perhaps but it s not for me i have given it up nick take me home gave an shout of joy and folded her in his arms again he told her that they must be married at once and start that night if she could manage it and what might befall him assented doubtfully she spoke of preparations but said that they would prepare after they had done it they could buy things at of things he was sweeping her forward with the of his plans when she said suddenly but what of the dam nick you can t leave that exclaimed heartily you don t suppose there s any gold in the old river do you the she quickly from his arms staring at him in accusation and reproach do you mean that you have always known that there was no gold there she asked pulled himself together quickly but not so quickly that she did not catch the confession in his eye i see you have she said coldly measured the crisis which had suddenly descended on him out of the clouds he achieved an change of front and met her smiling certainly he said i have been working it as a blind a blind she repeated to cover what you what do you mean she inquired with a look in her eyes which made him uncomfortable the indian government allows no one to remain in the state without a definite purpose i couldn t tell colonel that i had come you could i i don t know but you could have avoided taking the s money to carry out this this plan an honest man would have avoided that oh look here exclaimed how could you cheat the king into thinking a story of west and east that there was a reason for your work how could you let him give you the labor of a thousand men how could you take his money oh nick he gazed at her for a vacant and hopeless minute why he exclaimed do you know you are talking of the most joke the indian empire has witnessed since the birth of time this was pretty good but it was not good enough he plunged for a stronger hold as she answered with a perilous little note of in her voice you make it worse well your sense of humor | 39 |
the lid down upon the box hastily and put it into s hands with a decisive gesture he made her hold it while he tied it in silence then in a voice not his he asked her to take the box the to with his compliments no he continued seeing the alarm in her eyes she won t she t hurt you now her child s coming along with us and i ll go with you of course as far as i can glory be it s the last journey that you ll ever undertake in this infernal land the last but one that s to say we live at high pressure in too high pressure for me be quick if you love me hastened to put on her while amused the two princes by allowing them to inspect his revolver and promising at some more fitting season to shoot as many as they should demand the lounging escort at the door was suddenly scattered by a from without who flung his horse desperately through their ranks shouting a letter for stepped into the took a half sheet of paper from the outstretched hand and read these words traced painfully and laboriously in an round hand dear mr give me the boy and keep the other thing your affectionate friend chuckled and thrust the note into his waistcoat pocket there is no answer he said and to himself you re a thoughtful girl a story of west and east but i m afraid you re just a little too thoughtful that boy s wanted for the next are you ready the princes lamented loudly when they were told that was riding over to the palace at once and that if they hoped for further entertainment they must both go with him we will go into the great hall said the to his companion at last and make all the music boxes play together i want to see that man shoot said i want to see him shoot something dead i do not wish to go to the palace you ll ride on my horse said when the answer had been interpreted and i ll make him gallop all the way say prince how fast do you think your carriage can go as fast as miss dares stepped in and the galloped to the palace riding always a little in front with clapping his hands on the we must pull up at s wing dear cried you won t be afraid to walk in under the arch with me i trust you nick she answered simply getting out of the carriage then go into the woman s wing give the the box into hands and tell her that i sent it back you ll find she knows my name the horse trampled under the at its side and holding very much in evidence the court yard was empty but as they came out into the sunshine by the central fountain the rustle and whisper behind the shutters rose as the tiger grass when the wind blows through it one minute dear said halting if you can bear this sun on your head a door opened and a came out silently to she followed him and disappeared the door closing behind her s heart rose into his mouth and unconsciously he clasped so closely to his breast that the child cried out the whisper rose and it seemed to as if some one were sobbing behind the shutters then followed a peal of low soft laughter and the muscles at the comer of s mouth relaxed began to struggle in his arms not yet young man you must wait until thank god reappeared her little figure framed against the darkness of the doorway behind her came the crawling fearfully to s side smiled and dropped the amazed a story of west and young prince into his arms was borne away kicking and ere they left the court yard heard the dry roar of an angry child followed by an unmistakable of pain smiled they young princes in that s one step on the path to progress what did she say she said i was to be sure and tell you that she knew you were not afraid tell that i knew he was not afraid where s asked the from the he s gone to his mother i m afraid i can t amuse you just now little man i ve forty thousand things to do and no time to do them in tell me where your father is i do not know there has been trouble and crying in the palace the women are always crying and that makes my father angry i shall stay at mr s and play with yes let him stay said quickly nick do you think i ought to leave him that s another of the things i must fix said but first i must find the if i have to dig up for him what s that little one a whispered to the young prince b th this man says that he is there said the he has been there since two days i also have wished to see him very good drive home i ll wait here he re entered the and up again the whisper behind the rose and a man from a doorway demanded his business i must see the said wait said the man and waited for a full five minutes using his time for concentrated thought then the emerged and sat on every hair of his newly moustache for some mysterious reason had withdrawn the light of her countenance from him for two days and had sat raging in her own apartments now the mood had passed and the would see him again therefore the s heart was glad within him and wisely as the husband of many wives he did not inquire too closely into | 39 |
the reasons that had led to the change ah said he i have not seen you for long what is the news from the dam is there anything to see that s what i ve come to talk about there is nothing to see and i think that there is no gold to be got at a story of west and that is bad said the king lightly but there is a go d deal to be seen if you care to come along i don t want to waste your money any more now i m sure of the fact but i don t see the use of saving all the powder on the dam there must be five hundred pounds of it i do not understand said the whose mind was occupied with other things do you want to see the biggest explosion that you ve ever seen in your life do you want to hear the earth shake and see the rocks fly the s face brightened will it be seen from the palace he said from the top of the palace oh yes but the best place to watch it will be from the side of the river i shall put the river back at five o clock it s three o clock now will you be there i will be there it will be a big five hundred pounds of powder the earth will be rent in two i should remark and after that i am going to be married and then i am going away will you come to the wedding the shaded his eyes from the and peered up at under his by god said he you are a quick man so you will marry the doctor lady the and then you will go away i will come to the wedding i and the next two hours in the life of will never be there was a fierce need upon him to move mountains and shift the poles of the earth there was a strong horse beneath him and in his heart the knowledge that he had lost the and gained when he appeared a amid the on the dam they understood and a word was spoken that great things were toward the gang turned to his shouts and learned that the order of the day was destruction the one thing that the oriental fully they the powder shed with and fierce hauled the carts from the crown of the dam and dropped the after them and tore down the mat and grass then urging them always they buried the powder in the crown of the dam piled the wrapped charges upon them and fresh sand of all it was a hasty but the powder was at least all in one place and it should be none of s fault if the noise and smoke at least did not delight the a little before five he came with his escort and a story of west and east touching fire to a many times lengthened bade all men run back the fire ate slowly the crown of the dam then with a dull roar the dam opened out its heart in a sheet of white flame and the masses of flying earth darkened the smoke above the ruin closed on itself for an instant ere the waters of the plunged forward into the gap made a boiling rapid and then spread themselves lazily along their accustomed the rain of things descending the earth of the banks and threw the water in sheets and then only the smoke and the blackened of the dam crumbling each minute as the river sucked them down remained to tell of the work that had been and now what do i owe you said after he had satisfied himself that none of the more reckless had been killed that was very fine said the i never saw that before it is a pity that it cannot come again what do i owe you repeated for that oh they were my people they ate a little grain and many were from my the powder was from the what is the use to talk of paying am i a that i r ths a is to pay it was a fine bj l there is no dam left at all i ic ne pat it right a waited one year or t a get a bill and besides u i r w m the men who pay the con v i a ik is ail and i should not be richer t v r tr mj ie and the grain was cheap u i a r the enough it is l j o payment let us return to i v i you are a quick ii ut n will be no one to play x w me laugh and the v i s but it is good that h i ui i ii l ye it is good why do a i is it an order of the t tie s t ar a g i am wanted i v x v c bit state tv v is for tou said the king s y i are so quick vi vi ai c vi li wheeled his and fc c v l j v c e k g interested but unmoved i to accept and his t s as a control as v x tr v v opposite the s i vl r r instant at the the sense v i o rt es si of een things that a story of west and east swift coming change smote the mind of the american and he shivered it was a bad dream a very bad dream he muttered and the worst of it is not one of the boys in | 39 |
by v ic to these who are of base desire sorrow and lust and shame gods for they knew the heart of men men for they stooped to fame borne on the breath that men call deaths my brother s spirit came scarce had he need to cast his pride or the of earth e en as he trod that day to god so walked he from his in and gentleness and honour and clean mirth cup to up in fellowship y they gave him welcome high and made him place at the banquet boards the strong men ranged thereby who had done his work and held his peace and had no fear to die beyond the loom of the last lone star through open darkness hurled further than rebel dared or star swarm sits he with such as praise our god for that they served his world vii by v ic by v ic preface the greater part of the room as well as cleared and the english flag have appeared in thi national observer messrs and co have kindly given me permission to four contributed to their magazine and i am indebted to the st james for a like courtesy in regard to the of the and and the imperial the rhyme of the three captains was printed first in the i fancy that most of the other verses are new by v ic by v ic contents the ballad of east and west oh east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet the last lay sick to death the ballad of the king s mercy the chief of him is the story told the ballad of the king s jest when spring time bushes the desert grass with to the wreath of banquet lay withered on the neck the ballad of da this is the ballad of da the lament of the border cattle thief o woe is me for the merry life xi by v ic xii contents page the rhyme of the three captains at the close of a winter day the ballad of the it was our war ship the ballad of the seven men from all the world back to again the lost there s a that never was the sacrifice of er er beyond the hills of ao the dove of the freed dove flew to the s tower the explanation love and death e ceased their strife an answer a rose in on the garden path the gift of the sea the dead child lay in the and his gods read here this is the story of man by v ic contents the of the when the flush of a new born sun fell first on s green and gold loo in the age in the age savage warfare did i the legend of evil this is the sorrowful story the english flag winds of the world give answer they are to and cleared help for a distressed a spirit hurt an imperial now this is the tale of the council the german now gave up the ghost in his house in square by v ic contents room what are the for said on parade i went into a public to get a pint o beer we ve fought with many men the seas soldier soldier soldier soldier come from the wars screw guns my pipe on the the cool i ve a head like a i ve a tongue like a button stick din you may talk o gin and beer by v ic contents xv page makes the soldier s to makes him to if you ve ever stole a egg the keeper s back this in a battle to a ry of the corps the widow at ave you o the widow at there was a row in silver street that s near to the young british soldier when the made goes out to the east by the old eastward to the sea to the sea by v ic xvi contents the party where have you been this while away ford o river town s by river gentlemen to the of the lost ones to the of the damned route we re on relief over s sunny plains a day my name is o i ve heard the l there s a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield by v ic by v ic by ic the ballad of east and west oh east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet till earth and sky stand presently at god s great judgment seat but there is neither east nor west border nor breed nor birth when two strong men stand face to face tho they come from the ends of the earth is out with twenty men to raise the border side and he has lifted the colonel s mare that is the colonel s pride he has lifted her out of the stable door between the dawn and the day and turned the upon her feet and ridden her far away by v ic the ballad of then up and spoke the colonel s son that led a troop of the guides is there never a man of all my men can say where hides then up and spoke the son of the if ye know the track of the morning mist ye know where his are at dusk he the at dawn he is into but he must go by fort to his own place to fare so if ye gallop to fort as fast as a bird can by the of god ye may cut him off ere he win to the tongue of but if he be passed the tongue of right swiftly turn ye then for the length and the breadth of that plain | 39 |
is sown with men there is rock to the left and rock to the right and low lean thorn between and ye may hear a bolt where never a man is seen by v ic east and west the son has taken a horse and a raw rough was he with the mouth of a bell and the heart of hell and the head of the gallows tree the colonel s son to the fort has won they bid him stay to eat who rides at the tail of a border thief he sits not long at his meat he s up and away from fort as fast as he can fly till he was aware of his father s mare in the of the tongue of till he was aware of his father s mare with upon her back and when he could spy the white of her eye he made the pistol crack he has fired once he has fired twice but the whistling ball went wide ye shoot like a soldier said show now if ye can ride it s up and over the tongue of as blown go the he fled like a of ten but the mare like a barren by v ic the ballad of the he leaned against the bit and his head above but the red mare played with the bars as a maiden plays with a glove there was rock to the left and rock to the right and low lean thorn between and thrice he heard a bolt tho never a man was seen they have ridden the low moon out of the sky their hoofs drum up the dawn the he went like a wounded bull but the mare like a new roused the he fell at a water course in a heap fell he and has turned the red mare back and pulled the rider free he has knocked the pistol out of his hand small room was there to strive twas only by favour of mine he ye rode so long alive there was not a rock for twenty mile there was not a of tree but covered a man of my own men with his rifle cocked on his knee by v ic east and west if i had raised my bridle hand as i have held it low the little that so fast were all in a row if i had bowed my head on my breast as i have held it high the that above us now were till she could not fly lightly answered the colonel s son do good to bird and beast but count who come for the broken before thou a feast if there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away the price of a s meal were more than a thief could pay they will feed their horse on the standing crop their men on the grain the of the will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain but if thou the price be fair thy brethren wait to sup the hound is kin to the howl dog and call them up by v ic the ballad of and if thou the price be high in steer and gear and give me my father s mare again and til fight my own way back has him by the hand and set him upon his feet no talk shall be of dogs said he when wolf and grey wolf meet may i eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath what dam of brought thee forth to jest at the dawn with death lightly answered the colonel s son i hold by the blood of my take up the mare for my father s gift by god she has carried a man the red mare ran to the colonel s son and against his breast we be two strong men said then but she the younger best so she shall go with a s my rein my saddle and saddle cloth and silver twain by v ic east and west the colonel s son a pistol drew and held it ye have taken the one from a foe said he will ye take the mate from a friend a gift for a gift said straight a limb for the risk of a limb thy father has sent his son to me i ll send my son to him with that he whistled his only son that dropped from a mountain crest he trod the ling like a buck in spring and he looked like a lance in rest now here is thy master said who leads a troop of the guides and thou must ride at his left side as shield on shoulder rides till death or i cut loose the tie at camp and board and bed thy life is his thy fate it is to guard him with thy head so thou must eat the white queen s meat and all her foes are thine and thou must harry thy father s hold for the peace of the border line by v ic the ballad of and thou must make a tough and hack thy way to power they will raise thee to when i am hanged in they have looked each other between the eyes and there they found no fault they have taken the oath of the brother in blood on bread and salt they have taken the oath of the brother in blood on fire and fresh cut sod on the and the of the knife and the wondrous names of god the son he rides the mare and s boy the and two have come back to fort where there went forth but one and when they drew to the quarter guard full twenty swords flew clear there was not a man but carried | 39 |
his with the blood of the ha done ha done said the colonel s son put up the steel at your sides by v ic east and west last night ye had struck at a border thief tonight tis a man of the guides east is east and west is west and never the two shall meet till earth and sky stand presently at god s great judgment seat but there is neither east nor west border nor breed nor birth when two strong men stand face to face tho they come from the ends of the earth by v ic the last not many years ago a king died in one of the states his wives y the orders of the en against would have broken out of the palace had not the gates been barred one of them disguised as the kin s favourite dancing girl passed through the line of guards and reached the there her courage she prayed her cousin a baron of the courts to kill her this he did not who she was lay sick to death in his hold by hill all night we heard the death ring for the soul of the dying king all night beat up from the women s wing a cry that we could not still all night the came and went the lords of the outer guard all night the pale on and and mail that in the palace yard by v ic the last in the golden room on the palace roof all night he fought for air and there was sobbing behind the screen rustle and whisper of women unseen and the hungry eyes of the queen on the death she might not share he passed st dawn the death fire leaped from ridge to river head from the plains to the and wail upon wail went up to the stars behind the grim bars when they knew that the king was dead the dumb priest knelt to tie his mouth and robe him for the the queen beneath us cried see now that we die as our mothers died in the bed by our master s side out women to the fire we drove the great gates home white hands were on the sill by v ic the last but ere the rush of the unseen feet had reached the turn to the open street the bars shot down the guard drum we held the dove cot still a face looked down in the gathering day and laughing spoke from the wall oh they mourn here let me b the girl i when the house is rotten the rats must fly and i seek another for i ruled the king as ne er did queen to night the queens rule me guard them safely but let me go or ever they pay the debt they owe in and torture she leaped below and the grim guard watched her flee they knew that the king had spent his soul on a north bred dancing girl that he prayed to a flat god and kissed the ground where her feet had trod and doomed to death at her drunken nod and swore by her curl by ic last we bore the king to his fathers place where the of the sun bom stand where the grey swing and the on fretted pillar and screen and the wild couch in the house of the queen on the drift of the desert sand the herald read his titles forth we set the logs friend of the english free from fear baron of to lord of the desert of king of the go all night the red flame the sky with wavering wind tossed and out of a shattered temple crept a woman who veiled her head and wept and called on the king but the great king slept and turned not for her tears small thought had he to mark the strife cold fear with hot desire by v ic the last when thrice she leaped from the leaping flame and thrice she beat her breast for shame and thrice like a wounded dove she came and moaned about the fire one watched a bow shot from the blaze the silent streets between who had stood by the king in sport and to blade in or at bay and he was a baron old and grey and kin to the queen he said o put aside the veil upon thy brow who held the king and all his land to the wanton will of a s hand will the white ash rise from the brand stoop down and call him now then she by the faith of my soul ah things i did not well i had hoped to clear ere the fire died and lay me down by my master s side to rule in heaven his only bride while the others howl in hell by v ic the last but i have felt the fire s breath and hard it is to die yet if i may pray a lord to the steel of a s sword with base born blood of a trade and the answered ay he drew and struck the straight blade drank the life beneath the breast i had looked for the queen to face the flame but the dies for the dame sister of mine pass free from shame pass with thy king to rest the black log above the white the little flames and lean red as slaughter and blue as steel that whistled and fluttered from head to heel leaped up anew for they found their meal on the heart of the queen by v ic the ballad of the king s mercy the y of him is the story told his mercy fills the hills his grace is manifold he has taken toll of the | 39 |
of and carpets and a murmur of voices a of smoke to tell us the trade of the woke the lid of the flesh pot high the knives were and then came i to the his and counting his gear crammed with the gossip of half a year but the kindly said better is speech when the belly is fed so we plunged the hand to the mid wrist deep in a of the fat sheep and he who never hath tasted the food by he not bad from good we our of the mutton we lay on the and were filled with peace and the talk slid north and the talk slid south with the sliding from the mouth four things greater than all things are women and horses and power and war we of them all but the last the most by v ic the king s jest for i sought a word of a russian post of a promise an sword and a grey coat guard on the ford then lowered his eyes in the fashion of one who is weaving lies he of the who can say when the night is gathering all is grey but we look that the gloom of the night shall die in the morning flush of a blood red sky friend of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies we know what heaven or hell may bring but no man the mind of the king that counsel is cursed of god the story of his was of tongue and pen his dam was a hen and the bred close to the vice of each for he carried the curse of an speech madness so that he sought the favour of kings at the court and travelled in hope of honour far to the line where the grey coat are there have i too but i by v ic the ballad of saw naught said naught and did not die he to rumour and snatched at a breath f this one and that one legends that ran from mouth to mouth f a grey coat coming and sack of the south these have i also heard they pass with each new spring and the winter grass hot foot southward forgotten of god back to the city ran even to in full the king held talk with his chief in war into the press of the crowd he broke and what he had heard of the coming spoke then the red chief smiled as a mother might on a child but those who would laugh restrained their breath when the face of the king showed dark as death evil it is in full to cry to a ruler of gathering war slowly he led to a tree small that grew by a of the city wall and he said to the boy they shall praise thy zeal so long as the red follows the steel by v ic the king s jest and the is upon us even now great is thy prudence await them thou watch from the tree thou art young and strong surely thy is not for long the is upon us thy ran surely an hour shall bring their van wait and watch when the host is near shout aloud that my men may hear friend of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies a guard was set that he might not flee a score of the tree the bloom fell in showers of snow when he shook at his death as he looked below by the power of god who alone is great till the seventh day he fought with his fate then madness took him and men declare he in the branches as and bear and last as a ere his body failed and he hung as a bat in the forks and and sleep the cord of his hands and he fell and was caught on the points and died heart of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies by v ic the king s jest we know what heaven or hell may bring but no man the mind of the king of the grey coat coming who can say when the night is gathering all is grey two things greater than all things are the first is love and the second war and since we know not how war may prove heart of my heart let us talk of love by v ic with to more than a hundred years ago in a great battle fought near an indian prince rode fifty miles after the day was lost with a beggar girl who had loved him and followed him in all his on his saddle bow he lost the girl when almost within sight of safety a tells the story the wreath of banquet lay withered on the neck our hands and were for signal of despair when we went forth to to battle with the ere we came back from and left a kingdom there thrice thirty thousand men were we to force the the hawk winged horse of of the by co by v ic with to of the southern hills the s swords and he the s traitor son the thrice thirty thousand men were we before the mists had cleared the low white mists of morning heard the scream and we called upon and we them by the beard we rolled upon them like a flood and washed their ranks away the children of the hills of before our ran we drove the black back as cattle to the pen twas then we needed to end what we began a thousand men had saved the charge he fled the field with ten i by ic with to | 39 |
a there was no room to clear a sword no power ta strike a blow for foot to foot ay breast to breast the battle held us fast save where the naked hill men ran and from below brought down the horse and rider and we trampled them and passed to left the roar of rang like a falling flood to right the sunshine red from lance and blade above the dark flew beneath us the blood and black against the dust the swayed i saw it fall in smoke and fire the banner of the i heard a voice across the press of one who called in vain the of the slain c by v ic with to ho ride get aid of go shame his into fight the the is slain as when a sand bar breaks m and spray when rain of later autumn sweeps the water head before their charge from flank to flank our ranks gave way but of the waters of that flood the ran red i held by my lord as close as man might hold a of the asks no aid to guard his life but s horse were flying and our chief est chiefs were cold and like a flame among us the long lean northern knife by v ic with to i held by my lance from butt to was the of battle the shield and the bridle chain what time beneath our horses feet a maiden rose and cried and clung to and i turned a sword cut from the twain he set a spell upon the maid in long ago a hunter by the banks she gave him water there he turned her heart to water and she followed to her woe what need had he of who had twenty maids as fair now in that hour strength left my lord he his mare aside he bound the girl behind him and we and struggled free by v ic with to across the wreck of strife we rode as shadows ride from to town but not alone were we twas laid horse upon our track a swine fed of the north that for the maid i might have barred his path awhile but called me back and i oh woe for i listened and obeyed league after league the took shape and glided by league after league the white road behind the white mare s feet league after league when were done we heard the where sure as time and swift as death the beat by v ic with to noon s eye beheld that shame of flight the shadows fell we fled where steadfast as the he followed in our train the black wolf where we had the our dead and terror born of twilight tide made mad the brain i gasped a kingdom waits my lord her love is but her own a day shall mar a day shall cure for her but what for thee cut loose the girl he follows fast cut loose and ride alone then his lips my queens queen shall she be of all who eat my bread last night twas she alone that came to seek her love between the and find her crown therein by v ic with to one shame is mine to day what need the weight of double shame if once we reach the gate though all be lost i win we rode the white mare failed her trot a staggering grew the cooking smoke of even rose and and hung low and still we heard the and still we strained anew and town was very near but nearer was the foe yea town was very near when whispered lord of my life the mare sinks fast deep and let me die but would not and the maid tore free and flung away and turning as she fell we heard the by ic with to then checked the gasping mare that rocked and groaned for breath and wheeled to charge and plunged the knife a hands breadth in her side the hunter and the hunted know how that last pause is death the blood had chilled about her heart she reared and fell and died our gods were kind before he heard the maiden s piteous scream a log upon the road beneath the mare he lay lost mistress and lost battle passed before him like a dream the darkness closed about his eyes i bore my king away by v ic the ballad of da this is the ballad of da a to s throne who the district of how he met with his fate and the v p p at the hand of senior g b t da was a warrior bold his sword and his were with gold and the banner his bore was stiff with but with he shot at the strong and he at the weak from the to the he noble he sacrificed mean he filled old women with while over the water the papers cried the fights for his by v ic da but little they cared for the native press the worn white soldiers in dress who through the and in the who died in the swamp and were in the mire who gave up their lives at the queen s command for the pride of their race and the peace of the land now first of the of da was captain o of the black and his was a company seventy strong who that chief along there were lads from and and who went to their death with a joke in their teeth and worshipped with and zeal the mud on the boot heels of o but ever a on their labours lay and ever their would vanish away by v ic the ballad | 39 |
of till the sun dried boys of the black took a interest in da and if pursuit in possession ends the and his were best of friends the word of a a march by night a rush through the mist scattering fight a from cover a corpse in the clearing the glimpse of a cloth and heavy the of a village the of slain and the was abroad on the again they cursed their luck as the irish will they gave him credit for cunning and skill they buried their dead they bolted their beef and started anew on the track of the thief till in place of the of greece men said when and his come back with the head they had hunted the from the hills to the plain he doubled and broke for the hills again by v ic da they had crippled his power for and they had him out of his pet and at last they came when the day star tired to a camp deserted a village fired a black cross the morning gold and the body upon it was and cold the wind of the dawn went merrily past the high grass bowed her to the blast and out of the grass on a sudden broke a of fire a of smoke and captain o of the black was blessed with a in the bone the gift of his enemy da now a that is from telegraph wire is a thorn in the flesh and a fire the shot wound as shot wounds may in a steaming at the left arm and the captain swore i d like to be after the once by v ic u the ballad of the fever held him the captain said i d give a hundred to look at his head the hospital and but heard he thought of the cane green and that his home by the he thought of his wife and his high school son he thought but abandoned the of a his sleep was broken by visions dread of a shining with a silver head he kept his counsel and went his way and the of half their pay and the months went on as the worst must do and the returned to the anew but the captain had quitted the long drawn strife and in far had taken a wife and she was a of delicate mould with hair like the sunshine and heart of gold by v ic da and little she knew the arms that embraced had a man from the brow to the waist and little she knew that the loving lips had ordered a quivering life s and the eye that lit at her breath had glared in the gates of death for these be matters a man would hide as a general rule from an innocent bride and little the captain thought of the past and of all men last but slow in the of the road the government train its load and and shining with in the cart sat the and ever a phantom before him fled of a with a silver he d then the lead cart stuck though the and the and the escort by v ic the ballad of and out of the with and da and his gang at his heels then answered back the s and the s crack and the revolver began to sing to the blade that on the ring and the brown flesh where the bay net kissed as the steel shot back with a and a twist and the great white with eyes watched the souls of the dead arise and over the smoke of the the banner staggered and swayed oh of man may see is a well worked rush on the g b t the shook at the horrible sight and his ponderous for flight but fate had ordained that the should start on a lone hand of the cart by v ic da and out of that cart with a of woe the flat on the top of the for years had served the state to the growth of his purse and the of his there were twenty stone as the man knows on the broad of the chest of this best of and twenty stone from a height discharged are bad for a with a enlarged oh short was the struggle severe was the shock he dropped like a he lay like a block and the above him with fear heard the life breath out in his ear and thus in a fashion the of the died turn now to where in his ease the captain is the bride on his knees by v ic the ballad of where the whit of the bullet the wounded man s scream are mixed as the mist of some devilish dream forgotten forgotten the sweat of the where the hill and the grey monkey from the sword belt set free and released from the steel the peace of the lord is with captain o up the hill to most patient of the bags on his shoulder the mail for captain o one hundred and ten to collect on delivery then their breakfast was stopped while the screw jack and hammer tore wax cloth split wood and out the open eyed open mouthed on the s snow with a crash and a rolled the head of the by v ic da and to the was a letter which ran in force service loth dear sir i have honour to send as you said for final approval see under s head was took by myself in most bloody affair by high education brought pressure to bear now liberty time being bad to mail v p p hundred please add whatever your honour can | 39 |
pass price of blood much cheap at one hundred and children want food so trusting your honour will somewhat retain true love and affection for train and show awful kindness to satisfy me i am graceful master your h by v ic the ballad of as the rabbit is drawn to the s power as the s eye fills at the hour as a horse reaches up to the above as the waiting ear for the whisper of love from the arms of the bride iron and slow the captain bent down to the head of the and e en as he looked on the thing where it lay the new and the array the freed mind fled back to the long ago days the hand to hand the smoke and the blaze the forced march at night and the quick rush at dawn the at twilight the burial ere the of the the raw piercing smell when the cut silenced the yell the oaths of his irish that when they stood where the black crosses hung o er the flood by v ic da as a ship away with the tide the captain went out on the past from his bride back back through the springs to the chill of the year when he hunted the from to as the shape of a corpse up through deep water in his eye lit the passion of slaughter and men who had fought with o for the life had gazed on his face with less dread than his wife for she who had held him so long could not hold him though a four month eternity should have controlled him but watched the twin terror the head turned to head the black and the flushed savage the spirit that changed from her knowing and flew to some grim hidden past she had never a clue to by v ic da but it knew as it grinned for he touched it and muttered aloud so you kept that then nodded and kindly as friend to friend old man you fought well but you lost in the end the visions departed and shame followed passion he took what i said in this horrible fashion ril write to with language the captain came back to the bride who had fainted and this is a fiction no go to and look at their baby a twelve month old a little irish eyed she s always about on the of a and you ll see if her right shoulder is this upon a s head by the lament of the border cattle thief o woe is me for the merry life i led beyond the bar and a woe for my wife that at they have taken away my long my shield and fine and heaved me into the central jail for lifting of the the steer may low within the the may tend his grain but there ll be neither nor fire till i come back again and god have mercy on the when once my fall and heaven defend the farmer s hut when i am from by ic the lament of the it s woe to bend the stubborn back above the it s woe to hear the leg bar and when i turn but for the sorrow and the shame the brand on me and mine i ll pay you back in leaping flame and loss of the for every cow i spared before in charity set free if i may reach my hold once more i ll an honest three for every time i raised the low that scared the dusty plain by sword and cord by torch and tow i ll light the land with twain ride hard ride hard to young with the yellow hair lie close lie close as lie fat herds below by ic border cattle thief the one shoot at twilight tide at dawn tu drive the other the black shall mourn for and hide the white man for his brother tis war red war give you then war till my fail for the wrong you have done to a chief of men and a thief of the and if i fall to your hand afresh i give you leave for the sin that you my throat with the foul pig s flesh and swing me in the skin by v ic the rhyme of the three captains this ballad appears to refer to one of the exploits of the notorious paul jones the american it is founded on fact at the close of a winter day their down by london town the three great captains lay and one was admiral of the north from to and one was lord of the coast and all the lands thereby and one was master of the thames from to and he was captain of the fleet the of them all their good guns guarded their great grey sides that were thirty foot in the sheer when there came a certain trading with news of a by ic the three captains her was rough with the drift that drives in a northern breeze her sides were with the lazy weed that in the eastern seas light she rode in the rude tide to left and right she rolled and the sat on the butt and stared at an empty hold i ha paid port for your law he and where is the law ye boast if i sail from a heathen port to be robbed on a christian coast ye have smoked the of the as we bum the in a we tack not now to a or a plunging ho i had no fear but the seas were clear as far as a sail might fare till i met with a lime washed yankee that rode off there were canvas blinds to his | 39 |
bow gun ports to n the weight he bore and the ran for a from sandy hook to the by v ic the rhyme of he would not fly the flag the bloody or the black but now he floated the and now he the jack he spoke of the law as he my crew he swore it was only a loan but when i would ask for my own again he swore it was none of my own he has taken my little that nest beneath the line he has stripped my rails of the and the green pine he has taken my of and i won beyond the seas he has taken my grinning heathen gods and what should he want o these my would not mend his boom my patch his boats he has the two this to for i could not fight for the failing light and a rough beam sea beside but i him once for a clumsy and twice because he lied by v ic the three captains had i had guns as i had goods to work my christian harm i had run him up from his quarter deck to trade with his own yard arm i had nailed his ears to my head and them off with a saw and them in the and served them to him raw i had flung him blind in a boat to rot in the rocking dark i had him aft of his own craft a bait for his brother i had him round with and him with the oil and lashed him fast to his own mast to blaze above my spoil i had stripped his hide for my side and his beard i the and his crew on the live that grows through the flesh i had him down by the brown where the mud and draws by the heel to his own to wait for the land s claws by v ic the rhyme of he is within and lime without ye can nose him far for he carries the taint of a the of the s the looked at the guns and the tall and cold and the captains three full courteously peered down at the hole and the captains three called courteously from deck to butt good sir we ha dealt with that or ever your teeth were cut your words be words of a lawless race and the law it thus he comes of a race that have never a law and he never has us we ha sold him canvas and rope and we know that his price is fair and we know that he for the lack of a law as he rides off and since he is damned for a gallows thief by you and better than you we hold it meet that the english fleet should know that we hold him true by v ic the three captains the called to the tall and what is that to me did ever you hear of a that a seventy three do i loom so large from your quarter deck that i lift like a ship o the line he has learned to run from a gun and harry such craft as mine there is never a law on the keys to hold a white man in but we do not steal the meal for that is a s sin must he have his law as a to or laid in brass on his wheel does he steal with tears when he fore then why does he steal the bit on a deep sea word and the word it was not sweet for he could see the captains three had to the fleet but three and two in white and blue the flags began we have heard a tale of a foreign sail but he is a by v ic the rhyme of the peered beneath his palm and swore by the great horn spoon fore the of the fleet would bless my by two and three the flags blew free to lash the laughing air we have sold our to the we know that his price is fair the winked his western eye and swore by a china storm they ha him a joseph s jury coat to keep his honour warm the against the tops the broad the in the empty hold and mourned for a wasted cord the signal sped by the line o the british craft the called to his crew and put her about and laughed it s haul my bully boys all we ll out to the seas again ere they set us to paint their saint or at his chain by v ic the three captains it s fore sheet free with her head to the sea and the swing of the we ll make no sport in an english court till we come as a ship o the line till we come as a ship o the line my lads of thirty foot in the sheer lifting again from the outer main with news of a flying his pluck at our for of heaving his head for our lead in sign that we keep the sea then fore sheet home as she lifts to the foam we stand on the outward tack we are paid in the coin of the white man s trade the is hard ay and black the bird shall carry my word to the and the how a man may sail from a heathen coast to be robbed in a christian port how a man may be robbed in christian port while three great captains there shall dip their flag to a s rag to show that his trade is fair by v ic the ballad of the it was our war ship would sweep the channel clean wherefore she kept her | 39 |
close when the merry channel arose to save the marine she had one bow gun of a hundred ton and a great stern gun beside they dipped their noses deep in the sea thy their stays and free in the wash of the wind whipped tide it was our war ship fell in with a light that carried the dainty gun and a pair o heels wherewith to run from the grip of a close fought fight by ic the she opened fire at seven miles as ye shoot at a cork and once she fired and twice she fired till the bow gun drooped like a lily tired that upon the stalk captain the bow gun the deck beams break below well to rest for an hour or twain and the shattered plates again and he answered make it so she opened fire within the mile as ye shoot at the flying duck and the great stem gun shot fair and true with the heave of the ship to the blue and the great stem stuck captain the fills with steam the feed pipes burst below you can hear the hiss of helpless ram you can hear the twisted jam and he answered turn and go by v ic ee the ballad of it was our war ship and grimly did she roll swung round to take the s fire as the white whale faces the s ire when they war by the frozen pole captain the shells are falling fast and faster still fall we and it is not meet for english stock to bide in the heart of an eight day clock the death they cannot see lie down lie down my bold a b we drift upon her beam we dare not ram for she can run and dare ye fire another gun and die in the steam it was our war ship that carried an belt but fifty feet at stern and bow lay bare as the of the s sow to the hail of the by v ic the captain they lack us through and through the chilled steel are swift we have emptied the in open sea their bursts where our coal should be and he answered let her drift it was our war ship swung round upon the tide her two dumb guns glared south and north and the blood and the steam ran forth and she ground the s side captain they cry the fight is done they bid you send your sword and he answered her stern and bow they have asked for the steel they shall have it now out and board it was our war ship up four hundred men and the delight as they rolled in the waist and heard the fight stamp o er their steel walled pen by v ic the they cleared the end to end from tower to hold they fought as they fought in s fleet they were stripped to the waist they were bare to the feet as it was in the days of old it was the sinking heaved up her battered side and carried a million pounds in steel to the and the corpse fed and the of the channel tide it was the crew of the stood out to sweep the sea on a won from an ancient foe as it was in the days of long ago and as it still shall be by ic the ballad of the seven men from all the world back to again rolling down the road drunk and raising give the girls another drink fore we sign away we that took the out across the bay we put out from loaded down with rails we put back to cause our cargo shifted we put out from met the winter seven days and seven nights to the start we drifted her loose smoke white as snow all the coals adrift a deck half the rails below by v ic the ballad of like a pot like a out we took the out across the bay one by one the lights came up winked and let us by mile by mile we on coal and fo c short met a blow that laid us down heard a fly left the wolf behind us with a two foot list to port trailing like a wounded duck working out her soul like a shop after every roll just a and a mast through the spray so we the out across the bay felt her and felt her when she d break wondered every time she if she d stand the shock by v ic the heard the seas like drunken men at her hoped the lord ud keep his thumb on the block against the iron decks choked with coal and frozen foot and hand sick of heart and soul last we prayed she d buck herself into judgment day hi we cursed the knocking round the bay oh her nose flung up to sky groaning to be still up and down and back we went never time for breath then the money paid at s caught her by the heel and the stars ran round and round at our death aching for an hour s sleep off between heard the rotten draw when she took it green by v ic the ballad of watched the compass chase its tail like a cat at play that was on the south across the bay once we saw between the head to swell mad with work and weariness they was we some damned s lights go by like a grand hotel cheered her from the in the sea then a cleared us out then the laughed boys the wheel has gone to hell the aft yoke the kicking head get her under way so we her haul out across | 39 |
the bay just a pack o rotten plates up with tar in we came an time enough cross bar by v ic the meant to founder we god almighty s storm the eternal sea seven men from all the worlds back to town down the road drunk and raising seven men from out of hell ain t the owners gay cause we took the safe across the bay by ic the lost there s a that never was that carries no colours or crest but split in a thousand is breaking the road for the rest our fathers they left us their blessing they taught us and us and crammed but we ve shaken the clubs and the to go and find out and be damned dear boys to go and get shot and be damned so some of us the and some of us cherish the black and some of us hunt on the oil coast and some on the track and some of us drift to and some of us drift up the fly and some share our with and some with the gentle dear boys take tea with the giddy by co by ic the lost painted the islands on half shares in the bay shouted on seven starved on a s pay laughed at the world as we found it its women and cities and men from say in a to the smoke eyes of dear boys a little account with we opened the s oil well but the didn t agree and the people got up and fan us and we ran from to the sea yes somehow and somewhere and always we were first when the trouble began from a row in to an i d b race on the pan dear boys with the mounted police on the pan we preach in advance of the army we ahead of the church with never a to help us when we re and left in the by v ic the lost but we know as the finish and we re filed on our last little shelves that the that never was will send us as good as ourselves good men five hundred as good as ourselves then a health we must drink it in whispers to our wholly to the line of our dusty the gentlemen abroad yes a health to ourselves ere we scatter for the steamer won t wait for the train and the that never was goes back into quarters again regards goes back under canvas again the and the again here s how the trail and the again the and the again by v ic the sacrifice of er er beyond the hills of ao bears witness to the truth and ao hath told the men of thence the tale comes westward o er the peaks to india the story of s child a maiden to the chief in war the man of sixty who held the pass that leads to but to day is gone to seek his comfort of the god called the silent showing how the sickness ceased because of her who died to save the tribe is one and greater than us all is one and greater than all gods is two in one and rides the sky curved like a s from dusk to dawn and drums upon it with his heels whereby is bred the thunder in the hills by co by v ic the sacrifice of er this is the god of all er who was before all gods and made all gods and presently will break the gods he made and step upon the earth to govern men who give him milk dry and cheat his priests or leave his shrine as er left it and forgot when all the valley followed after and little gods but very wise and from the sky beheld their sin he sent the sickness out upon the hills the red horse sickness with the iron to turn the valley to again and the red horse thrice into the wind the naked wind that had no fear of him and the red horse stamped thrice upon the snow the naked snow that had no fear of him and the red horse went out across the rocks the ringing rocks that had no fear of him and downward where the lean meets the snow by v ic the sacrifice of er and downward where the grey pine meets the and downward where the dwarf oak meets the pine till at his feet our cup like pastures lay that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon a dead man s face and in the valley white like water very silent spread abroad like water very silent from the shrine of to where the stream is to fill our cattle sent up white waves that rocked and heaved and then were still till all the valley glittered like a marsh beneath the moonlight filled with mist knee deep so that men as they walked that night the red horse above the dam beyond the cattle men heard him feed and those that heard him where they lay thus came the sickness to er and ten men strong men and of the women four and the red horse went with the dawn but near the cattle his prints lay by v ic the sacrifice of er that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon the dead but rose a little higher to a young girl s height till all the valley glittered like a lake beneath the moonlight filled with mist that night the red horse beyond the dam a stone s throw from the men heard him feed and those that heard him where they lay thus came the sickness to er and of men a score and of | 39 |
the women eight and of the children two because the road to was a road of enemies and ao was blocked with early snow we could not flee from out the valley death smote at us in a slaughter pen and was mute as though the were slain and the red horse nightly by the stream and later outward towards the shrine and those that heard him where they lay by v ic the sacrifice of er then said to the priests at dusk when the white mist rose up breast high and choked the voices in the houses of the dead and avail not if the horse reach the shrine we surely die ye have forgotten of all gods the chief here rolled the thunder through the hill and shook upon his ye have forgotten of all gods the chief too long and all were dumb save one who cried on with the his knees but found no answer in the smoky roof and being smitten of the sickness died before the altar of the shrine then said i am near to death and have the wisdom of the grave for gift to bear me on the path my feet must tread if there be wealth on earth then i am rich for is the first of all er if there be beauty on the earth her eyes dropped for a moment to the temple floor ye know that i am fair if there be love ye know that love is mine the chief in war by the sacrifice of er the man of sixty broke from the press and would have clasped her but the priests saying she has a message from then said by my wealth and love and beauty i am chosen of the god here rolled the thunder through the hills and fell forward on the mound of in darkness and before our priests the maid between the cast her down the heavy made when he was young out of the water gold of threw the breast plate thick with upon the put aside the bands of silver on her brow and neck and as the on the stones the thunder of like a bull then said stretching out her hands as one in darkness fearing devils help o priests i am a woman very weak by v ic the sacrifice of er and who am i to know the will of gods hath called me whither shall i go the chief in war the man of sixty howled in his torment by the priests but dared not come to her to drag her forth and dared not lift his spear against the priests then all men wept there was a priest of bent with a hundred blind and as the great snow eagle is his seat was nearest to the altar fires and he was counted dumb among the priests but whether or from the impotent tongue found utterance we know as little as the beneath the he cried so that they heard who stood without to the shrine and crept aside into the shadow of his fallen god and and went her way that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon the dead and rose above the roofs and by the shrine by v ic the sacrifice of er i y as the water of the when the cattle of er and through the mist men heard the red horse feed in s house they burned s and killed her black bull tor and broke her wheel and her hair as for the marriage feast with cries more loud than mourning for the dead across the fields from s dwelling place we heard weeping where she passed to seek the shrine the red horse and followed her and on the river his struck dead and heavy in our ears out of the mists of evening as the star of ao through the black snow to show the pass is clear stepped upon the great grey slope of stone the of the red horse behind her to the shrine then fled north to the mountain where his stable lies by v ic the sacrifice of er they know who dared the anger of and watched that night above the clinging mists far up the hill s passing in she set her hand upon the door by a and black with time whereon is the glory of in letters older than the ao and twice she turned aside and twice she wept cast down upon the threshold for him she loved the man of sixty and for her father and the black bull tor hers and her pride yea twice she turned away before the awful darkness of the door and the great horror of the wall of man where man is made the of an face that waits above and laughs but the third time she cried and put her palms against the stone leaves and prayed to spare er and take her life for price they know who watched the doors were rent apart and closed upon and the rain by ic the sacrifice of er broke like a flood across the valley washed the mist away but louder than the rain the thunder of filled men with fear some say that from the shrine she cried for very thrice and others that she sang and had no fear and some that there was neither song nor cry but only thunder and the rain in the morning men rose up perplexed with horror crowding to the shrine and when er was gathered at the doors the priests made and passed in to a strange temple and a god they feared but knew not from the the grass had thrust the altar apart the walls were grey with the roof beams swelled with many | 39 |
coloured growth of and veiled the image of in the basin of the blood by v ic the sacrifice of er above the altar held the morning sun a on its heart below face hid in hands the maid lay er beyond the hills of ao bears witness to the truth and ao hath told the men of thence the tale comes westward o er the peaks to india by v ic the dove of the freed dove flew to the s tower fled from the slaughter of kings and the thorns have covered the city of dove dove oh dove little white traitor with woe on thy wings the of rode under the wall he set in his bosom a dove of flight if she return be sure that i fall dove dove oh dove pressed to his heart in the thick of the fight fire the palace the fort and the keep leave to the no spoil at all in the flame of the palace lie down and sleep if the dove if the dove if the dove come and alone to the palace wall the kings of the north they were scattered the of he them all hot from slaughter he stooped at the ford and the dove the dove oh the dove she thought of her on the palace wall by co by ic the dove of she opened her wings and she flew away fluttered away beyond recall she came to the palace at break of day dove oh dove flying so fast for a kingdom s fall the queens of they slept in slept in the flame of the palace old to save their honour from shame and the dove the dove oh the dove she to her young where the smoke rolled the of rode far and fleet followed as fast as a horse could fly he came and the palace was black at his feet and the dove the dove the dove alone in the sky so the dove flew to the s tower fled from the slaughter of kings so the thorns covered the city of and was lost for a white dove s wings dove oh dove is lost from the roll of the kings by v ic the explanation love and death once ceased their strife at the tavern of man s life called for wine and threw alas each his quiver on the grass when the bout was o er they found mingled arrows the ground hastily they gathered then each the loves and lives of men ah the dawn deceived mingled arrows each one death s dread was stored with the shafts he most love s light quiver groaned beneath headed of death thus it was they wrought our woe at the tavern long ago tell me do our masters know blindly as they fly old men love while young men die by v ic an answer a rose in on the garden path cried out to god murmured his wrath because a sudden wind at twilight s hush had snapped her stem alone of all the bush and god who hears both sun dried dust and sun made answer whispering to that one sister in that thou we did not well what voices thou when thy fell and the rose answered in that evil hour a voice said father wherefore falls the flower for lo the very are still and a voice answered son by s will then softly as a rain mist on the came to the rose the answer of the lord sister before we smote the dark in twain ere yet the stars saw one another plain time tide and space we bound unto the task that thou fall and such an one should ask the withered flower all content died as they die whose days are innocent while he who questioned why the flower fell caught hold of god and saved his soul from hell by co by v ic the gift of the sea the dead child lay in the and the widow watched beside and her mother slept and the channel swept the gale in the teeth of the tide but the mother laughed at all i have lost my man in the sea and the child is dead be still she said what more can ye do to me the widow watched the dead and the candle low and she tried to sing the passing song that bids the poor soul go and mary take you now she sang that lay against my heart and mary smooth your to night but she could not say depart by ic the gift of the sea then came a cry from the sea but the sea blinded the glass and heard ye nothing mother she said tis the child that waits to pass and the nodding mother sighed tis a in the for why should the soul cry out that never knew of sin o feet i have held in my hand o hands at my heart to catch how should they know the road to go and how should they lift the latch they laid a sheet to the door with the little that it might not hurt from the cold or the dirt but the crying would not stop the widow lifted the latch and strained her eyes to see and opened the door on the bitter shore to let the soul go free by v ic m the gift of the sea there was neither glimmer nor ghost there was neither spirit nor spark and heard ye nothing mother she said tis crying for me in the dark and the nodding mother sighed tis sorrow makes ye dull have ye yet to learn the cry of the or the wail of the wind blown the are | 39 |
blown inland the grey follows the plough twas never a bird the voice i heard o mother i hear it now lie still dear lamb lie still the child is passed from harm tis the ache in your breast that broke your rest and the feel of an empty arm she put her mother aside in mary s name let be for the peace of my soul i must go she said and she went to the calling sea by v ic the gift of the sea in the heel of the wind bit pier where the twisted weed was piled she came to the life she had missed by an hour for she came to a little child she laid it into her breast and back to her mother she came but it would not feed and it would not heed though she gave it her own child s name and the dead child on her breast and her own in the lay and god forgive us mother she said we let it die in the dark by v ic and his gods read here this is the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because the city gave him of her gold because the brought because his life was sheltered by the king so that no man should him none should steal or break his rest with in the streets when he was weary after toil he made an image of his god in gold and pearl with and human eyes a wonder in the sunshine known afar and worshipped by the king but drunk with pride because the city bowed to him for god he wrote above the shrine thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die and all the city praised him then he died by ic and his gods read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because the city had no wealth to give because the were spoiled afar because his life was threatened by the king so that all men despised him in the streets he the living rock with sweat and tears and reared a god against the morning gold a terror in the sunshine seen afar and worshipped by the king but drunk with pride because the city to bring him back he carved upon the thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die j and all the people praised him then he died read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because he lived among a simple folk because his village was between the hills because he his cheeks with blood of he cut an idol from a fallen pine blood upon its cheeks and a shell g by v ic and his gods above its brows for eyes and gave it hair of trailing moss and straw for crown and all the village praised him for this craft and brought him butter honey milk and wherefore because the drove him mad he scratched upon that log thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die and all the people praised him then he died read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because his god one of blood should one hair s breadth from the pulse s path and his brain alone rag wrapped among the cattle in the fields counting his fingers with the trees and mocking at the mist until his god drove him to labour out of and horns dropped in the mire he made a monstrous god crowned with and when the cattle at twilight time he dreamed it was the of lost crowds by v ic and his gods and howled among the beasts thus gods are and makes them otherwise shall die the cattle then he died yet at the last he came to paradise and found his own four gods and that he wrote and being very near to god what on earth had made his toil god s law till god said mocking mock not these be thine then cried i have not so if thou written otherwise thy gods had rested in the mountain and the mine and i were poorer by four wondrous gods and thy more wondrous law thine servant of shouting crowds and with laughing mouth but tear wet eyes cast his gods from paradise this is the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea by v ic the of the when the flush of a new born sun fell first on s green and gold our father adam sat under the tree and scratched with a stick in the mould and the rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart till the devil whispered behind the leaves it s pretty but is it art wherefore he called to his wife and fled to fashion his work anew the first of his race who cared a fig for the first most dread review and he left his lore to the use of his sons and that was a glorious gain when the devil chuckled is it art in the ear of the by v ic the they a tower to shiver the sky and the stars apart till the devil behind the bricks it s striking but is it art the stone was dropped at the side and the idle swung while each man talked of the aims of art and each in an alien tongue they fought and they talked in the north and the south they talked and they fought in the west till the waters rose on the pitiful land and the poor red clay had rest had rest till the blank canvas dawn when the dove was to start and the devil below | 39 |
the it s human but is it art the tale is as old as the tree and new as the new cut tooth for each man knows ere his lip grows he is master of art and truth by v ic the of and each man hears as the twilight to the beat of his dying heart the devil drum on the darkened pane you did it but was it art we have learned to the tree to the shape of a we have learned to bottle our parents twain in the of an egg we know that the tail must wag the dog for the horse is drawn by the cart but the devil as he of old it s clever but is it art when the of london sun falls faint on the club room s green and gold the sons of adam sit them down and scratch with their pens in the mould they scratch with their pens in the mould of their graves and the ink and the anguish start for the devil behind the leaves it s pretty but is it art by v ic the now if we could win to the tree where the four great rivers flow and the wreath of eve is red on the turf as she left it long ago and if we could come when the slept and softly through by the favour of god we might know as much as our father adam knew by v ic in the age in the age savage warfare did i for food and fame and two horses i was singer to my in that dim red dawn of man and i sang of all we fought and feared and felt yea i sang as now i sing when the spring made the piled ice pack split and and the and and and the gods of cliff and were about me and beneath me and above but a rival of told the tribe my style was by a hammer of he fell and i left my views on art and beneath the heart of a at then i stripped them from skull and my hunting dogs fed full and their teeth i neatly on a by co by v ic in the age and i wiped my mouth and said it is well that they are dead for i know my work is right and theirs was wrong but my saw the shame from his shrine he came and he told me in a vision of the night there are nine and sixty ways of lays and every single one of them is right then the silence closed upon me till they put new clothing on me of weaker flesh and bone more frail and i stepped beneath time s finger once again a singer and a minor poet by tr still they to and fro men my on the snow when we headed off the turn for turn when the rich never kept and our only plots were piled in lakes at by v ic in the age still a christian age sees us and rage still we pinch and slap and scratch and still we let our business slide as we dropped the hide to show a fellow savage how to work still the world is wondrous large seven seas from to and it holds a vast of various kinds of man and the wildest dreams of are the facts of and the crimes of in here s my wisdom for your use as i learned it when the and the roared where paris to night there are nine and sixty ways of lays and every single of them is right by v ic the legend of evil this is the sorrowful story told when the twilight fails and the walk together holding each other s tails our fathers lived in the forest foolish people were they they went down to the to teach the farmers to play our fathers in the our fathers in the wheat our fathers hung from the branches our fathers danced in the street then came the terrible farmers nothing of play they knew only they caught our fathers and set them to labour too by co by v ic the legend of evil set them to work in the with and and put them in mud walled and cut off their beautiful tails now we can watch our fathers sullen and bowed and old stooping over the sharing the silly mould driving a foolish mending a muddy yoke sleeping in mud walled their food in smoke we may not speak to our fathers for if the farmers knew they would come up to the forest and set us to labour too this is the horrible story told as the twilight fails and the walk together holding each other s tails by v ic the legend of evil twas when the rain fell steady an the ark was pitched an ready that got his orders for to take the below he dragged them all together by the horn an hide an feather an all the donkey was agreeable to go thin spoke him fairly thin talked to him an thin he cursed him to the glory the lord take the ass that bred you and the greater ass that fed you go you ye an the donkey went aboard but the wind was always an twas most an the ladies in the cabin couldn t stand the stable air by v ic no the legend of evil an the the they an died in till said there s wan us that hasn t paid his fare for he heard a the all creation the an an he saw the windy he to stop the the a stable fork their tails the cursed outrageous | 39 |
seas give word to now her honourable gentlemen are cleared and this is how they only paid the his cattle price they only helped the murderer with council s best advice by v ic cleared but sure it keeps their honour white the learned court believes they never gave a piece of plate to and thieves they never told the crowd to card a woman s hide they never marked a man for death what fault of theirs he died they only said and talked and went away by god the boys that did the work were men than they their sin it was that fed the fire small blame to them that heard the get drunk on and at the word they knew whom they were talking at if they were irish too the gentlemen that lied in court they knew and well they knew by v ic cleared they only took the gold from out of jail they only for dollars on the blood na if black is black or white is white in black and white it s down they re only to the queen and to the crown cleared honourable gentlemen be thankful it s no more the widow s curse is on your house the dead are at your door on you the shame of open shame on you from north to south the hand of every honest man flat across your mouth less black than we were painted faith no word of black was said the touch was human blood and that ye know runs red by v ic cleared it s sticking to your fist to day for all your sneer and and by the judge s well weighed word you cannot wipe it off hold up those hands of innocence go scare your sheep together the that behind the old bell and if they snuff the taint and break to find another pen tell them it s tar that so and them yours again the charge is old as old as as fresh as yesterday old as the ten have ye talked those laws away if words are words or death is death or powder sends the ball you spoke the words that sped the shot the curse be on you all by v ic cleared our friends believe of course they do as sheltered women may but have they seen the shrieking soul from the quivering clay they if their own front door is shut they ll swear the whole world s warm what do they know of dread of death or hanging fear of harm the secret half a county keeps the whisper in the lane the shriek that tells the shot went home behind the broken pane the dry blood in the sun that the honest bees and shows the have heard your talk what do they know of these but you you know ay ten times more the secrets of the dead black terror on the country side by word and whisper bred by v ic cleared the s scream at night the s low who set the whisper going first you know and well you know my soul i d sooner lie in jail for murder plain and straight pure crime i d done with my own hand for money lust or hate than take a seat in parliament by fellow cheered while one of those not proved me cleared as you are cleared cleared you that most the league accounts go guard our honour still go help to make our country s laws that broke god s law at will one hand stuck out behind the back to signal strike again the other on your dress shirt front to show your heart is by v ic cleared if black is black or white is white in black and white it s down you re only to the queen and to the crown if print is print or words are words the learned court we are not ruled by but only by their friends by v ic an imperial now this is the tale of the council the german to ease the strong of their burden to help the weak in their need he sent a word to the who struggle and and sweat that the straw might be counted fairly and the of bricks be set the lords of their hands assembled from the east and the west they drew and and and some were black from the furnace and some were brown from the soil and some were blue from the but all were wearied of toil by v ic an imperial and the young king said i have found it the road to the rest ye seek the strong shall wait for the weary the hale shall halt for the weak with the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line ye shall march to peace and plenty in the bond of brotherhood sign the paper lay on the table the strong heads bowed thereby and a wail went up from the ay sign give rest for we die a hand was stretched to the goose a fist was cramped to when the laugh of a blue eyed maiden ran clear through the council hall and each one heard her laughing as each one saw her plain or or mary jane and the spirit of man that is in him to the light of the vision woke and the men drew back from the paper as a yankee spoke by v ic an imperial there s a girl in city who works on the we re going to horses and dig for a house of our own with gas and water connections and steam heat through to the top | 39 |
and w guess i shall work till i drop and an english thundered the weak an the lame be i ve a berth in the sou west a home in the road and till the has footed my bury in bill i work for the an the pull up i ll be damned if i will and over the german benches the bearded whisper ran der girls und der dollars makes or breaks a man if der dollars he der girl but if bust in der we der girl from by v ic an imperial they passed one resolution your sub committee believe you can the curse of adam when you ve lightened the curse of eve but till we are built like angels with hammer and and pen we will work for and a woman for ever and ever amen now this is the tale of the council the german held the day that they the the day that the cat was the day of the from the day of the twisted sands the day that the laugh of a maiden made light of the lords of their hands by v ic now gave up the ghost in his house in square and a spirit came to his bedside and him by the hair a spirit him by the hair and carried him far away till he heard as the roar of a rain fed ford the roar of the way till he heard the roar of the way die down and and cease and they came to the gate within the wall where peter holds the keys stand up stand up now and answer loud and high the good that ye did for the sake of men or ever ye came to die the good that ye did for the sake of men in little earth so lone i i by v ic no and the naked soul of grew white as a rain washed bone o i have a friend on earth he said that was my priest and guide and well would he answer all for me if he were by my side for that ye strove in neighbour love it shall be written fair but now ye wait at heaven s gate and not in square though we called your friend from his bed this night he could not speak for you for the race is run by one and one and never by two and two then looked up and down and little gain was there for the naked stars grinned overhead and he saw that his soul was bare the wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife and took up his tale and spoke of his good in life this i have read in a book he said and that was told to me by v ic and this i have thought that another man thought of a prince in the good souls like and bade him clear the path and peter the keys in weariness and wrath ye have read ye have heard ye have thought he said and the tale is yet to run by the worth of the body that once ye had give answer what ha ye done then looked back and forth and little good it bore for the darkness stayed at his shoulder blade and heaven s gate before oh this i have felt and this i have guessed and this i have heard men say and this they wrote that another man wrote of a in ye have read ye have felt ye have guessed good lack ye have heaven s gate there s little room between the stars in idleness to oh none may reach by hired speech of neighbour priest and kin by v ic through borrowed deed to god s good that lies so fair within get hence get hence to the lord of wrong for doom has yet to run and the faith that ye share with square you the spirit him by the hair and sun by sun they fell till they came to the belt of naughty stars that rim the mouth of hell the first are red with pride and wrath the next are white with pain but the third are black with sin that cannot bum again they may hold their path they may leave their path with never a soul to mark they may bum or but they must not cease in the of the outer dark the wind that blows between the worlds it him to the bone and he to the of hell gate there as the light of his own hearth stone by v ic the devil he sat behind the bars where the desperate drew but he caught the and would not let him through ye the price of good pit coal that i must pay said he that ye rank so fit for hell and ask no leave of me i am all o er to adam s breed that ye should give me scorn for i strove with god for your first father the day that he was born sit down sit down upon the and answer loud and high the harm that ye did to the sons of men or ever you came to die and looked up and up and saw against the night the belly of a tortured star blood red in hell mouth light and looked down and down and saw beneath his feet the of a tortured star milk white in hell mouth heat by v ic oh i had a love on earth said he that kissed me to my fall and if ye would call my love to me i know she would answer all all that ye did in love forbid it shall be written fair but now ye wait at hell mouth gate and not in square though we | 39 |
whistled your love from her bed to night i she would not run for the sin ye do by two and two ye must pay for one by one the wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife and took up the tale and spoke of his sin in life once i ha laughed at the power of love and twice at the grip of the grave and thrice i ha patted my god on the head that men might call me brave the devil he blew on a soul and set it aside to cool do ye think i would waste my good pit coal on the hide of a brain sick fool by v ic i see no worth in the mirth or the jest ye did that i should my gentlemen that are sleeping three on a then looked back and forth and there was little grace for hell gate filled the soul with the fear of naked space nay this i ha heard and this was abroad and this i ha got from a book on the word of a dead french lord ye ha heard ye ha read ye ha got good lack and the tale begins afresh have ye one sin for the pride o the eye or the sinful lust of the flesh then he the bars and let me in for i mind that i borrowed my neighbour s wife to sin the deadly sin the devil he grinned behind the bars and the fires high did ye read of that sin in a book said he and said ay by v ic the devil he blew upon his nails and the little devils ran and he said go this thief that comes in the guise of a man him out star and star and his proper worth there s sore decline in adam s line if this be of earth s crew so naked ne w they may not face the fire but weep that they bin too small to sin to the height of their desire over the coal they chased the soul and it all abroad as children rifle a case or the s foolish and back they came with the tattered thing as children after play and they said the soul that he got from god he has clean away we have a of print and book and a chattering wind and many a soul he stole but his we cannot find by v ic we have handled him we have him we have him to the bone and sure if tooth and nail show truth he has no soul of his own the devil he bowed his head on his breast and deep and low i m all o er to adam s breed that i should bid him go yet close we lie and deep we lie and if i gave him place my gentlemen that are so proud would me to my face they d call my house a common and me a careless host and i would not anger my gentlemen for the sake of a ghost the devil he looked at the soul that prayed to feel the flame and he thought of holy charity but he thought of his own good name now ye could haste my coal to waste and sit ye down to did ye think of that for yourself said he and said ay by v ic the devil he blew an outward breath for his heart was free from care ye have scarce the soul of a he said but the roots of sin are there and for that sin should ye come in were i the lord alone but sinful pride has rule inside and than my own honour and wit fore damned they sit to each his priest and nay scarce i dare myself go there and you they d torture sore ye are neither spirit nor he said ye are neither book nor brute go get ye back to the flesh again for the sake of man s i m all o er to adam s breed that i should mock your pain but look that ye win to sin ere ye come back again get hence the is at your door the grim black wait they bear your clay to place to day speed lest ye come too late by v ic go back to earth with a lip go back with an open eye and carry my word to the sons of men or ever ye come to die that the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one and the god that you took from a printed book be with you by ic by v ic room by v ic to t a i have made for you a song and it may be right or wrong but only you can tell me i true i have tried for to explain both your pleasure and your pain and thomas here s my best respects to you oh there ll surely come a day when ii grant you au your pay and treat you as a christian ought to do so until that day comes round heaven keep you safe and sound and thomas here s my best respects to you r k by v ic what are the for said on parade to turn you out to turn you out the colour said what makes you look so white so white said on parade i m what ive got to watch the colour said for they re you can hear the dead march play the regiment s in square they re him to day they ve taken of his buttons off an cut his away an they re in the by room what makes the rear rank breathe so ard | 39 |
said on parade it s bitter cold it s bitter cold the colour said what makes that front rank man fall down says on parade a touch o sun a touch o sun the colour said they are they are of im round they ave by is coffin on the ground an e u swing in a minute for a hound o they re in the is cot was right and cot to mine said on parade e s out an far to night the colour said i ve drunk is beer a score o times said on parade e s bitter beer alone the colour said by v ic they are you must mark im to is place for e shot a comrade you must look im in the face nine of s county an the regiment s disgrace while they re in the what s that so black the sun said on parade it s ard for life the colour said what s that that over said parade it s s soul that s now the colour said for they re done with you can ear the play the regiment s in column an they re us away ho the young are an they ll want their beer to day after in the k by v ic i went into a public to get a pint o beer the e up an we serve no red coats here the girls behind the bar they laughed an fit to die i into the street again an to myself i o it s this an that an go away but it s thank you when the band begins to play the band begins to play my boys the band begins to play o it s thank you when the band begins to play i went into a theatre as sober as could be they gave a drunk room but t none for me by v ic they sent me to the gallery or round the music but when it comes to fighting lord they ll me in the for it s this an that an wait outside but it s special train for when the s on the tide the s on the tide my boys the s on the tide o it s special train for when the s on the tide yes mock o that guard you while you sleep is cheaper than them an they re starvation cheap an drunken soldiers when they re goin large a bit is five times better business than in full then it s this an that an ow s yer soul but it s thin red line of when the drums begin to roll by v ic room the drums begin to roll my boys the drums begin to roll o it s thin red line of when the drums begin to roll we aren t no thin red nor we aren t no too but single men in most remarkable like you an if sometimes our isn t all your fancy why single men in don t grow into plaster saints while it s this an that an ind but it s please to walk in front sir when there s trouble in the wind there s trouble in the wind my boys there s trouble in the wind o it s please to walk in front sir when there s trouble in the wind you talk o better food for us an schools an fires an all we ll wait for if you treat us rational by ic don t mess about the cook room but prove it to our face the widow s uniform is not the soldier man s disgrace for it s this an that an him out the brute but it s of is country when the guns begin to shoot yes it s this an that an anything you please but ain t a fool you bet that sees by ic force we ve fought with many men the seas an some of em was brave an some was not the an the an but the was the finest o the lot we never got a ha s change of im e in the an our e cut our up at im an e played the cat an with our forces so ere s to you at your ome in the you re a pore but a man we gives you your an if you want it signed we ll come an ave a with you whenever you re inclined by v ic we took our among the ills the knocked us silly at a mile the give us an a us up in style but all we ever got from such as they was pop to what the made us we our own the papers say but man for man the knocked us then ere s to you an the and the kid our orders was to break you an of course we went an did we you with an it wasn t fair but for all the odds you you broke the square e t got no papers of is own e t got no nor rewards so we must the skill e s shown in of is long two swords when e s in an out among the bush with is coffin shield an spear an day with on the rush will last an for a year by v ic room so ere s to you an your friends which are no more if we t lost some we would you to but give an take s the gospel an we ll call the bargain fair for if you ave lost more than us you up the square e rushes at the smoke when we let drive an before we know e s at our e s all ot sand an when alive an e s generally when | 39 |
and tm here in the for a thundering drink and the s eye with a second hand overcoat under my head and a beautiful view of the yard oh it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard mad drunk and resisting the guard but i it them hard so it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard by co by v ic i started o porter i finished o beer but a dose o gin that a mate slipped in it was that brought me here twas that and an double guard that rubbed my nose in the dirt but i fell away with the s stock and the best of the shirt i left my cap in a public house my boots in the public road and lord knows where and i don t care my belt and my they ll stop my pay they ll cut away the i used to wear but i left my mark on the s face and i think he ll keep it there my wife she cries on the gate my kid in the yard it ain t that i mind the ly room it s that that cuts so hard by v ic room i ll take my oath before them both that i will sure but as soon as i m in with a mate and gin i know i ll do it again with a second hand overcoat under my head and a beautiful view of the yard yes it s pack for me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard mad drunk and resisting the guard but i it them hard so it s pack with me and a fortnight s c b for drunk and resisting the guard by v ic din you may talk o gin and beer when you re safe out ere an you re sent to penny fights an it but when it comes to slaughter you will do your work on water an you ll the boots of im that s got it now in s sunny where i used to spend my time a of er majesty the queen of all them crew the finest man i knew was our din he was din din din you lump o brick dust din hi slippery water get it you old idol din the uniform e wore was much before bring water swiftly by v ic room an rather less than o that be ind for a piece o rag an a water bag was all the field e could find when the troop train lay in a through the day where the eat would make your eyebrows crawl we shouted harry by till our throats were dry then we im cause e couldn t serve us all it was din din din you where the mischief ave you been you put some in it or i ll you this minute if you don t fill up my din e would dot an carry one till the longest day was done an e didn t seem to know the use o fear if we charged or broke or cut you could bet your nut e d be fifty paces right flank rear mr equivalent for o brother be quick hit you by v ic din with is on is back e would with our attack an watch us till the made retire an for all is dirty e was white clear white inside when e went to tend the wounded under fire it was din din din with the bullets dust spots on the green when the ran out you could hear the front shout hi an din i sha n t the night when i dropped be ind the fight with a bullet where my belt plate should a been i was mad with thirst an the man that me first was our good old din e lifted up my an he me where i an e me a pint o water green it was and it but of all the drinks i ve drunk i m to one from din water skin by v ic room it was din din din ere s a beggar with a bullet through is e s up the ground an e s all around for s sake the water din e carried me away to where a lay an a bullet come an the beggar clean e put me safe inside an just before e died i you liked your drink din so i ll meet im later on at the place where e is gone where it s always double and no e ll be on the coals drink to poor damned souls an get a in hell from din yes din din din you leather din though i ve you and you by the living that made you you re a better man than i am din by v ic northern india transport train makes the soldier s to makes him to it isn t up to charge nor down to fire but it s on a road for the an is load o the o the o the with is silly neck a like a basket full o we im like an idol an you ought to ear im an when we gets im loaded up is blessed rope breaks makes the rear guard swear so ard when night is in an every native is for is skin oo is pronounced like u in bull but by mr to rhyme with front by v ic room it ain t the o being rushed by from the ills it s the on is o the o the o the hairy a over tent ropes when we ve got the night alarm we im | 39 |
with a pole an im off in front an when we ve saved is life e our arm the e knows above a bit the s but a fool the elephant s a gentleman the battery mule s a mule but the u el when all is said an done e s a devil an a an a orphan child in one o the o the o the forsaken the bird a where e lies by v ic e s blocked the whole division from the rear guard to the front an when we get him up again the beggar goes an dies an an lame an fight e smells most awful vile e ll lose for ever if you let im stray a mile e s game to the day long an owl the night through an when e comes to greasy ground e in two o the o the o the when is long legs give from under an is eye is dim the tribes is up be ind us and the tribes is out in front it ain t no jam for but it s an for im so when the cruel march is done an when the roads is blind an when we sees the camp in front an ears the shots be ind by v ic room ho then we is saddle off and all is woes is past e thinks on us that used im so and gets revenge at last o the o the o the the late lamented in the water cut e lies we keeps a mile behind im an we keeps a mile in front but e gets into the and then o course we dies by v ic if you ve ever stole a egg be ind the keeper s back if you ve ever the from the line if you ve ever crammed a in your you will understand this little song o mine but the service rules are ard and from such we are for the same with english morals does not suit w y they call a man a robber if e is with chorus loo loo i loo loo ow the that s the thing to make the boys up an shoot by v ic room it s the same with dogs an men if you d make em come again clap em forward with a loo loo tear im loo loo if you ve knocked a when e s for your life you must leave im very careful where e fell an may thank your stars an if you didn t feel is knife that you ain t told off to bury im as well then the wonder as they the beggars under why should be entered as a crime so if my song you ll ear i will learn you plain an clear ow to pay yourself for chorus with the etc now remember when you re round a gilded god that is eyes is very often precious stones by v ic an if you treat a to a dose o rod e s like to show you everything e owns when e won t no more pour some water on the floor where you ear it answer to the boot when the ground begins to sink your down the an you re sure to touch the chorus loo loo ow the etc when from to you re you must always work in pairs it the gain but safer you will find for a single man gets on them stairs an a woman comes and im from be ind when you ve turned em inside out an it seems beyond a doubt as if there weren t enough to dust a by ic room before you your at the tops take a look for it s underneath the they the chorus ow the etc you can mostly square a an a too if you only take the proper way to go could never keep my but ive learned you all i knew an don t you never say i told you so an now i ll bid good by for i m rather dry an i see another up to so ere s good luck to those that wears the widow s es an the devil send era all they want o chorus yes the in the an the mess tin an the boot it s the same with dogs an men if you d make em come again era forward with a loo loo sick im loo loo by v ic this in a battle to a ry of the corps which is first among the women an first in war an what the battle was i don t remember now but two s off lead e answered to the name o down in the nobody cares down in the cavalry colonel e but down in the lead with the wheel at the turns the bold to a little whipped they was into action they was needed very sore to learn a little to a native army corps by v ic room they ad against an they was down the brow when a round shot give the knock to they cut loose an left e was almost tore in two but he tried to follow after as a well trained should do e went an the an the driver s brother pull up pull up for is s between is the driver is shoulder for the wheels was goin round an there aren t no stop conductor when a ry s ground e i broke the beggar in an very sad i feels but i couldn t pull up not for you your between your e t spoke the word before a shell a little right the ry an between the sections fell by ic an when the | 39 |
smoke ad cleared away before the wheels there lay the driver s brother with is between is then the driver s brother an is words was very plain for s own sake get over me an put me out o pain they saw is wounds was an they judged that it was best so they took an drove the straight across is back an chest the driver e give a little but e swung is when it came to action front an if one wheel was you may lay your monday head twas for the when the case begun to spread the of this story it is plainly to be seen you t got no families when of the queen m by v ic room you t got no brothers fathers sisters wives or sons if you want to win your battles take an work your guns down in the nobody cares down in the cavalry colonel e but down in the lead with the wheel at the turns the bold to a little whipped dog by v ic the widow at ave you card o the widow at with a hairy gold crown on er she as ships on the foam she as millions at ome an she pays us poor beggars in red ow poor beggars in red there s er nick on the cavalry there s er mark on the medical stores an er you ll find with a fair wind be ind that takes us to various wars poor beggars wars then ere s to the widow at an ere s to the stores an the guns the men an the what makes up the forces o s sons poor beggars s sons by v ic room walk wide o the widow at for o creation she owns we ave bought er the same with the sword an the an we ve it down with our bones poor beggars it s blue with our bones hands off o the sons of the widow hands off o the goods in er shop for the kings must come down an the frown when the widow at says stop poor beggars we re sent to say stop then ere s to the lodge o the widow from the pole to the it runs to the lodge that we tile with the rank an the file an open in form with the guns poor beggars it s always they guns we ave o the widow at it s safest to leave er alone for er we stand by the sea an the land wherever the are blown poor beggars an don t we get blown by v ic the widow at take old o the wings o the an round the earth till you re dead but you won t get away from the tune that they play to the old rag overhead poor beggars i it s ot over then ere s to the sons o the widow wherever ere s all they desire an if they require a speedy return to their ome poor beggars they ll never see ome by ic there was a row in silver street that s near to between an irish regiment an english it started at an it lasted on till dark the first man dropped at s the last the park for it was an that s one for you an it was an that s done for you o an tongue was the song that we sung from s down to the park there was a row in silver street the was out they called us an we answered about by v ic that drew them like a s nest we met them good an large the english at the double an the irish at the charge then it was there was a row in silver street an i was in it too we passed the time o day an then the went i what occurred but the storm a s journal i all my uniform o it was there was a row in silver street they sent the there the english were too drunk to know the irish didn t care but when they grew we rose till half o them was mud an half was es for it was by v ic room there was a row in silver street it might ha raged till now but some one drew his side arm clear an nobody knew how twas took the point an dropped we saw the red blood run an so we all was that started out in fun while it was there was a row in silver street but that put down the shine each man to his next twas never work o mine we went away like beaten dogs an down the street we bore him the poor dumb corpse that couldn t tell the were sorry for him when it was there was a row in silver street it isn t over yet for half of us are under guard to get by ic tis all a to me as in the i lie there was a row in silver street i wonder why but it was an that s one for you an it was an that s done for you o and tongue was the song that we sung from s down to the park by v ic the young british soldier when the made goes out to the east e acts like a babe an e drinks like a beast an e wonders because e is frequent deceased ere e s fit for to serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier so o the queen now all you what s to day you | 39 |
ome we re goin ome our ship is at the shore an you must pack your for we won t come back no more ho don t you grieve for me my lovely mary ann for i ll marry you on a ny bit as a time expired man by v ic the s in with the at er tail an the time expired s of is orders for to sail ho the weary when on ills we lay but the time expired s of is orders ome to day they ll turn us out at wharf in cold an wet an rain all cotton but we will not complain they ll kill us of for that s their little way but damn the and fever men we re goin ome to day winter s round again see the new s in for the old campaign ho you poor but you ve got to earn your what s the last from lads we re goin there to day give another cheer ere s to english women an a of english beer by v ic im room the colonel an the regiment an all who ve got to stay s mercy strike em gentle we re goin ome to day we re goin ome we re goin ome our ship is at the shore an you must pack your for we won t come back no more ho don t you grieve for me my lovely mary ann for i ll marry you on a ny bit as a time expired man by ic the widow s party where have you been this while away out with the rest on a lay my i they called us out of the yard to knows where from hard and you can t refuse when you get the card and the widow gives the party ta ra ra what did you get to eat and drink standing water as thick as ink my a bit o beef that were three year stored a bit o mutton as tough as a board and a fowl we killed with a s sword when the widow give the party by co by v ic room what did you do for knives and forks we carries em with us wherever we walks my and some was and some was and some was and some was carved and some was and some was starved when the widow give the party what ha you done with half your mess they couldn t do more and they wouldn t do less my they ate their and they drank their fill and i think the has made them ill for half my ny s lying still where the widow give the party how did you get away away on the broad o my back at the end o the day my by v ic the widow s party i away like a for i got four to carry me off as i lay in the of a canvas when the widow give the party what was the end of all the show ask my colonel for i don t know my we broke a king and we built a road a court house stands where the ment and the river s clean where the raw blood flowed when the widow give the party ta ra ra by v ic ford o river town s by river blow the draw the sword there i my mate for ever wet an by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark there s the river up and an there s a cross the ford o river in the dark town s a place blow the draw the sword i shan t forget is face wet an by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark keep the crossing beside you an they will surely guide you cross the ford of river in the dark by v ic ford o river town is sun and dust blow the draw the sword i d ha sooner stead of im beside the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark you can ear the you can ear the men a cross the ford o river in the dark town was ours to take blow the draw the sword i d ha left it for is im that left me by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark it s none so dry there ain t you never nigh there cross the ford o river in the dark town go to hell blow the draw the sword fore i see him live an well im the best beside the ford by v ic room ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark em if they blunder for their boots u pull em under by the ford o river in the dark turn your from town blow the draw the sword im an my troop is down down an by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark there s the river low an but it ain t no use o cross the ford o river in the dark by v ic gentlemen to the of the lost ones to the of the damned to my brethren in their sorrow sings a gentleman of england bred crammed and a of the if you please yea a of the forces who has run his own six horses and faith he went the pace and went it blind and the world was more than kin while he held the ready tin but to day the s something less than kind we re poor little who ve lost our way we re | 39 |
little black sheep who ve gone astray aa aa gentlemen out on the damned from here to eternity god ha mercy on such as we by co by v ic room oh it s sweet to sweat through stables sweet to empty kitchen and it s sweet to hear the tales the tell to dance with at the and the who says you too well yes it makes you cock a to be rider to your troop and with a spur when you envy oh how keenly one poor being who your boots and sometimes call you sir if the home we never write to and the oaths we never keep and all we know most distant and most dear across the room return to break our sleep can you blame us if we ourselves in beer when the drunken comrade and the great guard lantern and the horror of our fall is written plain every secret self revealing on the aching ceiling do you wonder that we ourselves from pain by v ic gentlemen we have done with hope and honour we are lost to love and truth we are dropping down the ladder rung by rung and the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth god help us for we knew the worst too young our shame is clean repentance for the crime that brought the sentence our pride it is to know no spur of pride and the curse of holds us till an alien turf us and we die and none can tell them where we died we re poor little who ve lost our way we re little black sheep who ve gone astray aa aa gentlemen out on the damned from here to eternity god ha mercy on such as we by v ic route we re on relief over s sunny plains a little front o christmas time an just be ind the rains ho get away you man you ve the there s a regiment a down the grand trunk road with its best foot first and the road a sliding past an every ground exactly like the last while the big drum says with is don t you oh there s them temples to admire when you see there s the round the comer an the monkey up the tree by ic route an there s that silver grass a in the wind an the old grand trunk a like a rifle be ind while it s best foot first etc at half past five s an our tents they down must come like a lot of button when you pick em up at ome but it s over in a minute an at six the column starts while the women and the sit an shiver in the carts and it s best foot first etc oh then it s open order an we lights our pipes an sings an we talks about our an a lot of other things and we thinks o friends in england an we wonders what they re at an ow they would admire for to hear us the bat an it s best foot first etc thomas s first and conviction is that he is a profound and a speaker of as a matter of fact he depends largely on the sign language by v ic room it s none so bad o sunday when you re at your ease to watch the a round them feather trees for although there ain t no women yet there ain t no yards so the goes an the men they plays at cards till it s best foot first etc so ark an you which is always sore there s things than from to and if your are an they feels to like ell you drop some in your an that will make em well for it s best foot first etc we re on relief over s coral strand eight englishmen the colonel and the band by v ic route ho get away you man you ve card the there s a regiment a down the grand trunk road with its best foot first and the road a sliding past an every ground exactly like the last while the big drum says with is dow why don t you get on by v ic a day my name is o i ve heard the from to from to and and and fifty five more all in pore black death and his quickness the depth and the thickness of sorrow and sickness i ve known on my way but i m old and i m i m cast from the service and all i deserve is a a day chorus a day good pay lucky to touch it a a day oh it drives me half crazy to think of the days i went slap for the my sword at my side by co by v ic a day when we rode hell for leather both together that didn t care whether we lived or we died but it s no use my wife must go an me the pay bills to better so if me you be old in the wet and the cold by the grand won t you give me a letter full chorus give im a can t do no better late troop major an runs with a letter think what e s been think what e s seen think of his an save the queen by v ic a day mt s b ham to aod ad m pore dock aad i the depth and the of aad i i f e on my way i m old vm i b and an i is a a a r v oh it drives went slap f an m sc if t l ire grey ig beam sea r dear on | 39 |
the old trail our ae long trail the trail by v ic l there s a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield and the stand grey to the sun singing over then come over for the bee has quit the and your english summer s done you have heard the beat of the off shore wind and the of the deep sea rain you have heard the song how long how long pull out on the trail again ha done with the tents of dear we ve seen the seasons through and it s time to turn on the old trail our own trail the out trail pull out pull out on the long trail the trail that is always new by co by v ic it s north you may run to the sun or south to the blind horn s hate or east all the way into bay or west to the golden gate where the hold good dear and the wildest tales are true and the men bulk big on the old trail our own trail the out trail and life runs large on the long trail the trail that is always new the days are sick and cold and the skies are grey and old and the twice breathed airs blow damp and i d sell my tired soul for the beam sea roll of a black tramp with her load line over her dear and a drunken crew and her nose held down on the old trail our own trail the out trail from bar on the long trail the trail that is always new by v ic l there be triple ways to take of the eagle or the snake or the way of a man with a maid but the sweetest way to me is a ship s upon the s a in the heel of the north east trade can you hear the crash on her bows dear and the drum of the racing screw as she ships it green on the old trail our own trail the out trail as she lifts and on the long trail the trail that is always new see the shaking roar with the peter at the fore and the grind and heave and the and grate as the tackle hooks the and the fall rope through the it s gang plank up and in dear it s her through and it s all clear aft on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re down on the long trail the trail that is always new by v ic l oh the when the port fog holds us tied and the their dread when foot by foot we creep o er the deep to the sob of the lead it s down by the lower hope dear with the sands in view till the mouse green on the old trail our own trail the out trail and the light lifts on the long the trail that is always new oh the blazing night when the wake s a of light that holds the hot sky tame and the steady fore foot through the floors where the scared whale in flame her plates are by the sun dear her ropes are with the dew for we re down on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re south on the long trail the trail that is always new by v ic l then home get her home where the drunken comb and the shouting seas drive by and the engines stamp and ring and the wet bows and swing and the southern cross rides high yes the old lost stars wheel back dear that blaze in the velvet blue they re all old friends on the old trail our own trail the out trail they re god s own guides on the long trail the trail that is always new fly forward o my heart from the to the we re steaming all too slow and it s twenty thousand miles to our little lazy isle where the trumpet blow you have heard the call of the off shore wind and the voice of the deep sea rain you have heard the song how long how long pull out on the trail again by ic l the lord knows what we may find dear and the deuce knows what we may do but we re back once more on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re down down on the long trail the trail that is always new by v ic by v ic plain tales from the hills n w i i ion the author s gift is it is the of knowing a dramatic bit of life when he sees it and the faith that what has interested him will interest others also critic the light that failed cloth if he had written only his short stories he would have had the satisfaction of knowing that he had permanently enriched our literature but we were from the first of those who believed that it was in him to produce more imposing if not more enduring work the light that failed is an whole a book with a and stands out boldly among the things that enjoy an expensive but existence in the the life s stories of mine own people cloth mo no volume of his yet published gives a better illustration of his genius and of the weird charm which has given his stories such deserved popularity boston daily traveller some of mr s best work is in this volume mr is a literary artist of the first rank and everything in the way of short stories he has written thus far has proved itself to be well worth | 39 |
anything without a reason every beast to eat man except when he is killing to show his children how to kill and then he must hunt outside the hunting grounds of his pack or tribe the real reason for this is that man killing means sooner or later the arrival of white men on with guns and hundreds of brown men with and and then everybody in the suffers the reason the beasts give among themselves is that man is the and most of all living things and it is to touch him they say too and it is true that man become and lose their teeth the grew louder and ended in the full of the charge then there was a howl an howl from he has said mother wolf what is it father wolf ran out a few paces and heard the book muttering and savagely as he tumbled about in the the fool has had no more sense than to jump at a wood camp fire so he has burned his feet said father wolf with a is with him something is coming said mother wolf one ear get ready i the bushes a little in the thicket and father wolf dropped with his under him ready for his leap then if you had been watching you would have seen the most wonderful thing in the world the wolf checked in he made his bound before he saw what it was he was jumping at and then he tried to stop himself the result was that he shot up straight into the air for four or five feet landing almost where he left ground man he snapped a man s look directly in front of him holding on by a low branch stood a naked brown baby who could just walk as soft and as a little thing as ever came to a wolf s cave at night he looked up into father wolf s face and laughed is that a man s said mother wolf i have never seen one bring it here a wolf accustomed to moving his own brothers can if necessary mouth an egg without breaking it and though father wolf s jaws closed right on the back not a tooth even scratched the skin as he laid it down among the how little how naked and how bold said mother wolf softly the baby was pushing his way between the to get close to the warm hide he is taking his meal with the others and so this is a man s now was there ever a wolf that could boast of a man s among her children i have heard now and again of such a thing but never in our pack or in my time said father wolf he is altogether without hair and i could kill him with a touch of my foot but see he looks up and is not afraid the moonlight was blocked out of the mouth of the cave for s great square head and shoulders were thrust into the entrance behind him was my lord my lord it went in here does us great honor said father wolf but his eyes were very angry what does need my a man s went this way said its parents have run off give it to me lo the book had jumped at a wood s camp fire as father wolf had said and was furious from the pain of his burned feet but father wolf knew that the mouth of the cave was too narrow for a tiger to come in by even where he was s shoulders and fore were cramped for want of room as a man s would be if he tried to fight in a barrel the wolves are a free people said father wolf they take orders from the head of the pack and not from any striped cattle the man s is ours to kill if we choose ye choose and ye do not choose what talk is this of choosing by the bull that i killed am i to stand into your dog s den for my fair it is i who speak the tiger s roar filled the cave with thunder mother wolf shook herself clear of the and sprang forward her eyes like two green in the darkness facing the blazing eyes of and it is i the demon who answer the man s is mine mine to me he shall not be killed he shall live to run with the pack and to hunt with the pack and in the end look you hunter of little naked fish he shall hunt s brothers thee now get hence or by the that i killed eat no starved back thou to thy mother burned beast of the than ever thou into the world go father wolf looked on amazed he had almost forgotten the days when he won mother wolf in fair fight from five other wolves when she ran in the pack and was not called the demon for compliment s sake might have faced father wolf but he could not stand up against mother wolf for he knew that where he was she had all the advantage of the ground and would fight to the death so he backed out of the cave mouth growling and when he was clear he shouted each dog in his own yard we will see what the pack will say to this of man the is mine and to my teeth he will come in the end o bush thieves mother wolf threw herself down panting among the and father wolf said to her gravely speaks this much truth the must be shown to the pack wilt thou still keep him mother keep him she gasped he came naked by night alone and very hungry yet he was the | 39 |
book not afraid look he has pushed one of my to one side already and that lame butcher would have killed him and would have run off to the while the villagers here hunted through all our in revenge keep him assuredly i will keep him lie still little o thou for the i will call thee the time will come when thou wilt hunt as he has hunted thee but what will our pack say said father wolf the law of the lays down very clearly that any wolf may when he withdraw from the pack he belongs to but as soon as his are old enough to stand on their feet he must bring them to the pack council which is generally held once a month at full moon in order that the other wolves may identify them after that inspection the are free to run where they please and until they have killed their first buck no excuse is accepted if a grown wolf of the pack one of them the punishment is death where the murderer can be found and if you think for a minute you will see that this must be so father wolf waited till his could run a little and then on the night of the pack meeting s brothers took them and and mother wolf to the council rock a covered with stones and where a hundred wolves could hide the great gray lone wolf who led all the pack by strength and cunning lay out at full length on his rock and below him sat forty or more wolves of every size and color from who could handle a buck alone to young black three year who thought they could the lone wolf had led them for a year now he had fallen twice into a wolf trap in his youth and once he had been beaten and left for dead so he knew the manners and customs of men there was very little talking at the rock the tumbled over one another in the of the circle where their mothers and fathers sat and now and again a senior wolf would go quietly up to a look at him carefully and return to his place on noiseless feet sometimes a mother would push her far out into the moonlight to be sure that he had not been overlooked from his rock would cry ye know the law ye know the law look well o wolves and the anxious mothers would take up the call look look well o wolves at last and mother wolf s neck lifted as the time came father wolf pushed i the book the as they called him into the where he sat laughing and playing with some pebbles that in the moonlight never raised his head from his but went on with the monotonous cry look well a muffled roar came up from behind the rocks the voice of crying the is mine give him to me what have the free people to do with a man s never even his ears all he said was look well o wolves what have the free people to do with the orders of any save the free people look well there was a chorus of deep and a young wolf in his fourth year flung back s question to what have the free people to do with a man s now the law of the lays down that if there is any dispute as to the right of a to be accepted by the pack he must be spoken for by at least two members of the pack who are not his father and mother who speaks for this said among the free people who speaks there was no answer and mother wolf got ready for what she knew would be her last fight if things came to fighting t r v j r mc w m ii j ii l j brothers then the only other creature who is allowed at the pack council the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf the law of the old who can come and go where he pleases because he eats only nuts and roots and honey rose up on his hind quarters and the man s the man s he said speak for the man s there is no harm in a man s i have no gift of words but i speak the truth let him run with the pack and be entered with the others i myself will teach him we need yet another said has spoken and he is our teacher for the young who speaks besides a black shadow dropped down into the circle it was the black black all over but with the showing up in certain lights like the pattern of watered silk everybody knew and nobody cared to cross his path for he was as cunning as as bold as the wild and as reckless as the wounded elephant but he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree and a skin softer than down o and ye the free people he i have no right in your assembly but the book the law of the says that if there is a doubt which is not a matter in regard to a new the life of that may be bought at a price and the law does not say who may or may not pay that price am i right good good said the young wolves who are always hungry listen to the can be bought for a price it is the law knowing that i have no right to speak here i ask your leave speak then cried twenty voices to kill a naked is shame besides he may make better sport for you when he is grown has | 39 |
spoken in his behalf now to s word i will add one bull and a fat one newly killed not half a mile from here if ye will accept the man s according to the law is it difficult there was a of scores of voices saying what matter he will die in the winter rains he will in the sun what harm can a naked do us let him run with the pack where is the bull let him be accepted and then came s deep bay crying look well look well o wolves was still playing with the pebbles and he did not notice when the wolves came and brothers ai looked at him one by one at last they all went down the hill for the dead bull and only and s own wolves were left roared still in the night for he was very angry that had not been handed over to him ay roar well said under his whiskers for the time comes when this naked thing will make thee roar to another tune or i know nothing of man it was well done said men and their are very wise he may be a help in time truly a help in time of need for none can hope to lead the pack forever said said nothing he was thinking of the time that comes to every leader of every pack when his strength goes from him and he gets and till at last he is killed by the wolves and a new leader comes up to be killed in his turn take him away he said to father wolf and train him as one of the free people and that is how was entered into the wolf pack for the price of a bull and on s good word the book now you mast be content to ten or eleven whole years and only guess at all the wonderful life that led among the wolves because if it were written out it would fill ever so many books he grew up with the though they of course were grown wolves almost before he was a child and father wolf taught him his business and the meaning of things in the till every rustle in the grass every breath of the warm night air every note of the above his head every scratch of a bat s claws as it for a while in a tree and every splash of every little fish jumping in a pool meant just as much to him as the work of his office means to a business man when he was not learning he sat out in the sun and slept and ate and went to sleep again when he felt dirty or hot he swam in the forest pools and when he wanted honey told him that honey and nuts were just as pleasant to eat as raw meat he climbed up for it and that showed him how to do would lie out on a branch and call come along little brother and at first would cling like the but afterward he would fling himself through the branches almost as boldly as the gray he took his brothers place at the council rock too when the pack met and there he discovered that if he stared hard at any wolf the wolf would be forced to drop his eyes and so he used to stare for fun at other times he would pick the long thorns out of the of his friends for wolves suffer terribly from thorns and in their coats he would go down the into the cultivated lands by night and look very curiously at the villagers in their huts but he had a of men because showed him a square box with a drop gate so hidden in the that he nearly walked into it and told him it was a trap u he loved better than anything else to go with into the dark warm heart of the forest to sleep all through the drowsy day and at night see how did his killing killed right and left as he felt hungry and so did with one exception as soon as he was old enough to understand things told him that he must never touch cattle because he had been bought into the pack at the price of a bull s life all the is thine said and thou kill everything that thou art strong enough to kill but for the sake of the bull that bought thee thou must never kill or eat the book any cattle young or old that is the law of the obeyed faithfully and he grew and grew strong as a boy must grow who does not know that he is learning any lessons and who has nothing in the world to think of except things to eat mother wolf told him once or twice that was not a creature to be trusted and that some day he must kill but though a young wolf would have remembered that advice every hour forgot it because he was only a boy though he would have called himself a wolf if he had been able t speak in any human tongue was always crossing his path in the for as grew older and the lame tiger had come to be great friends with the younger wolves of the pack who followed him for scraps a thing would never have allowed if he had dared to push his authority to the proper bounds then would flatter them and wonder that such fine young hunters were content to be led by a dying wolf and a man s they tell me would say that at council ye dare not look him between the eyes and the young wolves would growl and s brothers t who had eyes and ears where knew something of this and once | 39 |
or twice he told in so many words that would kill him some day and would laugh and answer i have the pack and i have thee and though he is so lazy might strike a blow or two for my sake why should i be afraid it was one very warm day that a new notion came to born of something that he had heard perhaps the had told him but he said to when they were deep in the as the boy lay with his head on s beautiful black skin little brother how often have i told thee that is thy enemy as many times as there are nuts on that palm said who naturally could not count what of it i am sleepy and is all long tail and loud talk like the but this is no time for sleeping knows it i know it the pack know it and even the foolish foolish deer know has told thee too ho ho said came to me not long ago with some rude talk that i was the book a naked man s and not fit to dig pig nuts but i caught by the tail and swung him twice against a palm tree to teach him better manners that was foolishness for though is a mischief maker he would have told thee of something that concerned thee closely open those eyes little brother dares not kill thee in the for fear of those that love thee but remember is very old and soon the day comes when he cannot kill his buck and then he will be leader no more many of the wolves that looked thee over when thou brought to the council first are old too and the young wolves believe as has taught them that a man has no place with the pack in a little time thou wilt be a man and what is a man that he should not run with his brothers said i was born in the i have obeyed the law of the and there is no wolf of ours from whose i have not pulled a thorn surely they are my brothers stretched himself at full length and half shut his eyes little brother said he feel under my jaw put up his strong brown hand and just under s chin where the giant brothers rolling muscles were all hid by the glossy hair he came upon a little bald spot there is no one in the that knows that i carry that mark the mark of the collar and yet brother i was born among men and it was among men that my mother died in the of the king s palace at it was be of this that i paid the price for thee at the council when thou a little naked yes i too was born among men i had never seen the they fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night i felt that i was the and no man s and i broke the silly lock with one blow of my and came away and because i had learned the ways of men i became more terrible in the than is it not so yes said all the fear all except oh thou art a man s said the black very tenderly and even as i returned to my so thou must go back to men at last to the men who are thy brothers if thou art not killed in the council but why but why should any wish to kill me said the book look at me said and looked at him steadily between the eyes the big turned his head away in half a minute that is why he said shifting his on the leaves not even i can look thee between the eyes and i was born among men and i love thee little brother the others they hate thee because their eyes cannot meet thine because thou art wise because thou hast pulled out thorns from their feet because thou art a man i did not know these things said sullenly and he frowned under his heavy black eyebrows what is the law of the strike first and then give tongue by thy very carelessness they know that thou art a man but be wise it is in my heart that when his next kill and at each hunt it costs him more to pin the buck the pack will turn against him and against thee they will hold a council at the rock and then and then i have it said leaping up go thou down quickly to the men s huts in the valley and take some of the red flower which they grow there so that when the time comes thou have even a s brothers stronger friend than i or or those of the pack that love thee get the red flower by red flower meant fire only no creature in the will call fire by its proper name every beast lives in deadly fear of it and a hundred ways of describing it the red flower said that grows outside their huts in the twilight i will get some there speaks the man s said proudly remember that it grows in little pots get one swiftly and keep it by thee for time of need good said i go but art thou sure o my he slipped his arm round the splendid neck and looked deep into the big eyes art thou sure that all this is doing by the broken lock that freed me i am sure little brother then by the bull that bought me i will pay full tale for this and it may be a little over said and he bounded away that is a man that is all a man | 39 |
left round the circle and the wolves ran howling with the sparks burning their fur at last there were only and perhaps ten wolves that had taken s part then something began to hurt inside him as he had never been hurt in his life before and he caught his breath and sobbed and the tears ran down his face what is it what is it he said i do not wish to leave the and i do not know what this is am i dying no little brother those are only tears such as men use said now i know thou art a man and a man s no longer the is shut indeed to thee let them fall they are only tears so sat and cried as though his heart would break and he had never cried in all his life before now he said i will go to men but first i must say farewell to my mother and he went to the cave where she lived with father wolf and he cried on her coat while the four howled miserably ye will not forget me said the book never while we can follow a trail said the come to the foot of the hill when thou art a man and we will talk to thee and we will come into the crop lands to play with thee by night come soon said father wolf oh wise little come again soon for we be old thy mother and i soon said mother wolf little naked son of mine for listen child of man i loved thee more than ever i loved my i will surely come said and when i come it will be to lay out s hide upon the council rock do not forget me tell them in the never to forget me the dawn was beginning to break when went down the alone to the crops to meet those mysterious things that are called men hunting song of the pack as the dawn was breaking the once twice and again and a leaped up and a leaped up from the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup this i alone beheld once twice and again i s brothers as the dawn was breaking the once twice and again and a wolf stole back and a wolf stole back to the word to the waiting pack and we sought and we found and we on his track once twice and again as the dawn was breaking the wolf pack once twice and again feet in the that leave no mark eyes that can see in the dark the dark tongue give tongue to it hark o hark once twice and again a s hunting s hunting his spots are the joy of the his horns are the s pride be clean for the strength of the hunter is known by the of his hide if ye find that the can toss you or the heavy can ye need not stop work to inform us we knew it ten seasons before not the of the stranger but hail them as sister and brother for though they are little and it may be the bear is their mother there is none like to me says the in the pride of his earliest kill but the is large and the he is small let him think and be still of all that is told here happened some i before m ti i before was turned out of the wolf pack it was in the days when was teaching him the law of the the big serious old brown bear was delighted to have so quick a pupil for the young wolves will learn as much of the law of the as to their own pack and tribe and run away as soon as they can repeat the hunting verse feet that make no noise eyes that can see in the dark ears that can hear the winds in their and sharp white teeth all these things are time h the book the marks of our brothers except and the whom we hate but as a man had to learn a great deal more than this sometimes the black would come lounging through the to see how his pet was getting on and would with his head against a tree while the day s lesson to the boy could climb almost as well as he could swim and swim almost as well as he could run so the teacher of the law taught him the wood and water laws how to tell a rotten branch from a sound one how to speak politely to the wild bees when he came upon a hive of them fifty feet what to say to the bat when he disturbed him in the branches at midday and how to warn the water in the pools before he down among them none of the people like being disturbed and all are very ready to fly at an intruder then too was taught the strangers hunting call which must be repeated aloud till it is answered whenever one of the people outside his own grounds it means translated give me leave to hunt here because i am hungry and the answer is hunt then for food but not for pleasure s hunting all this will show you how much had to by heart and he grew very tired of repeating the same thing a hundred times but as said to one day when had been a temper and he must learn rt the law of the but think how small he is said the black who would have spoiled if he had had his own way how can his little head carry all thy long talk is there anything in the too little to be killed no that is why i teach him these things and that | 39 |
is why i hit him very softly when he forgets softly what dost thou know of softness old iron feet his face is all bruised to day by thy softness h better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance answered very earnestly i am now teaching him the master words of the that shall protect him with the birds and the snake people and all that hunt on four feet except his own pack he can now claim protection if he will only remember the words from all in the is not that worth a little beating the book well look to it then that thou dost not kill the man he is no tree trunk to thy blunt claws upon but what are those master words i am more likely to give help than to ask it stretched out one and admired the steel blue at the end of it still i should like to know i will call and he shall say them if he will come little brother my head is ringing like a bee tree said a sullen voice over their heads and slid down a tree trunk very angry and indignant adding as he reached the ground i come for and not for fat old that is all one to me said though he was hurt and grieved tell then the master words of the that i have taught thee this day master words for which people said delighted to show off the has many tongues know them all a little thou but not much see o they never thank their teacher not one small has come back to thank old for his say the word for the hunting people then great scholar we be of one blood ye and i said s hunting giving the words the bear accent which all the hunting people of the use good now for the birds repeated with the s whistle at the end of the sentence now for the snake people said the answer was a perfectly indescribable hiss and kicked up his feet behind clapped his hands together to himself and jumped on s back where he sat sideways with his heels on the glossy skin and making the wo st faces that he could think of at there there i that was worth a little said the brown bear tenderly some day thou wilt remember me then he turned aside to tell how he had begged the master words from the wild elephant who knows all about these things and how had taken down to a pool to get the snake word from a water snake because could not pronounce it and how was now reasonably safe against all accidents in the because neither snake bird nor beast would hurt him no one then is to be feared wound up patting his big stomach with pride the book except his own tribe said ba under his breath and then aloud to have a care for my ribs little brother what is all this dancing up and down had been trying to make himself heard by pulling at s shoulder fur and kicking hard when the two listened to him he was shouting at the top of his voice and so i shall have a tribe of my own and lead them through the branches all day long what is this new folly little of dreams said yes and throw branches and dirt at old went on they have promised me this ah s big off s back and as the boy lay between the big fore he could see the bear was angry said thou hast been talking with the log the monkey people looked at to see if the was angry too and s eyes were as hard as stones thou hast been with the monkey people the gray the people without a law the of everything that is great shame s hunting when hurt my head said he was still down on his back i went away and the gray came down from the trees and had pity on me no one else cared he a little the pity of the monkey people the stillness of the mountain stream the cool of the summer sun and then man and then and then they gave me nuts and pleasant things to eat and they they carried me in their arms up to the top of the trees and said i was their blood brother except that i had no tail and should be their leader some day they have no leader said they lie they have always lied they were very kind and bade me come again why have i never been taken among the monkey people they stand on their feet as i do they do not hit me with hard they play all day let me get up bad let me up i will go play with them again listen man said the bear and his voice like thunder on a hot night i have taught thee all the law of the for all the of the except the monkey folk who live in the trees they have no law they the book are they have no speech of their own but use the stolen words which they when they and peep and wait up above in the branches their way is not our way they are without leaders they have no remembrance they boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the but the falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten we of the have no dealings with them we do not drink where the drink we do not go where the go we do not hunt | 39 |
where they hunt we do not die where they die hast thou ever heard me speak of the log till to day no said in a whisper for the forest was very still now that had finished the people put them out of their mouths and out of their minds they are very many evil dirty and they desire if they have any fixed desire to be noticed by the people but we do not notice them even when they throw nuts and on our heads he had hardly spoken when a shower of nuts and twigs down through the branches and they could hear and and angry high up in the air among the thin branches s hunting the monkey people are forbidden said forbidden to the people remember forbidden said but i still think should have warned thee against them i i how was i to guess he would play with such dirt the monkey people a fresh shower came down on their heads and the two trotted away taking with them what had said about the was perfectly true they belonged to the tree tops and as beasts very seldom look up there was no occasion for the and the people to cross one another s path but whenever they found a sick wolf or a wounded tiger or bear the would torment him and would throw sticks and nuts at any beast for fun and in the hope of being noticed then they would howl and shriek senseless songs and invite the people to climb up their trees and fight them or would start furious battles over nothing among themselves and leave the dead where the people could see them they were always just going to have a leader and laws and customs of their own but they never did because their memories would not hold over from day to day and so they settled things by making up a saying what the log think the book now the will think later and that comforted them a great deal none of the beasts could reach them but on the other hand none of the beasts would notice them and that was why they were so pleased when came to play with them and when they heard how angry was they never meant to do any more the log never mean anything at all but one of them invented what seemed to him a brilliant idea and he told all the others that would be a useful person to keep in the tribe because he could sticks together for protection from the wind so if they caught him they could make him teach them of course as a wood s child inherited all sorts of instincts and used to make little play huts of fallen branches without thinking how he came to do it the monkey people watching in the trees considered these huts most wonderful this time they said they were really going to have a leader and become the wisest people in the so wise that every one else would notice and envy them therefore they followed and and through the very quietly till it was time for the midday nap and who was very much ashamed of himself s hunting slept between the and the bear to have no more to do with the monkey people the next thing he remembered was feeling hands on his legs and arms hard strong little hands and then a of branches in his face and then he was staring down through the swaying boughs as woke the with his deep cries and bounded up the trunk with every tooth the log howled with triumph and away to the upper branches where dared not follow shouting he has noticed us has noticed us all the people admire us for our skill and our cunning then they began their flight and the flight of the monkey people through tree land is one of the things nobody can describe they have their regular roads and cross roads and all laid out from fifty to seventy or a hundred feet and by these they can travel even at night if necessary two of the strongest caught under the arms and swung off with him through the tree tops twenty feet at a bound had they been alone they could have gone twice as fast but the boy s weight held them back sick the book and giddy as was he could not help enjoying the wild rush though the glimpses of earth far down below frightened him and the terrible check and jerk at the end of the swing over nothing but empty air brought his heart between his teeth his escort would rush him up a tree till he felt the weak branches and bend under them and then with a cough and a would fling themselves into the air outward and downward and bring up hanging by their hands or their feet to the lower limbs of the next tree sometimes he could see for and miles over the still green as a man on the top of a mast can see for miles across the sea and then the branches and leaves would lash him across the face and he and his two guards would be almost down to earth again so bounding and crashing and and yelling the whole tribe of log swept along the tree roads with their prisoner for a time he was afraid of being dropped then he grew angry but he knew better than to struggle and then he began to think the first thing was to send back word to and for at the pace the were going he knew his friends would be left far behind it s hunting was useless to look down for he could see only the top sides of the branches so he stared upward and saw far away in the | 39 |
blue the and as he kept watch over the waiting for things to die noticed that the were something and dropped a few hundred yards to find out whether their load was good to eat he whistled with surprise when he saw being dragged up to a tree top and heard him give the call for we be of one blood thou and i the waves of the branches closed over the boy but balanced away to the next tree in time to see the little brown face come up again mark my trail shouted tell of the pack and of the council rock in whose name brother had never seen before though of course he had heard of him the man they call me mark my il the last words were shrieked as he was being swung through the air but nodded and rose up till he looked no bigger than a speck of dust and there he hung watching with his eyes the swaying of the tree tops as s escort whirled along o the book they never go far he said with a chuckle they never do what they set out to do always at new things are the log this time if i have any they have down trouble for themselves for is no and can as i know kill more than then he rocked on his wings his feet gathered up under him and waited meanwhile and were furious with rage and grief climbed as he had never climbed before but the branches broke beneath his weight and he slipped down his claws full of bark why thou not warn the man he roared to poor who had set off at a clumsy trot in the hope of the what was the use of half him with blows if thou not warn him haste o haste we we may catch them yet panted at that speed it would not tire a wounded cow teacher of the law a mile of that rolling to and fro would burst thee open sit still and think make a plan this is no time for chasing they may drop him if we follow too close s hunting they may have dropped him already being tired of carrying him who can trust the log put dead on my head give me black bones to eat roll me into the of the wild bees that i may be stung to death and bury me with the for i am the most miserable of bears why did i not warn thee against the monkey folk instead of breaking thy head now perhaps i may have knocked the day s lesson out of his mind and he will be alone in the without the master words clasped his over his ears and rolled to and fro moaning at least he gave me all the words correctly a little time ago said impatiently thou hast neither memory nor respect what would the think if i the black curled myself up like the and howled what do i care what the thinks he may be dead by now unless and until they drop him from the branches in sport or kill him out of idleness i have no fear for the man he is wise and well taught and above all he has the eyes that make the people afraid but and it is a the book great evil he is in the power of the log and they because they live in trees have no fear of any of our people licked his one fore thoughtfully fool that i am oh fat brown root digging fool that i am said with a jerk it is true what the wild elephant says to each his own fear and they the log fear the rock snake he can climb as well as they can he the young in the night the mere whisper of his name makes their wicked tails cold let us go to what will he do for us he is not of our tribe being and with most evil eyes said he is very old and very cunning above all he is always hungry said promise him many he sleeps for a full month after he has once eaten he may be asleep now and even were he awake what if he would rather kill his own who did not know much about was naturally suspicious then in that case thou and i together old hunter may make him see reason here rubbed his faded brown shoulder against the s hunting and they went off to look for the rock they found him stretched out on a warm ledge in the afternoon sun admiring his beautiful new coat for he had been in retirement for the last ten days changing his skin and now he was very splendid darting his big blunt head along the ground and twisting the thirty feet of his body into fantastic knots and curves and his lips as he thought of his dinner to come he has not eaten said with a of relief as soon as he saw the beautifully brown and yellow jacket be careful he is always a little blind after he has changed his skin and very quick to strike was not a poison snake in fact he rather despised the poison for but his strength lay in his and when he had once his huge round anybody there was no more to be said good hunting cried sitting up on his like all of his breed was rather deaf and did not hear the call at first then he curled up ready for any accident his head lowered good hunting for us all he answered what dost thou do here good hunting one of us at least needs the book food is there any news of game a now or even a young buck i am as empty | 39 |
as a dried well we are hunting said carelessly he knew that you must not hurry he is too big give me permission to come with you said a blow more or less is nothing to thee or but i i have to wait and wait for days in a wood path and climb half a night on the mere chance of a young the branches are not what they were when i was young rotten twigs and dry boughs are they all maybe thy great weight has something to do with the matter said i am a fair length a fair length said with a little pride but for all that it is the fault of this new grown timber i came very near to falling on my last hunt very near indeed and the noise of my slipping for my tail was not tight wrapped round the tree the and they called me most evil names yellow said under his whiskers as though he were trying to remember something have they ever called me said s hunting something of that kind it was that they shouted to us last moon but we never noticed them they will say anything even that thou hast lost all thy teeth and dare not face anything bigger than a kid because they are indeed these log because thou art afraid of the he horns went on sweetly now a snake especially a wary old like very seldom shows that he is angry but and could see the big muscles on either side of s throat ripple and the log have shifted their grounds he said quietly when i came up into the sun today i heard them among the tree tops it it is the log that we follow now said but the words stuck in his throat for this was the first time in his memory that one of the people had owned to being interested in the doings of the beyond doubt then it is no small thing that takes two such hunters leaders in their own i am certain on the trail of the replied courteously as he swelled with curiosity indeed began i am no more than the old and sometimes very foolish teacher of the book the law to the wolf and is said the black and his jaws shut with a snap for he did not believe in being humble the trouble is this those nut and of palm leaves have stolen away our man of whom thou hast perhaps heard i heard some news from his make him of a man thing that was entered into a wolf pack but i did not believe is full of stories half heard and very badly told but it is true he is such a man as never was said the best and wisest and of man my own pupil who shall make the name of famous through all the and besides i we love him said shaking his head to and fro i also have known what love is there arc i could tell that that need a clear ht when we are all well fed to praise properly said quickly our man is in the hands of the log now and we know that of all the people they fear alone they fear me alone they have good reason said chattering foolish vain s hunting e vain foolish and chattering are the but a man thing in their hands is in no good luck they grow tired of the nuts they pick and throw them down they carry a branch half a day meaning to do great things with it and then they snap it in two that is not to be envied they called me also yellow fish was it not worm worm said as well as other things which i cannot now say for shame we must remind them to speak well of their master we must help their wandering memories now whither went they with thy the alone knows toward the sunset i said we had thought that thou know i how i take them when they come in my way but i do not hunt the log or or green on a water hole for that matter up up up up look up of the wolf pack i looked up to see where the voice came from and there was the sweeping down with the sun shining on the the book of his wings it was near s but he had ranged all over the looking for the bear and missed him in the thick foliage what is it said i have seen among the log he bade me tell you i watched the have taken him beyond the river to the monkey city to the cold they may stay there for a night or ten nights or an hour i have told the to watch through the dark time that is my message good hunting all you below full and a deep sleep to you cried i will remember thee in my next kill and put aside the head for thee alone o best of it is nothing it is nothing the boy held the master word i could have done no less and up again to his he has not forgotten to use his tongue said with a chuckle of pride to think of one so young remembering the master word for the birds while he was being pulled across trees it was most firmly driven into him said but i am proud of him and now we must go to the cold t s hunting they all knew where that place was but few of the people ever went there because what they called the cold was an old deserted city lost and buried in the | 39 |
and beasts seldom use a place that men have once used the wild will but the hunting tribes do not besides the lived there as much as they could be said to live anywhere and no self respecting animal would come within eye shot of it except in times of when the half ruined and held a little water it is half a night s journey at full speed said looked very serious i will go as fast as i can he said anxiously we dare not wait for thee follow we must go on the quick foot and i feet or no feet i can keep abreast of all thy four said shortly made one effort to hurry but had to sit down panting and so they left him to come on later while hurried forward at the rocking said nothing but strive as might the huge rock held level with him when they came to a hill stream gained because he bounded across while swam his head and two feet of his to the book neck clearing the water but on level ground made up the distance by the broken lock that freed me said when twilight had fallen thou art no slow i am hungry said besides they called me worm and yellow to boot all one let us go on and seemed to pour himself along the ground finding the shortest road with his steady eyes and keeping to it in the cold the monkey people were not thinking of s friends at all they had brought the boy to the lost city and were very pleased with themselves for the time had never seen an indian city before and though this was almost a heap of ruins it seemed very wonderful and splendid some king had built it long ago on a little hill you could still trace the stone that led up to the ruined gates where the last of wood hung to the worn hinges trees had grown into and out of the walls the were tumbled down and decayed and wild hung out of the windows of the towers on the walls in hanging s hunting a great palace crowned the hill and the marble of the and the fountains was split and stained with red and green and the very in the where the king s used to live had been thrust up and apart by and young trees from the palace you could see the rows and rows of houses that made up the city looking like empty filled with blackness the block of stone that had been an idol in the square where four roads met the and at street corners where the public wells once stood and the shattered of temples with wild on their sides the called the place their city and pretended to despise the people because they lived in the forest and yet they never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use them they would sit in circles on the hall of the king s council chamber and scratch for and pretend to be men or they would run in and out of the houses and collect pieces of plaster and old bricks in a corner and forget where they had hidden them and fight and cry in crowds and then break off to play up and down the of the king s garden where they would shake the rose trees and thk book the in sport to see the fruit and flowers fall they all the passages and dark in the palace and the hundreds of little dark rooms but they never remembered what they had seen and what they had not and so drifted about in ones and or crowds telling one another that they were doing as men did they drank at the and made the water all muddy and then they fought over it and then they would all rush together in and shout there are none in the so wise and good and clever and strong and gentle as the then all would begin again till they grew tired of the city and went back to the tree tops hoping the people would notice them who had been trained under the law of the did not like or understand this kind of life the dragged him into the cold late in the afternoon and instead of going to sleep as would have done after a long journey they joined hands and danced about and sang their foolish songs one of the made a speech and told his companions that s capture marked a new thing in the history of the log for was going to show them how to sticks and together as a protection against s hunting rain and cold picked up some and began to work them in and out and the tried to imitate but in a very few minutes they lost interest and began to pull their friends tails or jump up and down on all i want to eat said i am a stranger in this part of the bring me food or give me leave to hunt here twenty or thirty bounded away to bring him nuts and wild but they fell to fighting on the road and it was too much trouble to go with what was left of the fruit was sore and angry as well as hungry and he through the empty city giving the strangers hunting call from time to time but no one answered him and felt that he had reached a very bad place indeed all that has said about the log is true he thought to himself they have no law no hunting call and no leaders nothing but foolish words and little picking hands so if i am starved or killed here it will be all my own fault but i must try to return to my own | 39 |
will surely beat me but that is better than chasing silly rose leaves with the log the book but no sooner had he walked to the city wall than the pulled him back telling him that he did not know how happy he was and him to make him grateful he set his teeth and said nothing but went with the shouting to a terrace above the red that were half full of rain water there was a ruined summer house of white marble in the of the terrace built for queens dead a hundred years ago the roof had half fallen in and blocked up the passage from the palace by which the queens used to enter but the walls were made of of marble beautiful set with and and and and as the moon came up behind the hill it shone through the casting shadows on the ground like black velvet sore sleepy and hungry as he was could not help laughing when the log began twenty at a time to tell him how great and wise and strong and gentle they were and how foolish he was to wish to leave them we are great we are free we are wonderful we are the most wonderful people in all the we all say so and so it must be true they s hunting shouted now as you are a new listener and can carry our words back to the people so that they may notice us in future we will tell you al about our most excellent selves made no objection and the gathered by hundreds and hundreds on the terrace to listen to their own singing the praises of the log and whenever a speaker stopped for want of breath they would all shout together this is true we all say so nodded and and said yes when they asked him a question and his head spun with the noise the must have bitten all these people he said to himself and now they have the madness certainly this is the madness do they never go to sleep now there is a cloud coming to cover that moon if it were only a big enough cloud i might try to run away in the darkness but i am tired that same cloud was being watched by two good friends in the ruined ditch below the city wall for and knowing well how dangerous the monkey people were in large numbers did not wish to run any risks the never fight unless they are a hundred to one and few in the care for those odds the book i will go to the west wall whispered and come down swiftly with the slope of the ground in my favor they will not throw themselves upon my back in their hundreds but i know it said would that were here but we must do what we can when that cloud covers the moon i shall go to the terrace they hold some sort of council there over the boy good hunting said grimly and glided away to the west wall that happened to be the least ruined of any and the big snake was delayed a while before he could find a way up the stones the cloud hid the moon and as wondered what would come next he heard s light feet on the terrace the black had up the slope almost without a sound and was striking he knew better than to waste time in biting right and left among the who were seated round in circles fifty and sixty deep there was a howl of fright and rage and then as tripped on the rolling kicking bodies beneath him a monkey shouted there is only one here kill him kill a mass of biting scratching tearing and pulling closed over while s hunting five or six laid hold of dragged him up the wall of the summer house and pushed him through the hole of the broken dome a boy would have been badly bruised for the fall was a good ten feet but fell as had taught him to fall and landed light stay there shouted the till we have killed thy friend later we will play with thee if the poison people leave thee alive we be of one blood ye and i said quickly giving the snake s call he could hear rustling and hissing in the rubbish all round him and gave the call a second time to make sure down all said half a dozen low voices every old ruin in india becomes sooner or later a dwelling place of and the old summer house was alive with stand still little brother lest thy feet do us harm stood as quietly as he could peering through the and listening to the furious din of the fight round the black the and and and s deep hoarse cough as he backed and and twisted and plunged under the heaps of his enemies for the first time since he was born was fighting for his life must be at hand would not the book have come alone thought and then he called aloud to the roll to the water roll and plunge get to the water heard and the cry that told him was safe gave him new courage he worked his way desperately inch by inch straight for the in silence then from the ruined wall nearest the rose up the war shout of the old bear had done his best but he could not come before he shouted i am here i climb i haste the stones slip under my feet wait my coming o most infamous log he panted up the terrace only to disappear to the head in a wave of but he threw himself on his and spreading out his fore as many as he could hold and then began to | 39 |
hit with a regular bat like the strokes of a a crash and a splash told that had fought his way to the where the could not follow the lay gasping for breath his head just out of water while the stood three deep on the red s hunting stone steps dancing up and down with rage ready to spring upon him from all sides if he came out to help it was then that lifted up his dripping chin and in despair gave the snake s call for protection we be of one blood ye and i for he believed that had turned tail at the last minute even half smothered under the on the edge of the terrace could not help as he heard the big black asking for help had only just worked his way over the west wall landing with a that a stone into the ditch he had no intention of losing any advantage of the ground and and himself once or twice to be sure that every foot of his long body was in working order all that while the fight with went on and the in the round and the bat flying to and fro carried the news of the great battle over the till even the wild elephant and far away scattered bands of the monkey folk woke and came leaping along the tree roads to help their comrades in the cold and the noise of the fight roused all the day birds for miles round o the book then came straight quickly and anxious to kill the fighting strength of a is in the driving blow of his head backed by all the strength and weight of his body if you can imagine a lance or a ram or a hammer weighing nearly half a ton driven by a cool quiet mind living in the handle of it you can imagine roughly what was like when he fought a four or five feet long can knock a man down if he him fairly in the chest and was thirty feet long as you know his first stroke was delivered into the heart of the crowd round was sent home with shut mouth in silence and there was no need of a second the scattered with cries of it is run run generations of had been scared into good behavior by the stories their elders told them of the night thief who could slip along the branches as quietly as moss grows and steal away the strongest monkey that ever lived of old who could make himself look so like a dead branch or a rotten stump that the wisest were deceived till the branch caught them and then was everything that the feared in the for none of them knew the limits s hunting i of his power none of them could look him in the face and none had ever come alive out of his and so they ran with terror to the walls and the roofs of the houses and drew a deep breath of relief his fur was much thicker than s but he had suffered sorely in the fight then opened his mouth for the first time and spoke one long hissing word and the far away hurrying to the oi the cold stayed where they were till the loaded branches bent and under them the on the walls and the empty houses stopped their cries and in the stillness that fell upon the city heard shaking his wet sides as he came up from the then the broke out again the leaped higher up the walls they clung round the necks of the big stone and shrieked as they along the while dancing in the summer house put his eye to the and between his front teeth to show his derision and contempt get the man out of that trap i can do no more gasped let us take the man and go they may attack again the book they will not move till i order them stay you and the city was silent once more i could not come before brother but i think i heard thee call this was to i i may have cried out in the battle answered art thou hurt i am not sur that they have not pulled me into a hundred little said gravely shaking one leg after the other i am sore we owe thee i think our lives and no matter where is the here in a trap i cannot climb out cried the curve of the broken dome was above his head take him away he dances like the he will crush our young said the inside said with a chuckle he has friends everywhere this stand back and hide you o poison people i break down the wall looked carefully till he found a crack in the marble showing a weak spot made two or three light with his head to get the distance and then lifting up six feet of his body clear of the ground sent home half a dozen s hunting full power blows nose first the screen work broke and fell away in a cloud of dust and rubbish and leaped through the opening and flung himself between and an arm round each big neck art thou hurt said him softly i am sore hungry and not a little bruised but oh they have handled ye my brothers ye others also said his lips and looking at the monkey dead on the terrace and round the it is nothing it is nothing if thou art safe o my pride of all little of that we shall judge later said in a dry voice that did not at all like but here is to whom we owe the battle and thou thy life thank him according to our customs turned and saw the great | 39 |
s head swaying a foot above his own so this is the said very soft is his skin and he is not so unlike the log have a care that i do not mistake thee for a monkey some twilight when i have newly changed my coat the book we be of one blood thou and i answered i take my life from thee to night my kill shall be thy kill if ever thou art hungry o all thanks little brother said though his eyes and what may so bold a hunter kill ask that i may follow when next he goes abroad i kill nothing am too little but i drive toward such as can use them when thou art empty come to me and see if i speak the truth have some skill in these he held out his hands and if ever thou art in a trap i may pay the debt which i owe to thee to and to here good hunting to ye all my masters well said growled for had returned thanks very prettily the dropped his head lightly for a minute on s shoulder a brave heart and a courteous tongue said he they shall carry thee far through the but now go hence quickly with thy friends go and sleep for the moon sets and what follows it is not well that thou see the moon was sinking behind the hills and the lines of trembling huddled together s hunting on the walls and looked like ragged of things went down to the for a drink and began to put his fur in order as glided out into the of the terrace and brought his jaws together with a ringing snap that drew all the eyes upon him the moon sets he said is there yet light to see from the walls came a moan like the wind in the tree tops we see o good begins now the dance the dance of the hunger of sit still and watch he turned twice or thrice in a big circle weaving his head from right to left then he began making and figures of eight with his body and soft that melted into squares and five sided figures and never resting never hurrying and never stopping his low humming song it grew darker and darker till at last the dragging shifting disappeared but they could hear the rustle of the scales and stood still as stone growling in their throats their neck hair and watched and wondered log said the voice of at last the book can ye stir foot or hand without my order speak without thy order we cannot stir foot or hand o good come all one pace nearer to me the lines of the swayed forward helplessly and and took one stiff step nearer nd they all moved aj ain laid and to j et them two great beasts started as the from a dream keep thy j shoulder whispered keep it there or i must go back must go back to it is only old making circles on the dust said let us go and the three slipped off through a gap in the walls to the ir f said when he stood under the still ti ai ain never more will i make an ally of and he shook himself all over lie knows more than wc said trembling in a little time had i stayed i should have d down his throat s hunting many will walk that road before the moon rises again said he will have good hunting after his own fashion but what was the meaning of it all said who did not know anything of a s powers of fascination i saw no more than a big snake making foolish circles till the dark came and his nose was all sore ho ho said angrily his nose was sore on thy account as my ears and sides and and s neck and shoulders are bitten on thy account neither nor will be able to hunt with pleasure for many days it is nothing said we have the man again true but he has cost us most heavily in time which might have been spent in good hunting in wounds in hair i am half plucked along my back and last of all in honor for remember i who am the black was forced to call upon for protection and and i were both made stupid as little birds by the hunger dance all this man came of thy playing with the log true it is true said sorrowfully i am an evil man and my stomach is sad in me the book what says the law of the did not wish to bring into any more trouble but he could not with the law so he sorrow never stays punishment but remember he is very little i will remember but he has done mischief and blows must be dealt now hast thou anything to say nothing i did wrong and thou art wounded it is just gave him half a dozen love from a s point of view they would hardly have one of his own but for a seven year old boy they amounted to as severe a beating as you could wish to avoid when it was all over and picked himself up without a word now said jump on my back little brother and we will go home one of the beauties of law is that punishment settles all scores there is no afterward laid his head down on s back and slept so deeply that he never when he was put down by mother side in the home cave s hunting road song of the log here we go in a flung half way up to the jealous moon don t you envy our bands | 39 |
thy new shoes she touched his foot and it was almost as hard as horn no she said sorrowfully those feet have never worn shoes but thou art very like my and thou shall be my son was uneasy because he had h been ui tiger tiger i under a roof before but as he looked at the he saw that he could tear it out any i time if he wanted to get away and that the i window had no what is the good of a man he said to himself at last if he does not understand man s talk now i am as silly and dumb as a man would be with us in the i must learn their talk it was not for fun that he had learned while he was with the wolves to imitate the challenge of in the and the of the little wild pig so as soon as pronounced a word would imitate it almost perfectly i and before dark he had learned the names of many things in the hut there was a difficulty at because would not sleep under anything that j looked so like a trap as that hut and when they shut the door he went through the window give him his will said s husband remember he can never till now have slept on a bed if he is indeed sent in the place of our son he will not run away so stretched himself in some long clean grass at the edge of the field but before he had closed his eyes a soft gray nose him under the chin j the book said gray brother he was the eldest of mother this is a poor reward for following thee twenty miles thou of wood smoke and cattle altogether like a man already wake little brother i bring news are all well in the said him all except the wolves that were burned with the red flower now listen has gone away to hunt far off till his coat grows again for he is badly when he returns he that he will lay thy bones in the there are two words to that i also have made a little promise but news is always good i am tired to night very tired with new things gray brother but bring me the news always thou wilt not forget that thou art a wolf men will not make thee forget said gray brother anxiously never i will always remember that i love thee and all in our cave but also i will always remember that i have been cast out of the pack and that thou be cast out of another pack men are only men little brother and tiger tiger loi their talk is like the talk of in a pond when i come m here again i will wait for thee in the a of the for three months after that night hardly ever left the village gate he was o busy learning the ways and customs of men first he had to wear a cloth round him which annoyed him horribly and then he had to learn about money which he did not in the least understand and about of which he did not see the use then the little children in the village made him very angry luckily the law of the had taught him to keep his temper for in the life and food depend on keeping your temper but when they made fun of him because he would not play games or fly or because he some word only the knowledge that it was to kill little naked kept him from picking them up and breaking them in two he did not know his own strength in the least in the he knew he was weak compared with the beasts but in the village people said he was as strong as a bull and had not the faintest idea of the difference that caste makes between man and the book man when the s donkey slipped in the clay pit hauled it out by the tall and helped to the pots for their journey to the market at that was very shocking too tjie is a low caste man and hi is worse when the priest threatened to put him on the donkey too and the priest told s husband that had better be set to work as soon as possible and the village head man told that he would have to go out with the next day and herd them while they no one was more pleased than and that night because he had been appointed a servant of the village as it were he went off to a circle that met every evening on a platform under a great fig tree it was the village club and the head man and the and the who knew all the gossip of the village and old the village hunter who had a tower met and smoked the sat and talked in the upper branches and there was a hole under the platform where a lived and he had his little of milk every night because he was sacred and the old men sat around the tree and talked and pulled at the big the water pipes till far into the i tiger night they told wonderful tales of gods and i men and ghosts and told even more wonderful ones of the ways of beasts in the till the eyes of the children sitting outside the circle out of their heads most of the tales were about animals for the was always at their door the deer and the wild pig up their crops and now and again the tiger carried off a man at twilight within sight of the village gates who naturally knew something about what they were talking of had to cover his | 39 |
face not to show that he was laughing while the tower across his knees climbed on from one wonderful story to another and s shoulders shook was explaining how the tiger that had carried away s son was a ghost tiger and his body was inhabited by the ghost of a wicked old money who had died some years ago and i know that this is true he said because always from the blow that he got in a riot when his account books were burned and the tiger that i speak of he too for the tracks of his are unequal true true that must be the truth said the nodding together i the book are all these tales s and said that tiger because he was born lame as ry one knows to talk of the soul of a in a beast that never had the courage o i a is child s talk was with surprise for a moment and the head man it is the le is it said if thou art so better bring his hide to for government has set a hundred o j on his life better still do not talk when thy e speak rose to go all the evening i have lain here listening ht called back over his shoulder and except once or twice has not said one word of truth concerning the which is at his very doors how then shall i believe the tales of ghosts and gods and which he says he has seen it is full time that boy went to said the head man while puffed and at s impertinence the custom of most indian villages is for a few boys to take the cattle and out to in the early morning and bring them back at night and the very cattle that would a white man to death allow themselves to be tiger i tiger i and and shouted at by children that hardly come up to their noses so long as the boys keep with the herds they are safe for not even the tiger will charge a mob of cattle but if they to pick flowers or hunt they are sometimes carried off went through the village street in the dawn sitting on the back of the great herd bull and the blue with their long backward sweeping horns and savage eyes rose out of their one by one and followed him and made it very clear to the children with him that he was the master he beat the with a long polished and told one of the boys to the cattle by themselves while he went on with the and to be very careful not to stray away from the herd an indian ground is all rocks and and and little among which the herds scatter and disappear the generally keep to the pools and muddy places where they lie or in the warm mud for hours drove them on to the edge of the plain where the river came out of the then he dropped from s neck trotted off to a and found gray brother ah said gray brother i the book i have waited here very many days what is the meaning of this cattle work j it is an order said i am a village herd for a while what news of he has come back to this country and has waited here a long time for thee now he has gone off again for the game is scarce but he means to kill thee very good said so long as he is away do thou or one of the brothers sit on that rock so that i can see thee as i come out of the village when he comes back wait for me in the by the d ire in the of the plain we need not walk into s mouth then picked out a shady place and lay down and slept while the round him in india is one of the things in the world the cattle move and and lie down and move on again and they do not even low they only and the very seldom say anything but get down into the muddy pools one after another and work their way into the mud till only their noses and staring china blue eyes show above the surface and there they lie like logs the sun makes the rocks tiger tiger dance in the heat and the herd children hear one never any more whistling almost out of sight overhead and they know that if they died or a cow died that would sweep down and the next miles away would see him drop and follow and the next and the next and almost before they were dead there would be a score of hungry come out of nowhere then they sleep and wake and sleep again and little baskets of dried grass and put in them or catch two praying and make them fight or string a of red and black nuts or watch a on a rock or a snake hunting a near the then they sing long long songs with odd native at the end of them and the day seems than most people s whole lives and perhaps they make a mud castle with mud figures of men and horses and and put into the men s hands and pretend that they are kings nd the figures are their armies or that they are gods to be then evening comes and the children call and the lumber up out of the mud with noises like going off one after the other and they all string across the gray plain back to the twinkling village lights no the book day after day would lead the out to their and day after day he would see gray brother s back a mile and a half away across | 39 |
the plain so he knew that had not come back and day after day he would lie on the grass listening to the noise round him and dreaming of old days in the if had made a false step with his lame up in the by the would have heard him in those long still mornings at last a day came when he did not see gray tiger tiger i brother at the signal place and he laughed and headed the for the by the which was all covered with golden red flowers there sat gray brother every on his back lifted he has hidden for a month to throw thee off thy guard he crossed the last night with hot foot on thy trail said the wolf panting frowned i am not afraid of but is very cunning have no fear said gray brother his lips a little i met in the dawn now he is telling all his wisdom to the but he told me everything before i broke his back s plan is to wait for thee at the village gate this for thee and for no one else he is lying up now in the big dry of the has he eaten to day or does he hunt empty said for the answer meant life or death to him he killed at dawn a pig and he has drunk too remember could never fast even for the sake of revenge oh fool fool what a s it is eaten and drunk too and he thinks that i shall ti the book wait till he has slept now where does he lie up if there were but ten of us we might pull him down as he lies these will not charge unless they wind him and i cannot speak their language can we get behind his track so that they may smell it he swam far down the to cut that said gray brother told him that i know he would never have thought of it alone stood with his finger in his mouth thinking the big of the that opens out on the plain not half a mile from here i can take the herd round through the to the head of the and then sweep down but he would out at the foot we must block that end gray brother thou cut the herd in two for me not i perhaps but i have brought a wise gray brother trotted off and dropped into a hole then there lifted up a huge gray head that knew well and the hot air was filled with the most desolate cry of all the the hunting howl of a wolf at midday said clapping his hands i might have known that thou not forget me we have a big work in hand cut the herd in two keep the cows and tiger tiger together and the and the by themselves the two wolves ran ladies chain fashion in and out of the herd which and threw up its head and separated into two in one the cow stood with their in the and glared and ready if a wolf would only stay still to charge down and the life out of him in the other the and the young and stamped but though they looked more imposing they were much less dangerous for they had no to protect no six men could have divided the herd so neatly what orders panted they are trying to join again slipped on to s back drive the away to the left gray brother when we are gone hold the cows together and drive them into the foot of the how far said gray brother panting and snapping till the sides are higher than can jump shouted keep them there till we come down the swept off as and gray brother stopped in front of the cows they charged down on him and the book he ran just before them to the foot of the as drove the far to the left done another charge and they are fairly started careful now careful a snap too much and the will charge this is work than driving thou think these creatures could move so swiftly called i have have hunted these too in my time gasped in the dust shall i turn them into the ay turn swiftly turn them is mad with rage oh if i could only tell him what i need of him to day the were turned to the right this time and into the standing thicket the other herd children watching with the cattle half a mile away hurried to the village as fast as their legs could carry them crying that the had gone mad and run away but s plan was simple enough all he wanted to do was to make a big circle and get at the head of the and then take the down it and catch between the and the cows for he knew that after a meal and a full drink would not be in any condition to fight or to up i tiger tiger sides of the he was soothing the now by voice and had dropped far to the rear only once or twice to hurry the rear guard it was a long long circle for they did not wish to get too near the and give warning at last rounded up the bewildered herd at the head of the on a grassy patch that down to the itself from that height you could see across the tops of the trees down to the plain below but what looked at was the sides of the and he saw with a great deal of satisfaction that they ran nearly straight up and down and the vines and that hung over them would give no to a tiger who wanted to get out let | 39 |
whether the round his neck would protect him he lay as still as still expecting every minute to see turn into a tiger too great king he said at last in a whisper yes said without turning his head a little tiger tiger i am an old man i did not know that thou anything more than a herd boy may i rise up and go away or will thy servant tear me to pieces go and peace go with thee only another time do not with my game let him go away to the village as fast as he could looking back over his shoulder in case should change into something terrible when he got to the village he told a tale of magic and enchantment and that made the priest look very grave went on with his work but it was nearly twilight before he and the wolves had drawn the great gay skin clear of the body now we must hide this and take the home help me to herd them the herd rounded up in the misty twilight and when they got near the village saw lights and heard the and bells in the temple blowing and half the village seemed to be waiting for him by the gate that is because i have killed he said to himself but a shower of stones whistled about his ears and the villagers shouted the book demon go get hence quickly or the priest will turn thee into a wolf again shoot shoot the old tower went oflf with a bang and a young in pain more shouted the villagers he can turn bullets that was thy now what is this said bewildered as the stones flew thicker they are not unlike the pack these brothers of thine said sitting down it is in my head that if bullets mean anything they would cast thee out wolf go away shouted the priest waving a of the sacred plant again last time it was because i was a man this time it is because i am a wolf let us go a woman it was ran across to the herd and cried oh my son my son they say thou art a who can turn himself into a beast at will i do not believe but go away or they will kill thee says thou art a but i know thou hast s death come back shouted the crowd come back or we will stone thee tiger tiger laughed a little short ugly laugh for a stone had hit him in the mouth run back this is one of the foolish tales they tell under the big tree at dusk i have at least paid for thy son s life farewell and run quickly for i shall send the herd in more swiftly than their i am no farewell now once more he cried bring the herd in the were anxious enough to get to the village they hardly needed s yell but charged through the gate like a scattering the crowd right and left keep count shouted scornfully it may be that i have stolen one of them keep count for i will do your no more fare you well children of men and thank that i do not come in with my wolves and hunt you up and down your street he turned on his heel and walked away with the lone wolf and as he looked up at the stars he felt happy no more sleeping in traps for me let us get s skin and go away no we will not hurt the village for was kind to me when the moon rose over the plain making it look all the villagers saw the book with two wolves at his heels and a bundle on his head trotting across at the steady wolf s trot that eats up the long miles like fire then they the temple bells and blew the louder than ever and cried and embroidered the story of his adventures in the till he ended by saying that stood up on his hind legs and talked like a man the moon was just going down when and the two wolves came to the hill of the council rock and they stopped at mother cave they have cast me out from the man pack tiger mother shouted but i come with the hide of to keep my word mother wolf walked stiffly from the cave with the behind her and her eyes glowed as she saw the skin i told him on that day when he crammed his head and shoulders into this cave hunting for thy life little i told him that the hunter would be the hunted it is well done little brother it is well done said a deep voice in the thicket we were lonely in the without thee and came running to s bare feet they up the council rock together and spread the skin out on the flat stone where used to sit and it down with four of and lay down upon it and called the old call to the council look look well o wolves exactly as he had called when was first brought there ever since had been the pack had been without a leader hunting and fighting at their own pleasure but they answered the call from habit and some of them were lame from the traps they had fallen into and some from shot wounds and some were from eating bad food and many were missing but they came to the council rock all that were left of the book them and saw s striped hide on the rock and the huge claws dangling at the end of the empty dangling feet it was then that made up a song without any a song that came up into his throat all by itself and he shouted it aloud | 39 |
leaping up and down on the rattling skin and beating time with his heels till he had no more breath left while gray brother and howled between the verses look well o wolves have i kept my word said when he had finished and the wolves yes and one tattered wolf howled lead us again o lead us again o man for we be sick of this and we would be the free people once more nay that may not be when ye are full fed the madness may come upon ye again not for nothing are ye called the free people ye fought for freedom and it is yours eat it o wolves man pack and wolf pack have cast me out said now i will hunt alone in the and we will hunt with thee said the four tiger tiger i so went away and hunted with the four in the from that day on but he was not always alone because years afterward he became a man and married but that is a story for grown song that he sang at the council rock when he danced on s hide the song of i am singing let the listen to the things i have done said he would kill would kill at the gates in the twilight he would kill the he ate and he drank drink deep for when wilt thou drink again sleep and dream of the kill i am alone on the grounds gray brother come to me come to me lone wolf for there is big game bring up the great bull the blue herd with the angry eyes drive them to and fro as i order thou still wake o wake i here come i and the are behind r the book the king of the stamped with his foot waters of the whither went he is not to dig holes nor the that he should fly he is not the bat to hang in the branches little that together tell me where he ran owl he is there he is there under the feet of lies the lame one up up and kill here is meat break the necks of the i he is asleep we will not wake him for his strength is very great the have come down to see it the black have come up to know it there is a great assembly in his honor i have no cloth to wrap me the will see that i am naked i am ashamed to meet all these people lend me thy coat lend me thy gay striped coat that i may go to the council rock by the bull that bought me i have made a promise a little promise only thy coat is lacking before i keep my word with the knife with the knife that men use with the knife of the hunter the man i will stoop down for my gift waters of the bear witness that gives me his coat for the love that he bears me pull gray brother pull heavy is the hide of tiger i tiger the man pack are angry they throw stones and talk child s talk my mouth is bleeding let us run away through the night through the hot night run swiftly with me my brothers we will leave the lights of the village and go to the low moon waters of the the man pack have cast me out i did them no harm but they were afraid of me why wolf pack ye have cast me out too the is shut to me and the village gates are shut why as flies between the beasts and the birds so fly i between the village and the why i dance on the hide of but my heart is very heavy my mouth is cut and wounded with the stones from the village but my heart is very light because i have come back to the why these two things fight together in me as the fight in the spring the water comes out of my eyes yet i laugh while it falls why i am two but the hide of is under my feet au the knows that i have killed look look well o wolves my heart is heavy with the things that i do not understand the white seal oh i hush thee my baby the night is behind as and black are the waters that sparkled so green the moon o er the looks downward to find us at rest in the hollows that rustle between where meets there soft be thy pillow ah weary curl at thy ease the storm shall not wake thee nor overtake thee asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas seal the white seal all these things happened several years ago i l at a place called or north east on the island of st paul away and away in the sea the winter told me the tale when he was blown on to the of a steamer going to and i took him down into my cabin and warmed and fed him for a couple of days till he was fit to fly back to st paul s again is a very odd little bird but he knows how to tell the truth nobody comes to except on business and the only people who have regular i the book business there are the they come in summer months by hundreds and hundreds ol thousands out of the cold gray sea for beach has the finest accommodation for of any place in all the world sea catch knew that and every spring swim from whatever place he happened to be would swim like a boat straight for and spend a month fighting with his companions for a good place on the rocks as close to the sea as possible sea catch | 39 |
was fifteen years old a huge gray fur seal with almost a mane on his shoulders and long wicked teeth when he heaved himself up on his he stood more than four feet clear of the ground and his weight if anyone had been bold enough to weigh him was nearly seven hundred pounds he was all over with the marks of savage fights but he was always ready for just one fight more he would put his head on one side as though he were afraid to look his enemy in the face then he would shoot it out like lightning and when the big teeth were firmly fixed on the other seal s neck the other seal might get away if he could but sea catch would not help him yet sea catch never chased a beaten seal for that was against the rules of the beach he the white seal only wanted room by the sea for his nursery but as there were forty or fifty thousand other hunting for the same thing each spring the whistling roaring and blowing on the beach was something frightful from a little hill called s hill you could look over three and a half miles of ground covered with fighting and the surf was dotted all over with the heads of hurrying to land and begin their share of the fighting they fought in the they fought in the sand and they fought on the smooth worn rocks of the for they were just as stupid and as men their wives never came to the island until late in may or early in june for they did not care to be torn to pieces and the young two three and old who had not begun housekeeping went inland about half a mile through the ranks of the and played about on the sand in and and rubbed off every single green thing that grew they were called the the and there were perhaps two or three hundred thousand of them at alone sea catch had just finished his forty fifth fight one spring when his soft sleek gentle i the book eyed wife came up out of the sea and he caught her by the of the neck and her down on his saying late as usual where have you been it was not the fashion for sea catch to eat anything during the four months he stayed on the and so his temper was generally bad knew better than to answer back she looked around and how thoughtful of you you ve taken the old place again i should think i had said sea catch look at me he was scratched and bleeding in twenty places one eye was almost blind and his sides were torn to ribbons oh you men you men said herself with her hind why can t you be sensible and settle your places quietly you look as though you had been fighting with the whale i have n t been doing anything but fight since the middle of may the beach is crowded this season i ve met at least a hundred from beach house hunting why can t people stay where they belong i ve often thought we should be much happier if we hauled out at island instead m this crowded place said the white seal only the go to island if we went there they would say we were afraid we must preserve appearances my dear sea catch sunk his head proudly between his fat shoulders and pretended to go to sleep for a few minutes but all the time he was keeping a sharp for a fight now that all the and their wives were on the land you could hear their miles out to sea above the at the lowest counting there were over a million on the beach old mother tiny babies and fighting crawling and playing together going down to the sea and coming up from it in and lying over every foot of ground as far as the eye could reach and about in through the fog it is nearly always at except when the sun comes out and makes everything look all and rainbow colored for a little while s baby was bom in the middle of that confusion and he was all head and shoulders with pale watery blue eyes as tiny must be but there was something about his coat that made his mother look at him very closely s the book sea catch she said at last our baby s going to be white empty and dry sea catch there never has been such a thing in the world as a white seal i can t help that said there s going to be now and she sang the low seal song that all the mother sing to their babies you must n t swim you re six weeks old or your head will be sunk by your heels and summer and are bad for baby are bad for baby dear rat as bad as bad can be but splash and grow strong and you can t be wrong child of the open sea i of course the little fellow did not understand the words at first he and scrambled about by his mother s side and learned to out of the way when his father was fighting with another seal and the two rolled and roared up and down the slippery rocks used to go to sea to get things to eat and the baby was fed only once in two days but then he ate all he could and upon it the white seal the first thing he did was to crawl inland and there he met of thousands of babies of his own age and they played together like went to sleep on the clean sand and played again the old people in the | 39 |
took no notice of them and the kept to their own grounds so the babies had a beautiful when came back from her deep sea fishing she would go straight to their and call as a sheep calls for a lamb and wait until she heard then she would take the of straight lines in his direction striking out with her fore and knocking the head over heels right and left there were always a few hundred mothers hunting for their children through the and the babies were kept lively but as told so long as you don t lie in muddy water and get or rub the hard sand into a cut or scratch and so long as you never go swimming when there is a heavy sea nothing will hurt you here little can no more swim than little children but they are unhappy till they learn the first time that went down to the sea a wave carried him out beyond his depth and his ths b k k big head sank and his little hind flew up exactly as his mother had told him in the song and if the next wave had not thrown him back again he would have drowned after that he learned to lie in a beach pool and let the wash of the just cover him and lift him up while he but he always kept his eye open for big waves that might hurt he was two weeks learning to use his and all that while he in and out of water and and g and crawled up the beach and took cat on the sand and went back again until at last he found that he truly to the water then you can imagine the times that he had with his companions under the or coming in on top of a and landing with a and a as the big wave went whirling far up the beach or standing up on his tail and scratching his head as the old people did or playing i m the king of the castle on slippery rocks that just stuck out of the wash now and then he would see a thin fin like a big s fin drifting along close to shore and he knew that that was the whale the who eats young when he can get them and would head for the beach like an the white seal arrow and the fin would off slowly as if it were looking for nothing at all late in october the began to leave st paul s for the deep sea by families and tribes and there was no more fighting over the and the played anywhere they liked next year said to you will be a but this year you must learn how to catch fish they set out together across the pacific and showed how to sleep on his back with his tucked down by his side and his little nose just out of the water no cradle is so comfortable as the long rocking swell of the pacific when felt his skin all over told him he was learning the feel of the water and that feelings meant bad weather coming and he must swim hard and get away in a little time she said you know where to swim to but just now we follow sea pig the for he is very wise a school of were and tearing through the water and little followed them as fast as he could how do you know where to go to he panted the leader of the school rolled his white eyes and under my tail the book he said that means there s a gale behind me come along when you of the water he meant the and your tail that means there s a gale in front of you and north come along the water feels bad here this was one of very many things that learned and he was always learning taught him how to follow the and the along the under sea banks and the out of his hole among the how to skirt the lying below water and dart like rifle bullet in at one and out at another the white seal as the fishes ran how to dance on the top of the waves when the lightning was racing all over the sky and wave his politely to the and the man of war hawk as they went down the wind how to jump three or four feet clear of the water like a close to the side and tail curved to leave the flying fish alone because they are all bony to take the shoulder piece out of a at full speed ten deep and never to stop and look at a boat or a ship but particularly a row boat at the end of six months what did not know about deep sea fishing was not worth the knowing and all that time he never set on dry ground one day however as he was lying half asleep in the warm water somewhere off the island of he felt faint and lazy all over just as human people do when the spring is in their legs and he remembered the good firm of seven thousand miles away the games his companions played the smell of the the seal roar and the fighting that very minute he turned north swimming steadily and as he went on he met scores of his mates all bound for the same place and they said greeting this year i the book we are all and we can dance the fire dance in the off and play on the new grass but where did you that coat s fur was almost pure white now and though he felt very proud of it he only said swim quickly my bones are aching for the and so they all | 39 |
could appreciate good swimming i suppose it is rather awful from your way of looking at it but if you will come here year after year of course the men get to know of it and unless you can find an island where no men ever come you will always be driven is n t there any such island began i ve followed the the for twenty years and i can t say i ve found it yet but look here you seem to have a fondness for talking to your suppose you go to and talk to sea he may know something don t off like that it s a six mile swim and if i were you i should haul out and take a nap first little one thought that that was good advice so he swam round to his own beach hauled out and slept for half an hour all over as will then he headed straight for a little low sheet of rocky island almost due from all of rock and nests where the by themselves he landed close to old sea the big ugly fat long of the north pacific who has no manners the book except when he is asleep as he was then with his hind half in and half out of the surf wake up for the were making a great noise ho what s that said sea p n di b m w m i and he struck the next a blow with his and him up and the next struck the next and so on till they were all awake and staring in every direction but the right one hi it s me said in the surf and looking like a little white well may i be said sea the white seal and they all looked at as you can fancy a club full of drowsy old gentlemen would look at a little boy did not care to hear any more about just then he had seen enough of it so he called out is n t there any place for to go where men don t ever come go and find out said sea shutting his eyes run away we ve busy here made his jump in the air and shouted as loud as he could he knew that sea never caught a fish in his life but always rooted for and though he pretended to be a very terrible person naturally the and the and the the and the and the who are always looking for a chance to be rude took up the cry and so told me for nearly five minutes you could not have heard a gun fired on all the population was yelling and screaming old man while sea rolled from side to side and now will you tell said all out of breath go and ask sea cow said sea if he is living still he be able to tell you ij the book how shall i know sea cow when i meet him off he s the only thing in the sea than sea screamed a under sea s nose and with worse manners swam back to leaving the to scream there he found that no one with him in his little attempts to discover a quiet place for the they told him that men had always driven the it was part of the day s work and that if he did not like to see ugly things he should not have gone to the killing grounds but none of the other had seen the killing and that made the difference between him and his friends besides was a white seal what you must do said old sea catch after he had heard his son s adventures is to grow up and be a big seal like your father and have a nursery on the beach and then they will leave you alone in another five years you ought to be able to fight for yourself even gentle his mother said you will never be able to stop the killing go and play in the sea and went off and danced the fire dance with a very heavy little heart the white seal that autumn he left the beach as soon as he could and set off alone because of a notion in his bullet head he was going to find sea cow if there was such a person in the sea and he was going to find a quiet island with good firm for to live on where men could not get at them so he and by himself from the north to the south pacific swimming as much as three hundred miles in a day and a night he met with more adventures than can be told and narrowly escaped being caught by the and the spotted and the and he met all the that loaf up and down the high seas and the heavy polite fish and the scarlet spotted that are in one place for hundreds of years and grow very proud of it but he never met sea cow and he never found an island that he could fancy if the beach was good and hard with a slope behind it for to play on there was always the smoke of a on the horizon boiling down and knew what that meant or else he could see that had once visited the island and been killed off and knew that where men had come once they would come again is the book he picked up with an old who told him that island was the very place for peace and quiet and when went down there he was all but smashed to pieces against some wicked black s in a heavy storm with lightning and thunder yet as he pulled out against the gale he could see | 39 |
that even there had once been a seal nursery and it was so in all the other islands that he visited gave a long list of them for he said that spent five seasons exploring with a four months rest each year at where the used to make fun of him and his imaginary islands he went to the a horrid dr place on the where he was nearly baked to death he went to the islands the island island s island s island the and even to a little speck of an island south of the cape of good hope but everywhere the people of the sea told him the same things had come to those islands once upon a time but men had killed them all off even when he swam thousands of miles out of the pacific and got to a place called cape that was when he the white seal was coming back from s island he found a few hundred on a rock and they told him that men came there too that nearly broke his heart and he headed round the horn back to his own and on his way north he hauled out on an island full of green trees where he found an old old seal who was dying and caught fish for him and told him all his sorrows now said i am going back to and if i am driven to the killing pens with the i shall not care the old seal said try once more i am the last of the lost of and in the days when men killed us by the hundred thousand there was a story on the that some day a white seal would come out of the north and lead the seal people to a quiet place i am old and i shall never live to see that day but others will try once more and curled up his it was a beauty and said i am the only white seal that has ever been born on the and i am the only seal black or white who ever thought of looking for new islands that cheered him immensely and when he came back to that summer o the book his mother begged him to marry and settle down for he was no longer a but a fall grown sea catch with a curly white mane on his shoulders as heavy as big and as fierce as his father give me another season he said remember mother it is always the seventh wave that goes farthest up the beach curiously enough there was another seal who thought that she would put off marrying till the next year and danced the fire dance with her all down beach the night before he set off on his last this time he went westward because he had fallen on the trail of a great of and he needed at least one hundred pounds of fish a day to keep him in good condition he chased them till he was tired and then he curled himself up and went to sleep on the hollows of the ground swell that sets in to copper island he knew the coast perfectly well so about midnight when he felt himself gently on a weed bed he said hm tide s running strong tonight and turning over under water opened his eyes slowly and stretched then he jumped like a cat for he saw huge things about in the water and on the heavy of the weeds the white seal i i by the great of he said beneath his who in the deep sea are these people they were like no sea lion seal bear whale fish or that had ever seen before they were between twenty and thirty feet long and they had no hind but a like tail that looked as if it had been out of wet leather their heads were the most foolish looking things you ever saw and they balanced on the ends of their tails in deep water when they were n t bowing solemnly to one another and waving their front as a fat man waves his arm said good sport gentlemen the big things answered by bowing and waving their like the footman when they began feeding again saw that their upper lip was split into two pieces that they could apart about a foot and bring together again with a whole of between the they tucked the stuff into their mouths and solemnly style of feeding that said they bowed again and began to lose his temper very good he said if you do happen to have an extra joint in your front the book you need n t show off so i see you bow gracefully but i should like to know your names the split moved and and the green eyes stared but they did not speak well said you re the only people ve ever met than sea and with worse manners then he remembered in a flash what the had screamed to him when he was a little at and he tumbled backward in the water for he knew that he had found sea cow at last the sea cows went on and and in the weed and asked the white seal them questions in every language that he had picked up in his travels and the sea people talk nearly as many languages as human beings but the sea cow did not answer because sea cow cannot talk he has only six bones in his neck where he ought to have seven and they say under the sea that that prevents him from speaking even to his companions but as you know he has an extra joint in his fore and by waving it up and down and about he makes what answers to a sort of clumsy code by daylight s mane was | 39 |
standing on end and his temper was gone where the dead go then the sea cow began to travel northward very slowly stopping to hold absurd bowing from time to time and followed them saying to himself people who are such as these are would have been killed long ago if they had n t found out some safe island and what is good enough for the sea cow is good enough for the sea catch all the same i wish they d hurry it was weary work for the herd never went more than forty or fifty miles a day and stopped to feed at night and kept close to the shore all the time while swam round them and over them and under them but he i the book could not hurry them up one half mile as they went farther north they held a bowing council every few hours and nearly bit off his with impatience till he saw that they were following up a warm current of water and then he respected them more one night they sank through the shiny water sank like stones and for the first time since he had known them began to swim quickly followed and the pace astonished him for he never dreamed that sea cow was anything of a they headed for a cliff by the shore a cliff that ran down into deep water and plunged into a dark hole at the foot of it twenty under the sea it was a long long swim and badly wanted fresh air before he was out of the dark they led him through my wig he said when he rose gasping and puffing into open water at the farther end it was a long but it was worth it the sea cows had separated and were brows ing lazily along the edges of the finest that had ever seen there were long stretches of smooth worn rock running for miles exactly fitted to make seal and there were of hard sand sloping inland behind them and there were for the white seal dance in and long grass to roll in and to climb up and down and best of all knew by the feel of the water which never a true sea catch that no men had ever come there the first thing he did was to assure himself that the fishing was good and then he swam along the and counted up the delightful low sandy islands half hidden in the beautiful rolling fog away to the northward out to sea ran a line of bars and and rocks that would never let a ship come within six miles of the beach and between the islands and the was a stretch of deep water that ran up to the perpendicular cliffs and somewhere below the cliffs was the mouth of the it s over again but ten times better said sea cow must be wiser than i thought men can t come down the cliffs even if there were any men and the to would knock a ship to if any place in the sea is safe this is it he began to think of the seal he had left behind him but though he was in a hurry to go back to he thoroughly the new country so that he would be able to answer all questions i the book then he and made sure of the mouth of the and through to the southward no one but a sea cow or a sea would have dreamed of there being such a place and when he looked back at the cliffs even could hardly believe that he had been under them he was six days going home though he was not swimming slowly and when he hauled out just above sea lion s neck the first person he met was tlie seal who had been waiting for him and she saw by the look in his eyes that he had found his island at last but the and sea catch his father and all the other laughed at him when he told them what he had discovered and a young seal about his own age said this is all very well but you can t come from no one knows where and order us off like this remember we ve been fighting for our and that s a thing you never did you preferred about in the sea the other laughed at this and the young seal began twisting his head from side to side he had just married that year and was making a great fuss about it i ve no nursery to fight for said i want only to show you all a place where you will be safe what s the use of fighting the white seal oh if you re trying to back out of course i ve no more to say said the young seal with an ugly chuckle will you come with me if i win said and a green light came into his eyes for he was very angry at having to fight at all very good said the young seal carelessly if you win i come he had no time to change his mind for s head darted out and his teeth sunk in the of the young seal s neck then he threw himself back on his and hauled his enemy down the beach shook him and knocked him over then roared to the i ve done my best for you these five seasons past i ve found you the island where you be safe but unless your heads are dragged oft your silly necks won t believe i m going to teach you now look out for yourselves d me that never in his life and sees ten thousand big fighting every year never in all his little life did he see anything | 39 |
like s charge into the he flung himself at the biggest he could find caught him by the throat choked him and him and him till he for mercy and then threw him aside and attacked the next you see had i the book never for four months as the big did every year and his deep sea swimming kept him in perfect condition and best of all he had never fought before his curly white mane stood up with rage and his eyes and his big and he was splendid to look at old sea catch his father saw him tearing past the old about as though they had been and the young in all directions and sea catch gave one roar and he may be a fool but he is the best on the don t tackle your father my son he s with you roared in answer and old sea catch in his on end blowing like a while and the seal that was going to marry down and admired their men folk it was a gorgeous fight for the two fought as long as there was a seal that dared lift up his head and then they up and down the beach side by side at night just as the northern lights were and flashing through the fog climbed a bare rock and looked down on the scattered and the torn and bleeding now he said i ve taught you your lesson the white seal my wig said old sea catch himself up stiffly for he was fearfully the whale himself could not have cut them up worse son i m proud of you and what s more come with you to your island if there is such a place hear you fat pigs of the sea who comes with me to the sea cow s answer or i shall teach you again roared there was a murmur like the ripple of the tide all up and down the we will come said thousands of tired voices we will follow the white seal then dropped his head between his shoulders and shut his eyes proudly he was not a white seal any more but red from head to tail all the same he would have scorned to look at or touch one of his wounds a week later he and his army nearly ten thousand and old went away north to the sea cow s leading them and the that stayed at called them but next spring when they all met off the fishing banks of the pacific s told such tales of the new beyond sea cow s that more and more left it the book of course it was not all done at once for the need a long time to turn things over in their minds but year by year more went away from and and the other to the quiet sheltered where sits all the summer through getting bigger and and stronger each year while the play round him in that sea where no man comes this is the great deep sea song that all the st paul sing when they are back to their in the summer it is a sort of very sad seal national i met my mates in the and oh but i am old where roaring on the the summer ground swell rolled i heard them lift the chorus that dropped the song the of two million voices strong the song of pleasant stations beside the salt the song of blowing that down the the song of midnight dances that the sea to flame t te of before the came the white seal i met my mates in the morning i u never meet them more they came and went in that darkened all the shore and through the as far as voice could reach we hailed the landing parties and we sang them up the beach the of winter wheat so tall the dripping y and the sea fog ing all the of our all shining smooth and worn the of the home where we were born i meet my mates in the morning a broken scattered band men shoot us in the water and club us on the land men drive us to the salt house like silly sheep and tame and still we sing before the came wheel down wheel down to southward oh go and tell the deep sea the story of our woe ere empty as the s egg the tempest ashore the of know their sons no more at the where he went in red eye called to skin hear what red re come up and with eye to eye and head to head this shan end when one is dead at thy pleasure tom and twist for twist run and hide thee the death has missed woe thee i i his is the story of the great war that x single handed through the bath rooms of the big in the tailor bird helped him and the who never comes out into the middle of the floor but always round by the wall gave him advice but did the real fighting he was a rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail but quite like a in his head and his habits his eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink he could scratch himself anywhere he pleased with any leg front or back that he chose to use he could up his tail till it looked like a bottle brush and his the book war cry as he through the long was one day a high summer flood washed him out of the where he lived with his father and mother and carried him kicking and down a roadside ditch he found a little of grass floating there and clung to it | 39 |
till he lost his senses when he revived he was lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden path very indeed and a small boy was saying here s a dead let s have a funeral no said his mother let s take him in and dry hi n perhaps he is n t really dead they took him into the house and a big man picked him up between his finger and thumb and said he was not dead but half choked so they wrapped him in cotton wool and warmed him and he opened his eyes and now said the big man he was an englishman who had just moved into the don t frighten him and we see what he do it is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity the motto of all the family is run and find out and was a true he looked at th i cotton wool decided that it was not good to eat ran all round the table sat up and put his fur order scratched himself and jumped on the small boy s shoulder don t be frightened said his that s his way of making friends he s under my chin said looked down between the boy s collar and neck at his ear climbed down to the floor rubbing his nose good gracious said s mother and that s a wild creature suppose he s so tame because we ve been kind to him all are like that said her husband if does n t pick him up by the tail or try to put him in a cage he run in and out of the house all day long let s give him something to eat i he the book they gave him a little piece of raw meat liked it immensely and when it was finished he went out into the and sat in the sunshine and up his fur to make it dry to the roots then he felt there are more things to find out about in this house he said to himself than all my could find out in all their lives i shall certainly stay and find out he spent all that day over the house he nearly drowned himself in the bath put his nose into the ink on a writing table and burned it on the end of the big man s cigar fu le climbed up in the big man s lap to see how writing was done at nightfall he ran into s nursery to watch how lamps were lighted and when went to bed climbed up too but he was a restless companion because he had to get up and attend to every noise all through the night and find out what made it s mother and father came in the last thing to look at their boy and was awake on the pillow i don t like that said s mother he may bite the child he do no such thing said the father s safer with that little beast than if he had a to watch him if a snake came into the nursery now iso the book m but s mother would ji t think of anything so awful early in the morning came to early breakfast in the riding on s shoulder and they gave him and some boiled egg and he sat on all their one after the other because every well brought up always hopes a house some day and have rooms to run about in she used to live in the general s house at had carefully told what to do if ever he came across white men then went out into the garden to it was a large garden see what was to be seen only half cultivated with bushes as big as summer houses of roses li e and orange trees of and of high grass licked his lips thi i i is a splendid hunting ground he said and his tail grew at the thought of it and he up and down the garden here and there till he heard very sorrowful voices in a thorn bush it was the tailor bird and his wife i they h made a beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and them up the i edges with and had filled the hollow with i the book cotton and the nest swayed to and fro as they sat on the rim and cried what is the matter asked we are very miserable said one of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday and ate him h m said that is very sad but i am a stranger here who is and his wife only down in the nest without answering for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush there came a hiss a horrid cold sound that made jump back two clear feet then inch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of the big black and he was five feet long from tongue to tail when he had lifted one third of himself clear of the ground he stayed to and fro exactly as a dan ion in the wind and he looked at with the wicked snake s eyes that never change their expression whatever the snake may be thinking of who is he said am the great god put his mark upon all our people when the first spread his hood to keep the sun off as he slept look and be afraid he spread out his hood more than ever and saw the spectacle mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook and eye he was afraid for the minute but it is impossible for a to | 39 |
stay frightened for any length of time and though had never met a live before his mother had fed him on dead ones and he knew that all a grown s business in life was to fight and eat knew that too and at the bottom of his cold heart he was afraid well said and his tail began to up again marks or no marks do you think it is right for you to eat out of a nest was thinking to himself and watching the least little movement in the grass behind he knew that in the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family but he wanted to get off his guard so he dropped his head a little and put it on one side let us talk he said you eat eggs why should not i eat birds behind you look behind you sang knew better than to waste time in m the book he jumped up in the air as high as he could and just und him by the head of s wife she had crept up him as he was talking to make an end of him and he heard her savage hiss as the ce missed he came down almost across her k id if he had been an old he would have known that then was the time to break her back with one bite but he was afraid of the terrible return stroke of the he bit indeed but did not bite long enough and he dear of the tail leaving torn and angry wicked said up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thorn bush but had built it out of reach of and it only swayed to and fro felt his eyes growing red and hot when a s eyes grow red he is angry and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little and looked all around him and with rage but and had disappeared into the grass when a snake its stroke it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next did not care to follow them for he did not feel sure that he could manage two at once so he trotted off to the gravel path near the house and sat down to think it was a serious matter for him if you read the old books of natural history you will find they say that when the fights the snake and happens to get bitten he runs off and eats some that him that is not true the victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot snake s blow against s jump and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake s head when it strikes that makes things much more wonderful than any magic knew he was a young and it made him all the more pleased to think that he had managed to escape a blow from behind it gave him confidence in himself and when came running down the path was ready to be but just as was stooping something a little in the dust and a tiny voice said be careful i am death it was the dusty brown that lies ft i i on the dusty earth and his bite is as dangerous as the s but he is so small that nobody thinks of him and so he does the more harm to people s eyes grew red again and h the book danced up to with the peculiar rocking swaying motion that he had inherited from his family it looks very funny but it is so perfectly balanced a gait that you can fly off from it at any angle you please and in dealing with this is an advantage if had only known he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting for is so small and can turn so quickly that unless bit him close to the back of the head he would get the return stroke in his eye or lip but did not know his eyes were all red and he rocked back and forth looking for a good place to hold struck out jumped sideways and tried to run in but the wicked little dusty gray head lashed within a of his shoulder and he had to jump over the body and the head followed his heels close shouted to the house oh look here our is killing a snake and heard a scream from s mother his father ran out with a stick but by the time he came up had out once too far and had sprung jumped on the snake s back dropped his head far between his fore legs bitten as high up the back as he could ta vi get hold and rolled away that bite and was just going to eat him up from the tail after the custom of his family at dinner when he remembered that a full meal makes a slow and if he wanted all his strength and quickness ready he must keep himself thin he went away for a dust bath under the oil bushes while s father beat the dead what is the use of that thought i have settled it all and then s mother picked him up from the dust and him crying that he had saved from death and s father said that he was a providence and looked on with big scared eyes was rather amused at all the fuss which of course he did not understand s mother might just as well have for playing in the dust was thoroughly enjoying himself that night at dinner walking to and fro among the wine glasses on the table he could have stuffed himself three times over with nice things but he remembered and and though it | 39 |
was very pleasant to be patted and by s mother and to sit on the book s shoulder his eyes would get red from time to time and he would go off into his long war cry of carried off to bed and insisted on sleeping under his chin was too well bred to bite or scratch but as soon as was asleep he went off for his nightly walk round the house and in the dark he ran up against the creeping round by the wall is a t he and all the night trying to make up his mind to run into the middle of the room but he never gets there don t kill me said almost weeping don t kill me do you think a snake said scornfully those who kill get killed by said more sorrowfully than ever and how am i to be sure that won t mistake me for you some dark night there s not the least danger said but is in the garden and i know you don t go there my cousin the rat told me said and then he stopped told you what h sh is everywhere you should have talked to in the garden i did n t so you must tell me quick or i bite you sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers i am a very poor man he sobbed i never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room h sh i must n t tell you anything can t you heavy the book listened the house was as still as still but he thought he could just catch the faintest scratch scratch in the world a noise as faint as that of a walking on a window pane the dry scratch of a snake s scales on that s or he said to himself and he is crawling into the bath room you re right i should have talked to he stole off to s bath room but there was nothing there and then to s mother s bath room at the bottom of the smooth plaster wall there was a brick pulled out to make a for the bath water and as stole in by the where the bath is put he heard and whispering together outside in the moonlight when the house is emptied of people said to her husband he will have to go away and then the garden will be our own again go in quietly and remember that the big man who killed is the first one to bite then come out and tell me and we will hunt for together but are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing the people said everything when there were no people in ta vi the did we have any in the garden so long as the is empty we are king and queen of the garden and remember that as soon as our eggs in the bed as they may to morrow our children will need room and quiet i had not thought of that said i will go but there is no need that we should hunt for afterward i will kill the big man and his wife and the child if i can and come away quietly then the will be empty and will go all over with rage an hatred at this and then s head came through the and his five feet of cold body followed it angry as he was was very frightened as he saw the size of the big himself up raised his head and looked into the bath room in the dark and could see his eyes glitter now if i kill him here will know and if i fight him on the open floor the odds are in his favor what am i to do said waved to and fro and then heard him drinking from the biggest water jar that was used to fill the bath that is good l the said the snake now when was killed the big man had a stick he may have that still but when he comes in to in the he will not have a stick i shall wait here till he comes do you hear i shall wait here in the cool till there was no answer from outside so knew hi ne away r down ci by round the at the i the v j stayed r he began to move the jar was looked at his big back wondering be the best place for a good hold li i don t break his back at the first jump said he can still fight and if he fights o he looked at the thickness of the neck below the hood but that was too much for him and a bite near the tail would only make savage t t it must be the head he said at last the v head above the hood and when i am once there i must not let go then he jumped the head was lying a little clear of the water jar under the curve of it and as his teeth met his back against the of the red to hold down the head this gave him just one second s purchase and he made the most of it then he was battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a and fro on the floor up and down and round great circles but his eyes were red and he held on as the body over the floor setting the tin and the soap dish and the i flesh brush and against the tin side of the bath as he held he closed his jaws thi book and for he made sure he would be to death and for the honor | 39 |
tumbled backward down the bed with the third egg in his mouth and to the as hard as he could put foot to the ground and his mother and father were there at early breakfast but saw that they were not eat ing anything they sat stone still and their faces were white was up on the by s chair within easy striking distance of s bare leg and she was swaying to and fro singing a song of triumph son of the big man that killed she stay still i am not ready yet wait a little keep very still all you three if you move i strike and if you do not move i strike oh foolish people who killed my s eyes were fixed on his father and all his father could do was to whisper sit still you must n t move keep still then came up and cried turn round turn and fight all in good time said she without moving her eyes i will settle my account with you presently look at your friends they are still and white they are afraid they dare not move and if you come a step nearer i strike look at your eggs said in the bed near the wall go and look the big snake turned half round and saw the the ah h give it to me she said put his one on each side of the and his eyes were blood red what mi the book m for a make s young for a for the die vary of die brood the are au die down by tbe bed i mn dear rounds forgetting for the sake the one egg and saw f shoot out a big hand it by die shoulder and drag him across le tea cups safe and out of reach of i i chuckled the is safe and it was j i t caught by the hood last night in t e bath room then he began to jump up and down all four feet together his head close to the floor he threw me to and fro but he could not shake me off he was dead before the big man blew him in two i did it come then come and fight with me you shall not be a widow long saw that she had lost her chance of killing and the lay between s give me the me the last of my eggs and i will go away and never come back she said lowering her hood yes you will go away and you will never back for you will go to the rubbish heap fight the big man gone for his gun fight was i bounding all round keeping just out of reach of her stroke his little eyes ke hot coals gathered herself together and hung out at him jumped up and backward again and again and again she struck and each on the of the and she gathered herself together like a watch spring then danced in a circle to get behind io the book her and spun round to keep her head to his head so that the rustle of her tail on the sounded like dry leaves blown along by the wind he had forgotten the egg it still lay on the and came nearer and nearer to it till at last while was drawing breath she caught it in her mouth turned to the steps and flew like an arrow down the path with behind her when the runs for her life she goes like a across a horse s neck knew that he must catch her or all the trouble would begin again she headed straight for the long grass by the thorn bush and as he was running heard still singing his foolish little song of triumph but s wife was wiser she flew off her nest as came along and her wings about s head if had helped they might have turned her but only lowered her hood and went on still the instant s delay brought up to her and as she plunged into the rat hole where she and used to live his little white teeth were clenched on her tail and he went down with her and very few however wise and old they may be care to follow a into its hole it was dark in the hole and never knew when it might open out and give room to turn and strike at him he held on savagely and struck out his feet to act as on the dark slope of the hot moist earth then the grass by the mouth of the hole stopped waving and said it is all over with we must sing his is dead for will surely kill him so he sang a very mournful song that he made up all on the spur of the minute and just as he got to the most touching part the grass quivered again and covered with dirt dragged himself out of the hole leg by leg his whiskers stopped with a little shout shook some of the dust out of his fur and it is all over he said the widow will never come out again and the red that live between the grass stems heard him and began to troop down one after another to see if he had spoken the truth curled himself up in the grass and slept where he was slept and slept till it was late in the afternoon for he had done a hard day s work io the book now he said when he awoke i will go back to the house tell the and he will tell the garden that is dead the is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the beating of a little hammer on a copper pot and | 39 |
the reason he is always making it is because he is the town to every indian garden and tells all the news to everybody who cares to listen as went up the path he heard his attention notes like a tiny and then the steady is dead is dead that set all the birds in the garden singing and the for and used to eat as well as little birds when got to the house and s mother she looked very white still for she had been fainting and s father came out and almost cried over him and that night he ate all that was given him till he could eat no more and went to bed on s shoulder where s mother saw him when she came to look late at night he saved our lives and s life she said to her husband just think he saved all our lives woke up with a jump for all the are light oh it s you said he what are you for all the are dead and if they were n t i m here had a right to be proud of himself but he did not grow too proud and he kept that garden as a should keep it with tooth and jump and spring and bite till never a dared show its head inside the walls s t in honor of singer and tailor am i doubled the joys that i know i of my through the sky proud of the house that i over and under so i my music so i the house that i sing to your again mother oh lift up your head us is slain death in the garden lies dead terror that hid in the roses is impotent flung the hill and dead who hath delivered us who tell me his nest and his name the the true with of flame the ivory the hunter balls of ith eye give him the thanks of the birds bowing with tail feathers spread praise him with words nay i will praise him instead hear i will sing you the praise of the bottle with of red here interrupted and the rest of the song is lost of the will remember what i was i nm sick of rope and chain i will old strength and all my forest affairs t will hat sell my back to man for a bundle of sugar cane i will go out tu my own kind and the wood folk iii their i will go out until the day until the morning break out to the winds kiss the waters clean caress i will forget my ankle ring and snap my stake i will my lost loves and of the which means black snake had served the indian government in every way that an elephant could serve it for years and as he was fully twenty years old when he was caught that makes him nearly seventy a ripe age for an elephant he remembered pushing with a big leather on his forehead at a gun stuck in deep mud and that was before the war of and he had not then come to his full strength his mother the darling who had been caught in the same drive with told him before his little milk had dropped out that who were afraid always got i the book hurt and knew that that advice was good for the first time that he saw a shell burst he backed screaming into a stand of piled and the pricked him in all his places so before he was twenty five he gave up being afraid and so he was the best loved and the best looked after elephant in the service of tlie government of india he had carried tents twelve hundred pounds weight of tents on the march in upper india he had been hoisted into a ship at the end of a steam and taken for days across the water and made to carry a mortar on his back in a strange and rocky country very far from india and had seen the emperor lying dead in and had come back again in the steamer entitled so the soldiers said to the war he had seen his fellow die of cold and and starvation and up at a place called ten years later and afterward he had been sent down thousands of miles south to haul and pile big of in the timber yards at there he had half killed an young elephant who was his fair share of the work after that he was taken off timber and employed with a few score other i of the who were trained to the business in helping to catch wild among the hills are very strictly preserved by the indian government there is one whole department which does nothing else but hunt them and catch them and break them in and send them up and down the country as they are needed for work stood ten fair feet at the shoulders and his had been cut off short at five feet and bound round the ends to prevent them with bands of copper but he could do more with those than any elephant could do with the real sharpened ones when after weeks and weeks of cautious driving of scattered across the hills the forty or fifty wild monsters were driven into the last and the big drop gate made of tree trunks lashed together down behind them at the word of command would go into that generally at night when the of the made it difficult to judge distances and picking out the biggest and wildest of the mob would hammer him and him into quiet while the men on the backs of the other and tied the smaller ones the book there was nothing | 39 |
in the way of fighting that the old wise black snake did not know for he had stood up more than once in his time to the of the wounded tiger and curling up his soft trunk to be out of harm s way had knocked the springing brute sideways in air with a quick cut of his head that he had invented all by himself had knocked him over and upon him with his huge knees till the life went out with a gasp and a howl and there was only a striped thing on the ground for to pull by the tail yes said big his driver the son of black who had taken him to and of of the who had seen him caught there is nothing that the black snake fears except me he has seen three generations of us feed him and groom him and he will live to see four j he is afraid of me also said little i standing up to his full height of four feet with only one rag upon him he was ten years old the eldest son of big and according to custom he would take his father s place on s neck when he grew up and would handle the heavy iron the elephant that had of the been worn smooth by his father and his grandfather and his great grandfather he knew what he was talking of for he had been born under s shadow had played with the end of his trunk before he could walk had taken him down to water as soon as he could walk and would no more have dreamed of his shrill little orders than he would have dreamed of killing him on that day when big carried the little brown baby under s and told him to salute his master that was to be yes said little he is afraid of and he took long strides up to called him a fat old pig and made him lift up his feet one after the other said little thou art a big elephant and he his head quoting his father the government may pay for but they belong to us when thou art old there will come some rich and he will buy thee from the government on account of thy size and thy manners and then thou wilt have nothing to do but to carry gold in thy ears and a gold on thy back and a red cloth covered with gold on thy sides and walk at the head of the the book of the king then i shall sit on thy neck o with a silver and men will run before us with golden sticks crying room for the king s elephant that will be good but not so good as this hunting in the said big thou art a boy and as wild as a calf this running up and down among the hills is not the best government service i am getting old and i do not love wild give me brick one stall to each elephant and big to tie them to safely and flat broad roads to exercise upon instead of this come and go the were good there was a close by and only three hours work a day little remembered the elephant lines and said nothing he very much preferred the camp life and hated those broad flat roads with the daily for grass in the reserve and the long hours when there was nothing to do except to watch in his what little liked was to scramble up bridle paths that only an elephant could take the dip into the valley below the glimpses of of the the wild miles away the rush of the frightened pig and under s feet the blinding warm rains when all the hills and valleys smoked the beautiful misty mornings when nobody knew where they would camp that night the steady cautious drive of the wild and the mad rush and blaze and of the last nights drive when the poured into the like in a found that they could not get out and flung themselves at the heavy posts only to be driven back by and and of blank even a little boy could be of use there and was as useful as three boys he would get his torch and wave it and yell with the best but the really good time came when the driving out began and the that is the looked like a picture of the end of the world and men had to make signs to one another because they could not hear themselves speak then little would climb up to the top of one of the quivering posts his sun brown hair flying loose all over his shoulders and he looking like a in the torch light and as soon as there was a lull you could hear his high pitched of encouragement to the book above the and crashing and snapping of ropes and groans of the mail mail go on go on black snake do give him the i careful careful mar hit him hit him mind the post f hai f a ah he would shout and the big fight between and the wild elephant would sway to and fro across the and the old elephant would wipe the sweat out of their eyes and nd time to nod to little with joy on the top of the posts he did more than one night he slid down from the post and slipped in between the and threw up the loose end of a rope which had dropped to a driver who was trying to get a purchase on the leg of a kicking young calf always give more trouble than animals saw him caught him in his trunk and handed him up to big who him then and there and put him | 39 |
back on the post next morning he gave him a scolding and said are not good brick elephant lines and a little tent carrying enough that thou must needs go elephant catching on thy own account little of the worthless now those hunters whose pay is less than my pay have spoken to of the matter little was frightened he did not know much of white men but was the greatest white man in the world to him he was the head of all the operations the man who caught all the for the government of india and who knew more about the ways of than any living man what what will happen said little happen the worst that can happen is a madman else why should he go hunting these wild devils he may even require thee to be an elephant to sleep anywhere in these fever filled and at last to be trampled to death in the it is well that this nonsense ends safely next week the catching is over and we of the plains are sent back to our stations then we will march on smooth roads and forget all this hunting but son i am angry that thou in the business that belongs to these dirty will obey none but me so i must go with him into the but he is only a fighting elephant and he does not help to the book rope them so i sit at my ease as a not a mere hunter a i say and a man who gets a n at the end of his service is the family of of the to be trodden in the dirt of a bad one wicked one worthless son go and wash and attend to his ears and see that there are no thorns in his feet or else will surely catch thee and make thee a wild hunter a of elephant s foot tracks a bear shame go little went off without saying a word but he told all his while he was examining his feet no matter said turning up the fringe of s huge right ear they have said my name to and perhaps and perhaps and perhaps who knows hai that is a big thorn that i have pulled out the next few days were spent in getting the together in walking the newly caught wild up and down between a couple of tame ones to prevent them from giving too much trouble on the downward march to the plains and in taking stock of the blankets and ropes and things that had been worn out or lost in the forest of the came in on his clever he had been paying off other among the hills for the season was coming to an end and there was a native clerk sitting at a table under a tree to pay the drivers their wages as each man was paid he went back to his elephant and joined the line that stood ready to start the and hunters and the men of the regular who stayed in the year in and year out sat on the backs of the that belonged to s permanent force or leaned against the trees with their guns across their arms and made fun of the drivers who were going away and laughed when the newly caught broke the line and ran about big went up to the clerk with little behind him and the said in an to a friend of his there goes one piece of good at least t is a pity to send that young cock to in the plains now had ears all over him as a man must have who to the most silent of all living things the wild elephant he turned where he was lying all along on s back and said what is that i did not the book know of a man among the plain drivers who had wit enough to rope even a dead elephant this is not a man but a boy he went into the at the last drive and threw there the rope when we were trying to get that young calf with the on his shoulder away from his mother pointed at little and looked and little bowed to the earth he throw a rope he is smaller than a pin little one what is thy name said little was too frightened to but was behind him and made a sign with his hand and the elephant caught him up in his trunk and held him level with s forehead in front of the great then little covered his face with his hands for he was only a child and except where were concerned he was just as as a child could be said smiling underneath his and why thou thy elephant that trick was it to help thee steal green corn from the roofs of the houses when the ears are put out to dry i of the not green corn protector of the poor said little and all the men sitting about broke into a roar of laughter most of them had taught their that trick when they were boys little was hanging eight feet up in the air and he wished very much that he were eight feet he is my son said big he is a very bad boy and he will end in a jail of that i have my doubts said a boy who can face a full at his age does not end in see little one here are four to spend in because thou hast a little head under that great of hair in time thou may est become a hunter too big more than ever remember though that are not good for children to play in went on must i never go there asked little with a | 39 |
big gasp yes smiled again when thou hast seen the dance that is the proper time come to me when thou hast seen the dance and then i will let thee go into all the the book there was another roar of laughter for is an old joke among elephant and means just never there are great cleared flat places hidden away in the forests that are called but even these are found only by accident and no man has ever seen the dance when a driver of his i skill and bravery the other drivers say and i when i see the dance put little down and he i bowed to the earth again and went away with his father and gave the silver four piece to his mother who was nursing his baby brother and they all were put up on s back and the line of rolled down the hill path to the plains it was a very lively march on account of the new who gave trouble at every ford and who needed or beating every other minute big for he was very angry but little was too happy to speak had noticed him and given him money so he felt as a private soldier would feel if he had been called out of the ranks and praised by his commander in chief what did mean by the elephant dance he said at last softly to his mother of the big heard him and that thou never be one of these hill of that was what he meant oh you in front what is the way an driver two or three ahead turned round angrily crying bring up and knock this of mine into good behavior why should have chosen me to go down with you of the rice fields lay your beast alongside and let him with his by all the gods of the hills these new are possessed or else they can smell their companions in the hit the new elephant in the ribs and knocked the wind out of him as big said we have swept the hills of wild at the last catch it is only your carelessness in driving must i keep order along the whole line hear him said the other driver we have swept the hills ho ho you are very wise you plains people any one but a who never saw the would know that they know that the drives are ended for the season therefore all the wild tonight will but why should i waste wisdom on a river i o the book what will they do little called out little one art thou there well i will tell thee for thou hast a cool head they will dance and it thy father who has swept all the hills of all the to double chain his to night what talk is this said big for forty years father and son we have tended and we have never heard such about dances yes but a plains man who lives in a hut knows only the four walls of his hut well leave thy to night and see what comes as for their dancing i have seen the place where how many has the river here is another ford and we must swim the stop still you behind there and in this way talking and and through the rivers they made their first march to a sort of receiving camp for the new but they lost their long before they got there then the were chained by their hind legs to their big of and extra ropes were fitted to the new and the of the was piled before them and the hill drivers went back to through the afternoon light telling the plains drivers to be extra careful that night and laughing when the asked the reason little attended to s supper and as evening fell wandered through the camp happy in search of a tom tom when an indian child s heart is full he does not run about and make a noise in an irregular fashion he sits down to a sort of all by himself and little had been spoken to by if he had not found what he wanted i believe he would have burst but the in the camp lent him a little tom tom a drum beaten with the flat of the hand and he sat down cross legged before as the stars to come out the in his lap and he and he and he and the more he thought of the great honor that had been done to him the more he all alone among the elephant there was no tune and no words but the made him happy the new strained at their ropes and and from time to time and he could hear his mother in the camp hut putting j the book his small brother to sleep with an old old song about the great god who once told all the animals what they should eat it is a very soothing and the first verse says who poured the harvest and made the winds to blow sitting at the of a day of long ago gave to each his food and and fate from the king upon the to the beggar at the gate all things made he the he made all thorn for the for the and mother s heart for sleepy head o little son of mine i little came in with a joyous a at the end of each verse till he felt sleepy and stretched himself on the at s side at last the began to lie down one after another as is their custom till only at the right of the line was left standing up and he rocked slowly from side to side his ears put forward to listen to the night wind | 39 |
the ground had been trampled down as hard as a brick floor some trees grew in the of the clearing but their bark was rubbed away and the white wood beneath showed all shiny and polished in the patches of moonlight there were hanging from the upper branches and the bells of the of the great white things like hung down fast asleep but within the limits of the clearing there was not a single blade of green nothing but the trampled earth the book the moonlight showed it all iron gray except where some stood upon it and their shadows were black little looked holding his breath with his eyes starting out of his head and as he looked more and more and more swung out into the open from between the tree trunks little could count only up to ten and he counted again and again on his fingers till he lost count of the and his head began to swim outside the clearing he could hear them crashing in the as they worked their way up the but as soon as they were within the circle of the tree trunks they moved like ghosts there were white wild with fallen leaves and nuts and twigs lying in the wrinkles of their necks and the folds of their ears fat slow footed she with restless little black only three or four feet high running under their young with their just beginning to show and very proud of them with their hollow anxious faces and trunks like rough bark savage old bull from shoulder to flank with great and cuts of fights and the dirt of their solitary mud dropping from of the their shoulders and there was one with a broken and the marks of the full stroke the terrible drawing scrape of a tiger s claws on his side they were standing head to head or walking to and fro across the ground in couples or rocking and swaying all by themselves scores and scores of knew that so long as he lay still on s neck nothing would happen to him for even in the rush and scramble of a a wild elephant does not reach up with his trunk and drag a man off the neck of a tame elephant and these were not thinking of men that night once they started and put their ears forward when they heard the of a leg iron in the forest but it was s pet elephant her chain snapped short off up the she must have broken her and come straight from s camp and little saw another elephant one that he did not know with deep rope on his back and breast he too must have run away some camp in the hills about at last there was no sound of any more moving in the forest and rolled out from his station between the trees and went the book into the middle of the crowd and and all the began to talk in their own tongue and to move about still lying down looked down upon scores and scores of broad backs and ears and tossing trunks and little rolling eyes he heard the click of as they crossed other by accident and the dry rustic of trunks together and the of enormous sides and shoulders in the crowd and the incessant and of the great tails then a cloud came over the moon and he sat in black darkness but the quiet steady and pushing and went on just the same he knew that there were all round and that there was no chance of him out of the assembly so he set his teeth and shivered in a at least there was torch light and shouting but here he was all alone in the dark and once a trunk came up and touched him on the knee then an elephant and they all took it up for five or ten terrible seconds the dew from the trees above down like rain on the unseen backs and a dull noise began not very loud at first and little could not tell what it was but it grew and grew and lifted up one fore foot and then little of the the other and brought them down on the ground one two one two as steadily as trip the were stamping altogether now and it sounded like a war drum beaten at the mouth of a cave the dew fell from the trees till there was no more left to fall and the went on and the ground rocked and shivered and little put his hands up to his ears to shut out the sound but it was all one gigantic jar that ran through him this stamp of hundreds of heavy feet on the raw earth once or twice he could feel and all the others forward a few strides and the would change to the crushing sound of green things being bruised but in a minute or two the boom of feet on hard earth began again a tree was creaking and groaning somewhere near him he put out his arm and felt the bark but moved forward still and he could not tell where he was in the clearing there was no sound from the except once when two or three little together then he heard a and a and the went on it must have lasted fully two hours and little ached in every nerve but he knew by the smell of the night air that the dawn was coming the book the morning broke in one sheet of pale yellow behind the green hills and the with the first ray as though the light had been an order before little had got the ringing out of his head before even he had shifted his there was not an elephant in sight except and the elephant | 39 |
with the rope and there was neither sign nor nor whisper down the to show where the others had gone little stared again and again the clearing as he remembered it had grown in the night more trees stood in the middle of it but the and the grass at the sides had been rolled back little stared once more now he understood the the had stamped out more room had stamped the thick grass and cane to into the into tiny and the into hard earth said little and his eyes were very heavy my lord let us keep by and go lo s camp or i shall drop from thy neck the third elephant watched the two go away wheeled round and took his own path le may have belonged to some little of the king s establishment fifty or sixty or a hundred miles away two hours later as was eating early breakfast his who had been double chained that night began to trumpet and to the shoulders with very foot sore into the camp little s face was gray and pinched and his hair was full of leaves and with dew but he tried to salute and cried faintly the dance the elephant dance i have seen it and i die as sat down he slid off his neck in a dead faint but since native children have no nerves worth speaking of in two hours he was lying very in s with s shooting coat under his head and a glass of warm milk a little brandy with a dash of inside of him and while the old hairy hunters of the sat three deep before him looking at him as though he were a spirit he told his tale in short words as a child will and wound up with now if i lie in one word send men to see and they will find that the elephant folk have trampled down more room in their dance room and they will find ten and ten and many times the book ten tracks leading to that dance room tbey made more room with their feet have seen it me and i saw also is very g little lay back and slept all through the long afternoon and into the twilight and while he slept and followed the track of the two for fifteen miles the had spent eighteen years in catching and he had only once before found such a dance place had no need to look twice at the clearing tu see what had been done there or to scratch ills toe in the packed earth the child speaks truth said he all this was done last night and i have counted seventy tracks crossing the river see where s leg iron cut the bark of that tree yes she was there too tliey looked at each other and up and down and they wondered for the ways of are beyond the wit of any man black or white to p years and five said have i followed my lord the elephant but never have i heart that any child of man had seen what this child has seen by all the of the of the hills it is what can we say and he shook his head when they got back to camp it was time for the evening meal ate alone in his tent but he gave orders that the camp should have two sheep and some fowls as well as a double of flour and rice and salt for he knew that there would be a feast big had come up hot foot from the camp in the plains to search for his son and his elephant and now that he had found them he looked at them as though he were afraid of them both and there was a feast by the blazing in front of the lines of and little was the hero of it all and the big brown elephant the and drivers and and the men who know all the secrets of breaking the wildest passed him from one to the other and they marked his forehead with blood from the breast of a newly killed cock to show that he was a and free of all the and at last when the flames died down and the red light of the logs made the look as though they had been dipped in blood too the head of all the drivers of all the s x s s the book other who had never seen a made road m forty years who was so great that he had no other name than leaped to his feet with little held high in the air above his head and shouted listen my brothers listen too you my lords in the lines there for i am this little one shall no more be called little but of the as his great grandfather was called before him what never man has seen he has seen through the night and the favor of the elephant folk and of the gods of the is with him he shall become a great he shall become greater than i even i he shall follow the new trail and the stale trail and the mixed trail with a clear eye i he shall take no harm in the when he runs under their to rope the wild and if he slips before the feet of the charging bull elephant that bull elephant shall know who he is and shall not crush him my lords in the chains he whirled up the line of here is the little one that has seen your dances in your hidden places the sight that never man saw give him honor my lords my children make your salute to of the to ll i of the thou hast seen him | 39 |
that have been disturbing the camp all right you be beaten for this in the morning but i may as well give you something on account now i heard the harness as the mule backed and caught the two in the ribs that rang like a drum another time he said you know better than to run through a at night shouting thieves and fire sit down and keep your silly neck quiet the doubled up fashion like a two foot rule and sat down there was a regular beat of hoofs in the darkness and a big troop horse up as steadily as though he were on parade jumped a gun tail and landed close to the mule it s disgraceful he said blowing out his nostrils those have through our lines again the third time this week how s a horse to keep his condition if he is n t allowed to sleep who s here i m the piece mule of number two gun of the first screw battery said the mule and the other s one of your friends he me up too who are you number fifteen e troop ninth her majesty s servants dick s horse stand over a little there oh beg your pardon said the mule it s too dark to see much are n t these too sickening for anything i walked out of my lines to get a little peace and quiet here my lords said the humbly we dreamed bad dreams in the night and we were very much afraid i am only a baggage of the th native and i am not so brave as you are my lords then why the did n t you stay and carry baggage for the th native instead of running all round the camp said the mule they were such very bad dreams said the i am sorry listen what is that shall we run on again sit down said the mule or you snap your long legs between the guns he cocked one ear and listened he said gun on my word you and your friends have the camp very thoroughly it takes a good deal of to put up a gun i heard a chain dragging along the ground and a yoke of the great sulky white that drag the book the heavy siege guns when the won t go any nearer to the firing came along together and almost stepping on the chain was another battery mule calling wildly for that s one of our said the old mule to the troop horse he s calling for me here stop the dark never hurt anybody yet the gun lay down together and began the but the young mule close to things i he said fearful and horrible things i they came into our lines while we were asleep d you think they ii kill us i ve a very great mind to give you a number one kicking said the idea of a fourteen hand mule with your training the battery before this gentleman gently gently said the troop horse remember they are always like this to begin with the first time i ever saw a man it was in when i was a three year old i ran half a day and if i d seen a i should been running still nearly all our horses for the english cavalry are brought to india from and are broken in by the themselves i her majesty s servants i true enough said stop shaking the first time they put the full harness with all its chains on my back i stood on my fore legs and kicked every bit of it off ii had n t learned the real science of kicking then but the battery said they had never seen anything like it but this was n t harness or anything that said the young mule you know i don t mind that now it was things like trees and they fell up and down the lines and and my head rope broke and i could n t find my driver and i could n t find you so i ran off with with these gentlemen h ml said as soon as i heard the were loose i came away on my own account quietly when a battery a screw gun mule calls gun gentlemen he must be very badly shaken up who are you fellows on the ground there the gun rolled their and answered both together the seventh yoke of the first gun of the big gun battery we were asleep when the came but when we were trampled on we got up and walked away it is better to lie quiet in the mud than to be disturbed on good we told your friend the book here that there was nothing to be afraid of but hi knew so much that he thought otherwise they went on that comes of being afraid said you get laughed at by gun i hope you like it young un the young mule s teeth snapped and i him say something about not being afraid of any old in the world but the only their horns together and went on now don t be angry after you ve afraid that s the worst kind of cowardice the troop horse anybody can be forgiven scared in the night think if they see things they don t understand we ve broken out of our again and again four hundred and fifty of us just because a new got to telling tales of whip at home in till we were scared to death of the loose ends of our head ropes that s all er well in camp said i m not e myself for the fun of the u n t been out for a day or two but it do ou do on | 39 |
still and wait and yet said you dream bad dreams and upset the camp at night well well before i d lie down not to speak of sitting down and let a man fire across me my heels and his head would have something to say to each other did you ever hear anything so awful as that there was a long silence and then one of the gun lifted up his big head and said this is very foolish indeed there is only one way of fighting oh go on said please don t mind me i suppose you fellows fight standing on your tails only one way said the two together they must have been this is that way to put all twenty yoke of us to the big gun as soon as two tails trumpets two tails is camp for the elephant what does two tails trumpet for said the young mule to show that he is not going any nearer to the smoke on the other side two tails is a the book great coward then we the big gun all we do not like cats nor run like we go across the level plain twenty yoke of us till we are again and we while the big guns talk across the plain to some town with mud walls and pieces of the wall fall out and the dust goes up as though many cattle were coming home oh and you choose that time for ing you said the young mule that time or any other eating is always good we eat till we are up again and the gun back to where two tails is waiting for it sometimes there are big guns in the city that speak back and some of us are killed and then there is all the more for those that are left this is fate nothing but fate none the less two tails is a great coward that is the proper way to fight we are brothers from our father was a sacred bull of we have spoken well i ve certainly learned something tonight said the troop horse do you gentlemen of the screw gun battery feel inclined to eat when you are being fired at with big guns and two tails is behind you her majesty s servants about as much as we feel inclined to sit down and let men all over us or run into people with knives i never heard such stuff a mountain ledge a well balanced load a driver you can trust to let you pick your own way and i m your mule but the other things no said with a stamp of his foot of course said the troop horse every one is not made in the same way and i can quite see that your family on your father s side would fail to understand a great many things never you mind my family on my father s side said angrily for every mule hates to be reminded that his father was a donkey my father was a southern gentleman and he could pull down and bite and kick into rags every horse he came across remember that you big brown means wild horse without any breeding imagine the feelings of if a called her a and you can imagine how the horse felt i saw the white of his eye glitter in the dark see here you son of an imported he said between his teeth i d have you know that i m related on my mother s side to of the cup and i the book h where come from we are n t accustomed to being ridden over by any pig headed mule in a pop gun battery are you ready on your hind legs they both reared up facing each other and i was expecting a furious fight when a voice called out of the darkness to the right children what are you fighting about there he quiet both beasts dropped down with a of dis just for neither horse nor mule can bear to listen to an elephant s voice it s two tails said the troop horse i can t stand him a tail at each end is n t fair my feelings exactly said crowding into the troop horse for company we re very alike in some things i suppose we ve inherited them from our mothers said the troop horse it s not worth about hi two tails are you tied up yes said two tails with a laugh all up his trunk i m for the night i ve heard what you fellows have been saying but don t be afraid i m not coming over the and the said half aloud r her majesty s servants afraid of two tails what nonsense and the went on we are sorry that you heard but it is true two tails why are you afraid of the guns when they fire well said two tails rubbing one hind leg against the other exactly like a little boy saying a piece i don t quite know whether you d understand we but we have to pull the guns said the i know it and i know you are a good deal than you think you are but it s different with me my battery captain called me a the other day that s another way of fighting i suppose said who was recovering his spirits vou don t know what that means of course but i do it means and between and that is just where i am i can see inside my head what will happen when a shell bursts and you can t i can said the troop horse at least a little bit i try not to think about it i can see more than you and i do think about it i know | 39 |
there s a great deal of me to take care of and i know that nobody knows how to cure me when i m sick all they can do is to the book stop my driver s pay till i get well and i can t trust my driver ah said the troop horse that explains it i can trust dick you could put a whole regiment of on my back without making me feel any better i know just enough to be uncomfortable and enough to go on in spite of it we do not understand said the i know you don t i m not talking to you you don t know what blood is we do said the it is red stuff that into the ground and smells the troop horse gave a kick and a bound and a don t talk of it he said i can smell it now just thinking of it it makes me want to run when i have n t dick on my back but it is not here said the and the why are you so stupid it s vile said i don t want to run but i don t want to talk about it there you are said two tails waving his tail to explain surely yes we have been here all night said the two tails stamped his foot till the iron ring her majesty s servants on it oh i m not talking to you you can t see inside your heads no we see out of our four eyes said the we see straight in front of us if i could do that and nothing else you would n t be needed to pull the big guns at all if i was like my captain he can see things inside his head before the firing begins and he shakes all over but he knows too much to run away if i was like him i could pull the guns but if i were as wise as all that i should never be here i should be a king in the forest as i used to be sleeping half the day and bathing when i liked i have n t had a good bath for a month that s all very fine said but giving a thing a long name does n t make it any better h sh said the troop horse i think i understand what two tails means you understand better in a minute said two tails angrily now just you explain to me why you don t like this t he began furiously at the top of his trumpet stop that said and the troop horse together and i could hear them stamp and shiver an elephant s is always nasty especially on a dark night s the book i shan t stop said two tails won t you explain that please then he stopped suddenly and i heard a little in the dark and knew that had found me at last she knew as well as i did that if there is one thing in the world the elephant is more afraid of than another it is a little barking dog so she stopped to bully two tails in his and round his big feet two tails and go away little dog he said don t snuff at my ankles or i kick at you good little dog nice little then go home you little beast oh why does n t some one take her away she bite me in a minute seems to me said to the troop horse that our friend two tails is afraid of most things now if i had a full meal for every dog i ve kicked across the parade ground i should be as fat as two tails nearly i whistled and ran up to me muddy all over and licked my nose and told me a long tale about hunting for me all through the camp i never let her know that i understood beast talk or she would have taken all sorts of liberties so i her into the breast of my her majesty s servants overcoat and two tails and stamped and growled to himself extraordinary most extraordinary he said it runs in our family now where has that nasty little beast gone to i heard him feeling about with his trunk we all seem to be affected in various ways he went on blowing his nose now you gentlemen were alarmed i believe when i not alarmed exactly said the troop horse but it made me feel as though i had where my saddle ought to be don t begin again i m frightened of a little dog and the here is frightened by bad dreams in the night it is very lucky for us that we have n t all got to fight in the same way said the troop horse what i want to know said the young mule who had been quiet for a long time what want to know is why we have to fight at all because we are told to said the troop horse with a of contempt orders said the mule and his teeth snapped hat it is an order said the with a and two tails and the repeated the book i yes but who gives the orders said the mule the man who walks at your head or sits on your back or holds the nose rope or your tail said and the troop horse and the and the one after the other but who gives them the orders now you want to know too much young im said and that is one way of getting kicked all you have to do is to obey the man at your head and ask no questions he s quite right said two tails i | 39 |
can t always obey because i m and between but s right obey the man next to you who gives the order or you ii stop all the battery besides getting a the gun got up to go morning is coming they said we will go back to our lines it is true that we see only out of our eyes and we are not very clever but still we are the only people to night who have not been afraid good night you brave people nobody answered and the troop horse said lo change the conversation where s that li dog a dog means a man somewhere near here i am under the tail with my man you big her majesty s servants of a you you upset our tent my man s very angry said the he must be white of course he is said do you suppose i m looked after by a black said the let us get away quickly they plunged forward in the mud and managed somehow to run their yoke on the pole of an wagon where it now you have done it said calmly don t struggle you re hung up till daylight what on earth s the matter the went off into the long hissing that indian cattle give and pushed and crowded and and stamped and slipped and nearly fell down in the mud savagely you break your necks in a minute said the troop horse what s the matter with white men i live with em they eat us pull said the near the yoke snapped with a and they off together i never knew before what made indian cattle so afraid of englishmen we eat beef a thing the book that no cattle driver touches and of course the cattle do not like it may i be with my own chains who d have thought of two big like those losing their heads said never mind i m going to look at this man most of the white men i know have things in their pockets said the troop horse i ii leave you then i can t say i m of em myself besides white men who have n t a place to sleep in are more than likely to be thieves and i ve a good deal of government property on my back come along young un and we ii go back to our lines good night see you on parade to morrow i suppose good night old hay try to control your feelings won t you good night two tails if you pass us on the ground to morrow don t trumpet it spoils our formation the mule off the limp of an old as the s head came into my breast and gave him while who is a most conceited little dog told him about the of horses that she and i kept i m coming to the parade to morrow in i g cart she said where will you be her majesty s servants on the left hand of the second i set the time for all my troop little lady he said politely now i must go back to dick my tail s all muddy and he have two hours hard work dressing me for the parade the big parade of all the thirty thousand men was held that afternoon and and i had a good place close to the and the of with his high big black hat of wool and the great diamond star in the the first part of the review was all sunshine and the went by in wave upon wave of legs all moving together and guns all in a line till our eyes grew dizzy then the cavalry came up to the beautiful cavalry of and cocked her ear where she sat on the dog cart the second of the shot by and there was the troop horse with his tail like spun silk his head pulled into his breast one ear forward and one back setting the time for all his his legs going as smoothly as music then the big guns came by and i saw two tails and two other in line to a siege gun while twenty yoke of oxen walked behind the seventh pair had a new yoke and they looked rather stiff and tired the book last came the screw guns and the mule carried himself as though he commanded all the troops and his harness was and polished till it winked i gave a cheer all by myself for the mule but he never looked right or left the rain began to fall again and for a while it was too misty to see what the troops were doing they had made a big half circle across the plain and were spreading out into a line that line grew and grew and grew till it was three quarters of a mile long from wing to wing one solid wall of men horses and guns then it came on straight toward the and the and as it got nearer the ground began to shake like the deck of a steamer when the engines are going fast unless you have been there you cannot imagine what a effect this steady come down of troops has on the spectators even when they know it is only a review i looked at the up till then he had not shown the shadow of a sign of astonishment or anything else but now his eyes began o get bigger and bigger and he picked up the reins on his horse s neck and looked behind him for a minute it seemed as though he were going to draw his sword and his way out through the her majesty s servants men and women in the carriages at the back then the advance stopped dead the ground stood still | 39 |
ten deep they were all awake and staring in every direction but the right one i he had found sea cow at last looked down between the boy s col lar and neck he put his nose into the ink was awake on the ow he came to breakfast riding on s shoulder we are very miserable said i am said the look and be afraid but at the bottom of his cold heart was afraid he jumped up in the air and just under him by the head of in the dark he ran up against the then was battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog s wife to have a broken wing flew down the path with behind her it is all over was the best loved elephant in the service list of illustrations xiii he is afraid of me said little and he made lift up his feet one after the other he would get his torch and wave it and yell with the best not green corn protector of the poor said little little looked down upon scores and scores of broad backs to of the a had into my tent anybody can be forgiven for being scared in the night said the troop horse the man was lying on the ground and i stretched myself not to tread on him and he up at me then i heard an old long haired central chief asking questions of a native officer s brothers it was seven o clock of a very warm evening in the hills when father wolf woke up from his day s rest scratched himself yawned and spread out his one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in the tips mother wolf lay with her big gray nose dropped across i her four tumbling and the moon i shone into the mouth of the cave where they all i lived said father wolf it is time to i hunt again and he was going to spring hill when a little shadow with a tail crossed i the threshold and good luck go with you g chief of the wolves and good luck and white teeth go with the noble children the book that they forget the hungry in this world it was the the tiie wolves of india despise because lie runs about making mischief and telling tales and eating rags and pieces of leather from the village rubbish heaps they are afraid of him too because more than any one else in the is apt to go mad and then he forgets that he was ev t afraid of any one and runs through th forest biting everything in his way even the tiger hides when little goes mad for madness is the most disgraceful thing that can overtake a wild creature we call it but they call it the madness and run enter then and look said father wolf stiffly but there is no food here for a wolf no said but for so mean a person as myself a dry bone is a good feast who are we the log the people to pick and choose he to the back of the cave where he found the bone of a buck with some meat on it and sat the end merrily all thanks for this good meal he said his lips how beautiful are the noble brothers how large are their eyes and so young too indeed indeed i might have remembered that the children of kings are men from the beginning now knew as well as any one else that there is nothing so unlucky as to compliment children to their faces and it pleased him to see mother and father wolf look uncomfortable sat still rejoicing in the mischief that he had made and then he said the big one has shifted his hunting grounds he will hunt among these hills during the next moon so he has told me was the tiger who lived near the river twenty miles away he has no right father wolf began angrily by the law of the he has no right to change his quarters without fair warning he will frighten every head of game within ten miles and i i have to kill for two these days his mother did not call him the lame one for nothing said mother wolf quietly he has been lame in one foot from his birth that is why he has only killed cattle now the villagers of the are angry with him and he has here to make our villagers f s ill the book angry they will the for him he is far away and we and our children must when the grass is set alight indeed we ar very grateful to shall i tell him of your gratitude out snapped father wolf out am hunt with thy master thou hast done enough for one night i go said quietly ye can below in the i might hav saved myself the message father wolf listened and in the dark that ran down to a little river he heard the dr angry of a tiger who ha caught nothing and does not care if all the knows it the fool said father wolf to begin night s work with that noise does he that our buck are like his fat locks h sh it is neither nor buck that h to night said mother wolf it is man the had changed to a sort of that seemed to roll from every quarter o the compass it was the noise that wood and sleeping in the brothers and makes them run sometimes into the of the tiger man said father wolf showing all his white teeth are there not enough and in the that he must eat man and on our ground too the law of the which | 39 |
hungry yet he was the book not afraid look he has pushed one of my to one side already and that lame butcher would have killed him and would have run off to the while the villagers here hunted through all our in revenge keep him assuredly i will keep him lie still little o thou for the i will call thee the time will come when thou wilt hunt as he has hunted thee but what will our pack say said father wolf the law of the lays down very clearly that any wolf may when he withdraw from the pack he belongs to but as soon as his are old enough to stand on their feet he must bring them to the pack council which is generally held once a month at full moon in order that the other wolves may identify them after that inspection the are free to run where they please and until they have killed their first buck no excuse is accepted if a grown wolf of the pack one of them the punishment is death where the murderer can be found and if you think for a minute you will see that this must be so father wolf waited till his could run a little and then on the night of the pack meeting brothers took them and and mother wolf to the council rock a covered with stones and where a hundred wolves could hide the great gray lone wolf who led all the pack by strength and cunning lay out at full length on his rock and below him sat forty or wolves of every size and color from who could handle a buck alone p to young black three year who thought they could the lone wolf had led them for a year now he had fallen twice into a wolf trap in his youth and once he had been beaten and left for dead so he knew the manners and customs of men there was very little talking at the rock the tumbled over one another in the of the circle where their mothers and fathers sat and now and again a senior wolf would go quietly up to a look at him carefully and return to his place on noiseless feet sometimes a mother would push her far out into the moonlight to be sure that he had not been overlooked from his rock would cry ye know the law ye know the law look well o wolves and the anxious mothers would take up the call look look well o wolves at last and mother wolf s neck lifted as the time came father wolf pushed i the book the as they called him into the where he sat laughing and playing j some pebbles that in the never raised his head from his but went on with the monotonous cry well a muffled roar came up from behind the rocks the voice of crying ti is mine give him to me what have free people to do with a man s never even his ears all said was look well o wolves what have the free people to do with the orders of save the free people look well there was a chorus of deep and a young wolf in his fourth year flung back s question to what have the people to do with a man s now the law of the lays down that if there is any dispute as to the right of a to be accepted by the pack he must be spoken for by at least two members of the pack who are not his father and mother who speaks for this said among the free people who speaks there was no answer and mother wolf got ready for what she knew would be her last fight if things came to fighting brothers then the only other creature who is allowed at the pack council the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf the law of the old who can come and go where he pleases because he eats only nuts and roots and honey rose up on his hind quarters and the man s the man s he said speak for the man s there is no harm in a man s i have no gift of words but i speak the truth let him run with the pack and be entered with the others i myself will teach him we need yet another said has spoken and he is our teacher for the young who speaks besides a black shadow dropped down into the circle it was the black black all over but with the showing up in certain lights like the pattern of watered silk everybody knew and nobody cared to cross his path for he was as cunning as as bold as the wild and as reckless as the wounded elephant but he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree and a skin softer than down o and ye the free people he i have no right in your assembly but the book the law of the says that if there is a doubt which is not a killing matter in regard to a new the life of that may be bought at a price and the law does not say who may or may not pay that price am i right good good said the young wolves who are always hungry listen to the can be bought for a price it is the law knowing that i have no right to speak here i ask your leave speak then cried twenty voices to kill a naked is shame besides he may make better sport for you when he is grown has spoken in his behalf now to s word i will add one bull and a fat one newly | 39 |
pack and i have thee and though he is so lazy might strike a blow or two for my sake why should i be afraid it was one very warm day that a new notion came to born of something that he had heard perhaps the had told him but he said to when they were deep in the as the boy lay with his head on s beautiful black skin little brother how often have i told thee that is thy enemy as many times as there are nuts on that palm said who naturally could not count what of it i am sleepy and is all long tail and loud talk like the but this is no time for sleeping knows it i know it the pack know it and even the foolish foolish deer know has told thee too ho ho said came to me not long ago with some rude talk that i was the book a naked man s and not fit to dig pig nuts but i caught by the tail and swung him twice against a palm tree to teach him better manners that was for though is a mischief maker he would have told thee of something that concerned thee closely open those eyes little brother dares not kill thee in the for fear of those that love thee but remember is very old and soon the day comes when he cannot kill his buck and then he will be leader no more many of the wolves that looked thee over when thou brought to the council first are old too and the young wolves believe as has taught them that a man has with the pack in a little time thou wilt be a man and what is a man that he should not run with his brothers said i was born in the i ha e obeyed the law of the and there is no wolf of ours from whose i have not pulled a thorn surely they are my brothers stretched himself at full length and half shut his eyes little brother said he feel under my jaw put up his strong brown hand and just under s chin where the giant brothers rolling muscles were all hid by the glossy hair he came upon a little bald spot there is no one in the that knows that i carry that mark the mark of the collar and yet little brother i was born among men and it was among men that my mother died in the of the king s palace at it was because of this that i paid the price for thee at the council when thou a little naked yes i too was born among men i had never seen the they fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night i felt that i was the and no man s and i broke the silly lock with one blow of my and came away and because i had learned the ways of men i became more terrible in the than is it not so yes said all the fear all except oh thou art a man s said the black very tenderly and even as i returned to my so thou must go back to men at last to the men who are thy brothers if thou art not killed in the council but why but why should any wish to kill me said the book look at me said and looked at him steadily between the eyes the big turned his head away in half a minute that is why he said shifting his on the leaves not even i can look thee between the eyes and i was born among men and i love thee little brother the others they hate thee because their eyes cannot meet thine because thou art wise because thou hast pulled out thorns from their feet because thou art a man i did not know these things said sullenly and he frowned under his heavy black eyebrows what is the law of the strike first and then give tongue by thy very carelessness they know that thou art a man but be wise it is in my heart that when his next kill and at each hunt it costs him more to pin the buck the pack will turn against him and against thee they will hold a council at the rock and then and then i have it said leaping up go thou down quickly to the men s huts in the valley and take some of the red flower which they grow there so that when the time comes thou have even a brothers stronger friend than i or or those of the pack that love thee get the red flower by red flower meant fire only no creature in the will call fire by its proper name every beast lives in deadly fear of it and a hundred ways of describing it the red flower said that grows outside their huts in the twilight i will get some there speaks the man s said proudly remember that it grows in little pots get one swiftly and keep it by thee for time of need good said i go but art thou sure o my he slipped his arm round the splendid neck and looked deep into the big eyes art thou sure that all this is s doing by the broken lock that freed me i am sure little brother then by the bull that bought me i will pay full tale for this and it may be a little over said and he bounded away that is a man that is all a man said to himself lying down again oh never was a hunting than that hunt of thine ten years ago the book was far and | 39 |
far through the forest running hard and his heart was hot in him he came to the cave as the evening mist rose and drew breath and looked down the valley the were out but mother wolf at the back of the cave knew by his breathing that something was troubling her what is it son she said some bat s chatter of he called back i hunt among the fields tonight and he plunged downward through the bushes to the stream at the bottom of the valley there he checked for he heard the yell of the pack hunting heard the of a hunted and the as the buck turned at bay then there were wicked bitter from the young wolves let the lone wolf show his strength room for the leader of our pack spring the lone wolf must have sprung and missed his hold for heard the snap of his teeth and then a as the knocked him over with his fore foot he did not wait for anything more but dashed on and the grew fainter behind him as he ran into the crop lands where the villagers lived spoke truth he panted as he s brothers down in some cattle by the i window of a hut to morrow is one day and for me then he pressed his face close to the window i and watched the fire on the hearth he saw the s wife get up and feed it in the night with black and when the morning came and the mists were all white and cold he saw the man s child pick up a pot inside with earth fill it with of red hot put it under his blanket and go out to tend the cows in the is that all said if a can do i it there is nothing to fear so he strode around the corner and met the boy took the pot from his j hand and disappeared into the mist the boy howled with fear they are very like me said blowing into the pot as h had seen the woman do this thing will die if i do not give it things to eat and he dropped twigs and dried bark on the red stuff half way up the hill he met with the morning dew shining like on his coat has missed said the they would have killed him last night but they needed i thee also they were looking for thee on the the book i was among the lands i am ready look held up the fire pot good now i have seen men thrust a dry branch into that stuff and presently the red flower at the end of it art thou not afraid no why should i fear i remember now if it is not a dream how before i was a wolf i lay beside the red flower and it was warm and pleasant all that day sat in the cave tending his fire pot and dipping dry branches into it to see how they looked he found a branch that satisfied him and in the evening when came to the cave and told him rudely enough that he was wanted at the council rock he laughed till ran away then went to the council still laughing the lone wolf lay by the side of his rock as a sign that the of the pack was open and with his following of scrap fed wolves walked to and fro openly being flattered lay close to and the fire pot was between s knees when they were all gathered together began to speak a thing he would never have dared to do when was in his prime s brothers he has no right whispered say so he is a dog s son he will be frightened sprang to his feet free people he cried does lead the pack what has a tiger to do with our seeing that the is yet open and being asked to speak began by whom said are we to on this cattle butcher the of the pack is with the pack alone there were of silence thou man s let him speak he has kept our law and at last the of the pack thundered let the dead wolf speak when a leader of the pack has missed his kill he is called the dead wolf as long as he lives which is not long as a rule raised his old head wearily free people and ye too of for twelve seasons have led ye to and from the kill and in all that time not one has been or now i have missed my kill ye know how that plot was made know how ye brought me up to an to make my weakness known it was cleverly done your right is to kill me here on the council rock now therefore i ask i the book comes to make an end of the lone wolf for it is my right by the law of the that ye come one by one there was a long hush for no single wolf cared to fight to the death then roared what have we to do with this fool he is doomed to die it is the man who has lived too long free people he was my meat from the first give him to me i am weary of this man wolf folly he has troubled the for ten seasons give me the man or i will hunt here always and not give you one bone he is a man a man s child and from the of my bones i hate him then more than half the pack a man a man what has a man to do with us let him go to his own place and turn all the people of the villages against us | 39 |
no give him to me he is a man and none of us can look him between the eyes lifted his head again and said he has eaten our food he has slept with us he has driven game for us he has broken no word of the law of the also i paid for him with a bull when he was accepted the worth of a bull is little but bag s brothers s honor is something that he will perhaps fight fur said in his voice a bull paid ten years ago the pack what do we care for bones ten years old or for a pledge said his white teeth under his lip well are ye called the free people no man s can run with the people of the roared give him to me he is our brother in all but blood went on and ye would kill him here in truth i have lived too long some of ye are of cattle and of others i have heard that under s teaching go by dark night and snatch children from the s therefore i know ye to be and it is to i speak it is certain that i must die and my life is of no worth or would offer that in the man s place but for the sake of the honor of the pack a little matter that by being without a leader ye have forgotten i promise that if ye let the man go to his own place i will not when my time comes to die bare one tooth against ye i will die without fighting that will at least save the pack three lives more i cannot do but if ye will i can save ye the shame that comes of killing the book a brother against whom there is no fault a brother spoken for and bought into the pack according to the law of the he is a man a man a man the pack and most of the wolves began to gather round whose tail was beginning to now the business is in thy hands said to we can do no more except fight stood upright the fire pot in his hands then he stretched out his arms and yawned in the face of the council but he was furious with rage and sorrow for wolf like the wolves had never told him how they hated him listen you he cried there is no need for this dog s ye have told me so often to night that i am a man though indeed i would have been a wolf with you to my life s end that i feel your words are true so i do not call ye my brothers any more but dogs as a man should what ye will do and what ye will not do is not yours to say that matter is with me and that we may see the matter more plainly i the man have brought here a little of the red flower which ye dogs fear brothers he flung the fire pot on the ground and some of the red coals lit a of dried moss that up as all the council drew back in terror before the leaping flames thrust his dead branch into the fire till the twigs lit and and whirled it above his head among the wolves thou art the master said in an save from the death he was ever thy friend the grim old wolf who had never asked for mercy in his life gave one piteous look at as the boy stood all naked his long black hair tossing over his shoulders in the light of the blazing branch that made the shadows jump and quiver good said staring around slowly and thrusting out his lower lip i see that ye are dogs i go from you to my own people if they be my own people the is shut to me and i must forget your talk and your companionship but i will be more merciful than ye are because i was all but your brother in blood i promise that when i am a man among men i will not betray ye to men as ye have betrayed me he kicked the fire with his foot and the sparks flew up there shall be no war be the book any of us and the pack but here is a debt to pay before i go he strode forward to where sat at the flames and caught him by the on his chin followed close in case of accidents up dog cried up when a man speaks or i will set that coat s ears lay flat back on his head and he shut his eyes for the blazing branch was very near this cattle said he would kill me in the council because he had not killed me when i was a thus and thus then do we beat dogs when we are men stir a and i ram the red flower down thy he beat over the head with the branch and the tiger and in an agony of fear cat go now but remember when next i come to the council rock as a man should come it will be with s hide on my head for the rest goes free to live as he pleases ye will not kill him because that is not my will nor do i think that ye will sit here any longer out your tongues as though ye were instead of dogs whom i drive out thus go brothers tile fire was burning furiously at the end of the branch and struck right and left round the circle and the wolves ran howling with the sparks burning their fur at last there were only and perhaps ten wolves that had | 39 |
taken s part then something began to hurt inside him as he had never been hurt in his life before and he caught his breath and sobbed and the tears ran down his face what is it what is it he said i do not wish to leave the and i do not know what this is am i dying no little brother those are only tears such as men use said now i know thou art a man and a man s no longer the is shut indeed to thee let them fall they are only tears so sat and cried as though his heart would break and he had never cried in all his life before now he said i wilt go to men but first must say farewell to my mother and he went to the cave where she lived with father wolf and he cried on her coat while the four howled miserably ye will not forget mc said i the book never while we can follow a trail said the come to the foot of the hill when thou art a man and we will talk to thee and we will come into the crop lands to play with thee by night come soon said father wolf oh wise little come again soon for we be old thy mother and i come soon said mother wolf little naked son of mine for listen child of man i loved thee more than ever i loved my i will surely come said and when i come it will be to lay out s hide upon the council rock do not forget me tell them in the never to forget me the dawn was beginning to break when went down the alone to the crops to meet those mysterious things that are called men hunting song of the pack as the dawn was breaking the once twice and again and a leaped up and a leaped up from the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup this i alone beheld once twice and again brothers as the dawn was breaking the once twice and again and a wolf stole back and a wolf stole back to carry the word to the waiting pack and we sought and we found and we on his track once twice and again as the dawn was breaking the wolf pack once twice and again feet in the that leave no mark eyes that can see in the dark the dark tongue give tongue to it hark o hark once twice and again s hunting his spots are the joy of the his horns are the s pride be clean for the strength of the hunter is known by the of his hide if ye find that the can toss you or the heavy can ye need not stop work to inform us we knew it ten seasons before not the of the stranger but hail them as sister and brother for though they are little and it may be the bear is their mother there is none like to me i says the in the pride of his earliest kill but the is large and the he is small let him think and be still of s hunting all that is told here happened some time before was turned out of the wolf pack it was in the days when was teaching him the law of the the big serious old brown bear was delighted to have so quick a pupil for the young wolves will only learn as much of the law of the as applies to their own pack and tribe and run away as soon as they can repeat the hunting verse feet that make no noise eyes that can see in the dark ears that can hear the winds in their and sharp white teeth all these things a the book the marks of our brothers except and the whom we hate but as a man had to learn a great deal more than this sometimes the black would come lounging through the to see how his pet was getting on and would with his head against a tree while the day s lesson to the boy could climb almost as well as he could swim and swim almost as well as lie could run so the teacher of the law taught him the wood and water laws how to tell a rotten branch from a sound one how to speak politely to the wild bees when he came upon a hive of them fifty feet what to say to the bat when he disturbed him in the branches at midday and how to warn the water in the pools before he down among them none of the people like being disturbed and all are very ready to fly at an intruder then too was taught the strangers hunting call which must be repeated aloud till it is answered whenever one of the people outside his own grounds it means translated give me leave to hunt here because i am hungry and the answer is hunt then for food but not for pleasure s hunting all this will show you how much had to learn by heart and he grew very tired of repeating the same thing a hundred times but as said to one day when had been off in a temper a man s and he must the law of the but think how small he is said the black who would have spoiled if he had had his own way how can his little head carry all thy long talk is there anything in the too little to be killed no that is why i teach him these things and that is why i hit him very softly when he forgets softly what dost thou know of softness old iron feet his face is all bruised to | 39 |
day by thy softness better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance answered very earnestly i am now teaching him the master words of the that shall protect him with the birds and the snake people and all that hunt on four feet except his own pack he can now claim protection if he will only remember the words from all in the is not that worth a little beating the book look to it then that thou dost not kill the man he is no tree trunk to thy blunt claws upon but what are those master words i am more likely to give help than to ask it stretched out one and admired the steel blue at the end of it still i should like to know i will call and he shall say them if he will come little brother my head is ringing like a bee tree said a sullen voice over their heads and slid down a tree trunk very angry and indignant adding as he reached the ground i come for and not for fat old that is all one to me said though he was hurt and grieved tell then the master words of the that i have taught thee this day master words for which people said delighted to show off the has many tongues know them all a little thou but not much see o they never thank their teacher not one small has come back to thank old for his say the word for the hunting people then great scholar we be of one blood ye and i said s hunting giving the words the bear accent which all the hunting people of the use good now for the birds repeated with the s whistle at the end of the sentence now for the snake people said the answer was a perfectly indescribable hiss and kicked up his feet behind clapped his hands together to himself and jumped on s back where he sat sideways with his heels on the glossy skin and making the worst faces that he could think of at there there that was worth a little said the brown bear tenderly some day thou wilt remember me then he turned aside to tell how he had begged the master words from the wild elephant who knows all about these things and how had taken down to a pool to get the snake word from a water snake because could not pronounce it and how was now reasonably safe against all accidents in the because neither snake bird nor beast t would hurt him no one then is to be feared wound up patting his big stomach with pride the book except his own tribe said under his breath and then aloud to have a care for my ribs little brother what is all this dancing up and down had been trying to make himself heard by pulling at s shoulder fur and kicking hard when the two listened to him he was shouting at the top of his voice and so i shall have a tribe of my own and lead them through the branches all day long what is this new folly little of dreams said yes and throw branches and dirt at old went on they have promised me this ah s big off s back and as the boy lay between the big fore he could see the bear was angry said thou hast been talking with the log the monkey people looked at to see if the was angry too and s eyes were as hard as stones thou hast been with the monkey people the gray the people without a law the of everything that is great shame s hunting when hurt my head said he was still down on his back i went away and the gray came down from the trees and had pity on me no one else cared he a little the pity of the monkey people the stillness of the mountain stream the cool of the summer sun and then man and then and then they gave me nuts and pleasant things to eat and they they carried me in their arms up to the top of the trees and said i was their blood brother except that i had no tail and should be their leader some day they have no leader said they lie they have always lied they were very kind and bade me come again why have i never been taken among the monkey people they stand on their feet as i do they do not hit me with hard they play all day let me get up bad let me up i will go play with them again listen man said the bear and his voice like thunder on a hot night i have taught thee all the law of the for all the of the except the monkey who live in the trees they have no law tb the book are they have no speech of their own but use the stolen words which they when they and peep and wait up above in the branches their way is not our way they are without leaders they have no remembrance they boast and chatter and pretend that they arc a great people about to do great affairs in the but the falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten we of the have no dealings with them we do not drink where the drink we do not go where the go we do not hunt where they hunt we do not die where they die hast thou ever heard me speak of the log till to day no said in a whisper for the forest was very | 39 |
still now that had finished the people put them out of their mouths and out of their minds they are very many evil dirty and they desire if they have any fixed desire to be noticed by the people but we do not notice them even when they throw nuts and on our heads he had hardly spoken when a shower of nuts and twigs down through the branches and they could hear and and angry high up in the air among the thin branches s hunting the monkey people are forbidden said forbidden to the people remember forbidden said but i still think should have warned thee against them i i how was i to guess he would play with such dirt the monkey people a fresh shower came down on their heads and the two trotted away taking with them what had said about the was perfectly true they belonged to the tree tops and as beasts very seldom look up there was no occasion for the and the people to cross one another s path but whenever they found a sick wolf or a wounded tiger or bear the would torment him and would throw sticks and nuts at any beast for fun and in the hope of being noticed then they would howl and shriek senseless songs and invite the people to climb up their trees and fight them or would start furious battles over nothing among themselves and leave the dead where the people could see them they were always just going to have a leader and laws and customs of their own but they did because their memories would not hold ov from day to day and so they settled things t j a saying what the i the book now the will think later and that comforted them a great deal none of the beasts could reach them but on the other hand none of the beasts would notice them and that was why they were so pleased when came to play with them and when they heard how angry was they never meant to do any more the log never mean anything at all but one of them invented what seemed to him a brilliant idea and he told all the others that would be a useful person to keep in the tribe because he could sticks together for protection from the wind so if they caught him they could make him teach them of course as a wood s child inherited all sorts of instincts and used to make little play huts of fallen branches without thinking how he came to do it the monkey people watching in the trees considered these huts most wonderful this time they said they were really going to have a leader and become the wisest people in the so wise that every one else would notice and envy them therefore they followed and and through the very quietly till it was time for the midday nap and who was very much ashamed of himself s hunting slept between the and the bear to have no more to do with the monkey people the next thing he remembered was feeling hands on his legs and arms hard strong little hands and then a of branches in his face and then he was staring down through the swaying boughs as woke the with his deep cries and bounded up the trunk with every tooth the log howled with triumph and away to the upper branches where dared not follow shouting he has noticed us has noticed us all the people admire us for our skill and our cunning then they began their flight and the flight of the monkey people through tree land is one of the things nobody can describe they have their regular roads and cross roads and all laid out from fifty to seventy or a hundred feet and by these they can travel even at night if necessary two of the strongest caught under the arms and swung off with him through the tree tops twenty feet at a bound had they been alone they could have gone twice as but the boy s weight held them back the book and giddy as was he could not help enjoying the wild rush though the glimpses of earth far down below frightened him and the terrible check and jerk at the end of the swing over nothing but empty air brought his heart between his teeth his escort would rush him up a tree till he felt the weak branches and bend under them and then with a cough and a would fling themselves into the air outward and downward and bring up hanging by their hands or their feet to the lower limbs of the next tree sometimes he could see for miles and miles over the still green as a man on the top of a mast can see for miles across the sea and then the branches and leaves would lash him across the face and he and his two guards would be almost down to earth again so bounding and crashing and and yelling the whole tribe of log swept along the tree roads with their prisoner for a time he was afraid of being dropped then he grew angry but he knew better than to struggle and then he began to think the first thing was to send back word to and for at the pace the were going he knew his friends would be left far behind it s hunting was useless to look down for he could see only the top sides of the branches so he stared upward and saw far away in the blue the and as he kept watch over the waiting for things to die noticed that the were carrying something and dropped a few hundred yards to find out whether their load was good to | 39 |
eat he whistled with surprise when he saw being dragged up to a tree top and heard him give the call for we be of one blood thou and i the waves of the branches closed over the boy but balanced away to the next tree in time to see the little brown face come up again mark my trail shouted tell of the and council rock in whose name brother had never seen before though of course he had heard of him the man they call me mark my il the last words were shrieked as he was being swung through the air but nodded and rose up till he looked no bigger than a speck of dust and there he hung watching with his eyes the swaying of the tree tops j s escort whirled along o the book they never go far he said with a chuckle they never do what they set out to do always at new things are the log this time if i have any they have down trouble for themselves for is no and can as i know kill more than then he rocked on his wings his feet gathered up under him and waited meanwhile and were furious with rage and grief climbed as he had never climbed before but the branches broke beneath his weight and he slipped down his claws full of bark why thou not warn the man he roared to poor who had set off at a clumsy trot in the hope of the what was the use of half him with blows if thou not warn him haste o haste we we may catch them yet panted at that speed it would not tire a wounded cow teacher of the law a mile of that rolling to and fro would burst thee open sit still and think make a plan this is no time for chasing they may drop him if we follow too close s hunting they may have dropped him already being tired of carrying him who can trust the log put dead on my head give me black bones to eat roll me into the of the wild bees that i may be stung to death and bury me with the for i am the most miserable of bears o why did i not warn thee against the monkey folk instead of breaking thy head now perhaps i may have knocked the day s lesson out of his mind and he will be alone in the without the master words clasped his over his ears and rolled to and fro moaning at least he gave me all the words correctly a little time ago said impatiently thou hast neither memory nor respect what would the think if i the black curled myself up like the and howled what do i care what the thinks he may be dead by now unless and until they drop him from the branches in sport or kill him out of idleness i have no fear for the man he is wise and well taught and above all he has the eyes that make the people afraid but and it is a the book great evil he is in the power of the log and they because they live in trees have no fear of any of our people licked his one fore thoughtfully fool that i am oh fat brown root digging fool that i am said himself with a jerk it is true what the wild elephant says to each his own fear and they the log fear the rock snake he can climb as well as they can he the young in the night the mere whisper of his name makes their wicked tails cold let us go to what will he do for us he is not of our tribe being and with most evil eyes said he is very old and very cunning above all he is always hungry said promise him many he sleeps for a full month after he has once eaten he m ay be asleep now and even were he awake what if he would rather kill his own who did not know much about was naturally suspicious then in that case thou and i together old hunter may make him see reason here rubbed his faded brown shoulder against the s hunting and they went off to look for the rock they found him stretched out on a warm ledge in the afternoon sun admiring his beautiful new coat for he had been in retirement for the last ten days changing his skin and now he was very splendid darting his big blunt head along the ground and twisting the thirty feet of his body into fantastic knots and curves and his lips as he thought of his dinner to come he has not eaten said with a of relief as soon as he saw the beautifully tied brown and yellow jacket be careful he is always a little blind after he has changed his skin and very quick to strike was not a poison snake in fact he rather despised the poison for but his strength lay in his and when he had once his huge round anybody there was no more to be said good hunting cried sitting up on his like all of his breed was rather deaf and did not hear the call at first then he curled up ready for any accident his head lowered good hunting for us all he answered what dost thou do here good hunting one of us at least needs the book food is there any news of game a now or even a young buck i am as empty as a dried well we are hunting said carelessly he knew that you must not hurry he is too big give me permission to come with you said a blow more or less | 39 |
is nothing to thee or but i i have to wait and wait for days in a wood path and climb half a night on the mere chance of a young the branches are not what they were when i was young rotten twigs and dry boughs are they all maybe thy great weight has something to do with the matter said i am a fair length a fair length said with a little pride but for all that it is the fault of this new grown timber i came very near to falling on my last hunt very near indeed and the noise of my slipping for my tail was not tight wrapped round the tree the and they called me most evil names yellow said under his whiskers as though he were trying to remember something have they ever called me m f said s hunting something of that kind it was that they shouted to us last moon but we never noticed them they will say anything even that thou hast lost all thy teeth and dare not face anything bigger than a kid because they are indeed these log because thou art afraid of the he horns went on sweetly now a snake especially a wary old like very seldom shows that he is angry but and could see the big muscles on either side of s throat ripple and the log have shifted their grounds he said quietly when i came up into the sun today i heard them among the tree tops it it is the log that we follow now said but the words stuck in his throat for this was the first time in his memory that one of the people had owned to being interested in the doings of the beyond doubt then it is no small thing that takes two such hunters leaders in th ir own i am certain on the trail of the replied courteously as he swelled with curiosity indeed began i am no more than the old and sometimes very foolish teacher of the book the law to the wolf and is said the black and his jaws shut with a snap for he did not believe in being humble the trouble is this those nut and of palm leaves have stolen away our man of whom thou hast perhaps heard i heard some news from his make him of a man thing that was entered into a wolf pack but i did not believe is full of stories half heard and very badly told but it is true he is such a man as never was said the best and wisest and of man my own pupil who shall make the name of famous through all the and besides i we love him ts ts said shaking his head to and fro i also have known what love is there are tales i could tell that that need a clear night when we are all well fed to praise properly said quickly our man is in the hands of the log now and we know that of all the people they fear alone they fear me alone they have good reason said chattering foolish vain s hunting vain foolish and chattering are the but a man thing in their hands is in no good luck they grow tired of the nuts they pick and throw them down they carry a branch half a day meaning to do great things with it and then they snap it in two that is not to be envied they called me also yellow fish was it not worm worm said as well as other things which i cannot now say for shame we must remind them to speak well of their master we must help ing memories now whither went they with thy the alone knows toward the sunset i believe said we had thought that thou know i how i take them when they come in my way but i do not hunt the log or or green on a water hole for that matter up up up up look up of the pack looked up to see where the voice came from and there was the sweeping down with the sun shining on the the book of his wings it was near s but he had ranged all over the looking for the bear and missed him in the thick foliage what is it said i have seen among the log he bade me tell you i watched the have taken him beyond the river to the monkey city to the cold they may stay there for a night or ten nights or an hour i have told the to watch through the dark time that is my message good hunting all you below full and a deep sleep to you r cried i will remember thee in my next kill and put aside the head for thee alone o best of it is nothing it is nothing the boy held the master word i could have done no less and up again to his he has not forgotten to use his tongue said with a chuckle of pride to think of one so young remembering the master word for the birds while he was being pulled across trees it was most firmly driven into him said but i am proud of him and now we must go to the cold s hunting i they all knew where that place was but few i of the people ever went there because what they called the cold was an old i deserted city lost and buried in the and beasts seldom use a place that men have once used the wild will but the hunting tribes do not besides the lived there as much as they | 39 |
could be said to live anywhere and no self respecting animal would come within eye shot of it except in times of when the half ruined and held a little water it is half a night s journey at full speed said looked very serious i will go as fast as i can he said anxiously we dare not wait for thee follow we must go on the quick foot and i feet or no feet i can keep abreast of all thy four said shortly made one effort to hurry but had to sit down panting and so they left him to come on later while hurried forward at the rocking said nothing but strive as might the huge rock held level with him when they came to a hill stream gained because he bounded across while swam his head and two feet of his the book neck clearing the water but on level ground made up the distance by the broken lock that freed me said when twilight had fallen thou art no slow i am hungry said k besides they called me worm and yellow to boot all one let us go on and seemed to pour himself along the ground finding the shortest road with his steady eyes and keeping to it in the cold the monkey people were not thinking of s friends at all they had brought the boy to the lost city and were very pleased with themselves for the time had never seen an indian city before and though this was almost a heap of ruins it seemed very wonderful and splendid some king had built it long ago on a little hill you could still trace the stone that led up to the ruined gates where the last of wood hung to the worn hinges trees had grown into and out of the walls the were tumbled down and decayed and wild hung out of the windows of the towers on the walls in hanging s hunting a great palace crowned the hill and the marble of the and the fountains was split and stained with red and green and the very in the where the king s used to live had been thrust up and apart by and young trees from the palace you could see the rows and rows of houses that made up the city looking like empty filled with blackness the block of stone that had been an idol in the square where four roads met the and at street corners where the public wells once stood and the shattered of temples with wild on their sides the called the place their city and pretended to despise the people because they lived in the forest and yet they never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use them they would sit in circles on the hall of the king s council chamber and scratch for and pretend to be men or they would run in and out of the houses and collect pieces of plaster and old bricks in a corner and forget where they had hidden them and fight and cry in crowds and then break off to play up and down the of the king s garden where they would shake the rose trees and the book the in sport to see the fruit and flowers fall they all the passages and dark in the palace and the hundreds of little dark rooms but they never remembered what they had seen and what they had not and so drifted about in ones and or crowds telling one another that they were doing as men did they drank at the and made the water all muddy and then they fought over it and then they would all rush together in and shout there are none in the so wise and good and clever and strong and gentle as the then all would begin again till they grew tired of the city and went back to the tree tops hoping the people would notice them who had been trained under the law of the did not like or understand this kind of life the dragged him into the cold late in the afternoon and instead of going to sleep as would have done after a long journey they joined hands and danced about and sang their foolish songs one of the made a speech and told his companions that s capture marked a new thing in the history of the log for was going to show them how to sticks and together as a protection against s hunting rain and cold picked up some and began to work them in and out and the tried to imitate but in a very few minutes they lost interest and began to pull their friends tails or jump up and down on all i want to eat said i am a stranger in this part of the bring me food or give me leave to hunt here twenty or thirty bounded away to bring him nuts and wild but they fell to fighting on the road and it was too much trouble to go back with what was left of the fruit was sore and angry as well as hungry and he through the empty city giving the strangers hunting call from time to time but no one answered him and felt that he had reached a very bad place indeed all that has said about the log is true he thought to himself they have no law no hunting call and no leaders nothing but foolish words and little picking hands so if i am starved or killed here it will be all my own fault but i must try to return to my own will surely beat me but that is better than chasing silly rose leaves with the log i the book ut no sooner had he walked to the | 39 |
city wall than the pulled him back telling him that he did not know how happy he was and him to make him grateful he set his teeth and said nothing but went with the shouting to a terrace above the red that were half full of rain water there was a ruined summer house of white marble in the of the terrace built for queens dead a hundred years ago the roof had half fallen in and blocked up the passage from the palace by which the queens used to enter but the walls were made of of marble beautiful set with and and and and as the moon came up behind the hill it shone through the casting shadows on the ground like black velvet sore sleepy and hungry as he was could not help laughing when the log began twenty at a time to tell him how great and wise and strong and gentle they were and how foolish he was to wish to leave them we are great we are free we are wonderful we re the most wonderful people in all the e all say so and so it must be true they s hunting shouted now as you are a new listener and can carry our words back to the so that they may notice us in future we will you all about our most excellent selves made no objection and the gathered by hundreds and hundreds on the terrace to listen to their own singing the praises of the log and whenever a speaker stopped for want of breath they would all shout together this is true we all say so nodded and and said yes when they asked him a question and his head spun with the noise the must have bitten all these people he said to himself and now they have the madness certainly this is the madness do they never go to sleep now there is a cloud coming to cover that moon if it were only a big enough cloud i might try to run away in the darkness but i am tired that same cloud was being watched by two good friends in the ruined ditch below the city wall for and knowing well how dangerous the monkey people were in large numbers did not wish to run any risks the never fight unless they are a hundred to one and few in the care for those odds i i the book i will go to the west wall and come down swiftly with the slope of the ground in my favor they will not throw themselves upon my back in their hundreds but i know it said would that were here but we must do what we can when that cloud covers the moon i shall go to the terrace they hold some sort of council there over the boy good hunting said grimly and glided away to the west wall that happened to be the least ruined of any and the big snake was delayed a while before he could find a way up the stones the cloud hid the moon and as wondered what would come next he heard s light feet on the terrace the black had up the slope almost without a sound and was striking he knew better than to waste time in biting right and left among the who were seated round in circles fifty and sixty deep there was a howl of fright and rage and then as tripped on the rolling kicking bodies beneath him a monkey shouted there is only one here kill him kill a mass of biting scratching tearing and pulling closed over i while s hunting five or six laid hold of dragged him up the wall of the summer house and pushed him through the hole of the broken dome a boy would have been badly bruised for the fall was a good ten feet but fell as had taught him to fall and landed stay there shouted the till we have killed thy friend later we will play with thee if the poison people leave thee alive we be of one blood ye and i said quickly giving the snake s call he could hear rustling and hissing in the rubbish all round him and gave the call a second time to make sure down all said half a dozen low voices every old ruin in india becomes sooner or later a dwelling place of and the old summer house was alive with stand still little brother lest thy feet do us harm stood as quietly as he could peering through the and listening to the furious din of the fight round the black the and and and s deep hoarse cough as he backed and and twisted and plunged under the heaps of his enemies for the first time since he was born was fighting for his life must be at hand would not i the book have come alone thought and then he called aloud to the roll to the water roll and plunge get to the water heard and the cry that told him was safe gave him new courage he worked his way desperately inch by inch straight for the in silence then from the ruined wall nearest the rose up the war shout of the old bear had done his best but he could not come before he shouted i am here i climb i haste the stones slip under my feet wait my coming o most infamous log he panted up the terrace only to disappear to the head in a wave of but he threw himself on his and spreading out his fore as many as he could hold and then began to hit with a regular like the strokes of a a crash and a splash told that had fought his way to the where the could not | 39 |
follow the lay gasping for breath his head just out of water while the stood three deep on the red s hunting stone steps dancing up and down with rage ready to spring upon him from all sides if he came out to help it was then that lifted up his dripping chin and in despair gave the snake s call for protection we be of one blood ye and i for he believed that had turned tail at the last minute even half smothered under the on the edge of the terrace could not help as he heard the big black asking for help had only just worked his way over the west wall landing with a that a stone into the ditch he had no intention of losing any advantage of the ground and and himself once or twice to be sure that every foot of his long body was in working order all that while the fight with went on and the in the round and the bat flying to and fro carried the news of the great battle over the till even the wild elephant and far away scattered bands of the monkey folk woke and came leaping along the tree roads to help their comrades in the cold and the noise of the fight roused all the day birds for miles round m e ra m i o the book then came straight quickly and anxious to kill the fighting strength of a is in the driving blow of his head backed by all the strength and weight of his body if you can imagine a lance or a ram or a hammer weighing nearly half a ton driven by a cool quiet mind living in the handle of it you can imagine roughly what was like when he fought a four or five feet long can a man down if he him fairly in the chest and was thirty feet long as you know his first stroke was delivered into the heart of the crowd round was sent home with shut mouth in silence and there was no need of a second the scattered with cries of it is run run generations of had been scared into good behavior by the stories their elders told them of the night thief who could slip along the branches as quietly as moss grows and steal away the strongest monkey that ever lived of old who could make himself look so like a dead branch or a rotten stump that the wisest were deceived till the branch caught them and then was everything that the feared in the for none of them knew the limits s hunting of his power none of them could look him in the face and none had ever come alive out of his and so they ran with terror to the walls and the roofs of the houses and drew a deep breath of relief his fur was much thicker than s but he had suffered sorely in the fight then opened his mouth for the first time and spoke one long hissing word and the far away hurrying to the of the cold stayed where they were till the loaded branches bent and under them the on the walls and the empty houses stopped their cries and in the stillness that fell upon the city heard shaking his wet sides as he came up from the then the broke out again the leaped higher up the walls they clung round the necks of the big stone and shrieked as they along the while dancing in the summer house put his eye to the and between his front teeth to show his derision and contempt get the man out of that trap i can do no more gasped let us take the man and go they may attack again the book they will not move till i order them stay you and the city was silent once more i could not come before brother but i think i heard thee call this was to i i may have cried out in the battle answered art thou hurt i am not sure that they have not pulled me into a hundred little said gravely shaking one leg after the other i am sore we owe thee i think our lives and i no matter where is the here in a trap i cannot climb out cried the curve of the broken dome was above his head take him away he dances like the he will crush our young said the inside said with a chuckle he has friends everywhere this stand back and hide you o poison people i break down the wall looked carefully till he found a crack in the marble showing a weak spot made two or three light with his head to get the distance and then lifting up six feet of his body clear of the ground sent home half a dozen s hunting full power blows nose first the broke and fell away in a cloud of dust and rubbish and leaped through the opening and flung himself between and an arm round each big neck art thou hurt said him softly i am sore hungry and not a little bruised but oh they have handled ye my brothers ye others also said his lips and looking at the monkey dead on the terrace and round the it is nothing it is nothing if thou art safe o my pride of all little of that we shall judge later said in a dry voice that did not at all like but here is to whom we owe the and thou thy life thank him according to our customs turned and saw the great s head swaying a foot above his own so this is the said very soft is his skin and he is not so unlike | 39 |
the log have a care that i do not mistake thee for a monkey some twilight when i have newly changed my coat the book we be of one blood thou and i answered i take my life from thee to night my kill shall be thy kill if ever thou art hungry o all thanks little brother said though his eyes and what may so bold a hunter kill i ask that i may follow when next he goes abroad i kill nothing i am too little but i drive toward such as can use them when thou art empty come to me and see if i speak the truth i have some skill in these he held out his hands and if ever thou art in a trap i may pay the debt which i owe to thee to and to here good hunting to ye all my masters well said growled for had returned thanks very prettily the dropped his head lightly for a minute on s shoulder a brave heart and a courteous tongue said he they shall carry thee far through the but now go hence quickly with thy friends go and sleep for the moon sets and what follows it is not well that thou see the moon was sinking behind the hills and the lines of trembling huddled together s hunting on the walls and looked like ragged of things went down the for a drink and began put his in order as glided out into the of the terrace and brought his jaws together with a ringing snap that drew all the eyes upon him the moon sets he said is there yet light to see from the walls came a moan like the wind in the tree tops we see o good begins now the dance the dance of the hunger of sit still and watch he turned twice or thrice in a big circle weaving his head from right to left then he began making and figures of eight with his body and soft that melted into squares and five sided figures and never resting never hurrying and never stopping his low humming song it grew darker and darker till at last the dragging shifting disappeared but they could hear the rustle of the scales and stood still as stone growling in their throats their neck hair and watched and wondered log said the voice of at last ed the i the book can ye stir foot or hand without my order speak without thy order we cannot stir foot or hand o good come all one pace nearer to me the lines of the swayed forward helplessly and and took one stiff step forward with them nearer and they all moved again laid his hands on and to get them away and the two great beasts started as though they had been from a dream keep thy hand on my shoulder whispered keep it there or i must go back must go back to it is only old making circles on the dust said let us go and the three slipped off through a gap in the walls to the said when he stood under the still trees again never more will i make an ally of and he shook himself all over he knows more than we said trembling in a little time had i stayed i should have walked down his throat s hunting many will walk that road before the moon i rises again said he will have good hunting after his own fashion but what was the meaning of it all said who did not know anything of a s powers of fascination i saw no more than a big snake making foolish circles till the dark came and his nose was all sore ho ho j said angrily his nose was sore on mj account as my ears and sides and and s neck and shoulders are bitten on thy account neither nor will be able to hunt with pleasure for many days it is nothing said we have the man again true but he has cost us most heavily in time which might have been spent in good hunting in wounds in hair i am half plucked along my back and last of all in honor for remember i who am the black was forced to call upon for protection and and i were both made stupid as little birds by the hunger dance all this man came of thy playing with the log true it is true said sorrowfully i am an evil man and my stomach is sad in me j the book what says the law of the did not wish to bring into any more trouble but he could not with the law so he sorrow never stays punishment but remember he is very little i will remember but he has done mischief and blows must be dealt now hast thou anything to say nothing i did wrong and thou art wounded it is just gave him half a dozen love from a s point of view they would hardly have one of his own but for a seven year old boy they amounted to as severe a beating as you could wish to avoid when it was all over and picked himself up without a word now said jump on my back little brother and we will go home one of the beauties of law is that punishment settles all scores there is no afterward laid his head down on s back and slept so deeply that he never when he was put down by mother side in the home cave s hunting road song of the log here we go in a flung half way up to the jealous moon don t you envy our bands don t you wish you had extra hands would n t you | 39 |
like if your tails were so curved in the shape of a s bow now you e angry never mind brother y thy tail hangs down behind i here we sit in a row thinking of beautiful things we know dreaming of deeds that we mean to do all complete in a minute or two something noble and grand and good won by merely wishing we could now we re to never mind brother thy tail hangs down behind all the talk we ever have heard uttered by bat or beast or bird hide or fin or scale or feather it quickly and all together excellent wonderful once again now we are talking just like men let s pretend we are never brother thy tail hangs behind i this is the way of the monkey kind then join our leaping lilies that s through the pines that by where light and high the wild by the rubbish in our wake and the noble noise we make be sure be sure we re going to do some splendid things tiger tiger what of the hunting hunter bold brother the watch was long and cold what of the ye went to kill brother he crops in the still where is the power that made your pride brother it from my flank and side where is the haste that ye hurry by brother y i go to my to die tiger tiger now we must go back to the last tale but one when left the cave after the fight with the pack at the council rock he went down to the lands where the villagers lived but he would not stop there because it was too near to the and he knew that he had made at least one bad enemy at the council so he hurried on keeping to the rough road that ran down the valley and followed it at a steady trot for nearly twenty till he came to a country that he did not know the valley opened out into a great plain dotted the book over with rocks and cut up by at one end stood a little village and at the other the thick came down in a sweep to the grounds and stopped there as though it had been cut off with a all over the plain cattle and were and when the little boys in charge of the herds saw they shouted and ran away and the yellow dogs that hang about every indian village walked on for he was feeling hungry and when he came to the village gate he saw the big thorn bush that was drawn up before the gate at twilight pushed to one side he said for he had come across more than one such in his night after things to eat so men are afraid of the people of the here also he sat down by the gate and when a man came out he stood up opened his mouth and pointed down it to show that he wanted food the man stared and ran back up the one street of the village shouting for the priest who was a big fat man dressed in white with a red and yellow mark on his forehead the priest came to the gate and with him at least a hundred people who stared and talked and shouted and pointed at they have no manners these men folk tiger i tiger said to himself only the gray would behave as they do so he threw back his long hair and frowned at the crowd what is there to be afraid of said the priest look at the marks on his arms and legs they are the of wolves he is but a wolf child run away from the of course in playing together the had often harder than they intended and there were white all over his arms and legs but he would have been the last person in the world to call these for he knew what real biting meant said two or three women together to be bitten by wolves poor child he is a handsome boy he has eyes like red fire by my honor he is not unlike thy boy that was taken by the tiger let me look said a woman with heavy copper rings on her wrists and ankles and she peered at under the palm of her hand indeed he is not he is thinner but he has the very look of my boy the priest was a clever man and he knew that was wife to the richest in the place so he looked up at the sky for a minute and said solemnly what the has taken the book the has restored take the boy into thy house my sister and forget not to honor the priest who sees so far into the lives of men by the bull that bought me said to himself but all this talking is like another looking over by the pack well if i am a man a man i must become the crowd parted as the woman beckoned to her hut where there was a red a great grain chest with curious raised patterns on it half a dozen copper cooking pots an image of a god in a little and on the wall a real looking glass such as they sell at the country she gave him a long drink of milk and some bread and then she laid her hand on his head and looked into his eyes for she thought perhaps that he might be her real son come back from the where the tiger had taken him so she said o did not show that he knew the name dost thou not remember the day when i gave thee thy new shoes she touched his foot and it was almost as hard as horn | 39 |
no she said sorrowfully those feet have never worn shoes but thou art very like my and thou shalt be my son was uneasy because he had never tiger i tiger m at h any i been under a roof before but as he looked the he saw that he could tear it out any time if he wanted to get away and that the window had no what is the j of a man he said to himself at last if he does not understand man s talk now i am as silly i and dumb as a man would be with us in the i must learn their talk it was not for fun that he had learned while he was with the wolves to imitate the challenge of in the and the of the little wild pig so as soon as pronounced a word would imitate it almost perfectly and before dark he had learned the names of many things in the hut there was a difficulty at because would not sleep under anything that looked so like a trap as that hut and when they shut the door he went through the window give him his will said s husband remember he can never till now have slept on a bed if he is indeed sent in the place of our son he will not run away so stretched himself in some long clean grass at the edge of the field but before he had closed his eyes a soft gray nose him under the chin the book said gray brother he was the eldest of mother this is a poor reward for following thee twenty miles thou of wood smoke and cattle altogether like a man already wake little brother i bring news are all well in the said him all except the wolves that were burned with the red flower now listen has gone away to hunt far off till his coat grows again for he is badly when he returns he that he will lay thy bones in the there are two words to that i also have made a little promise but news is always good i am tired to night very tired with new things gray brother but bring me the news always thou wilt not forget that thou art a wolf men will not make thee forget said gray brother anxiously never i will always remember that i love thee and all in our cave but also i will always remember that i have been cast out of the pack and that thou be cast out of another pack men are only men little brother and tiger their talk is like the talk of in a when i come down here again i will v thee in the at the edge of the ground for three months after that night hardly ever left the village gate he was so busy learning the w and customs of men first he had to wear a doth round him which annoyed him horribly and then he had to learn about money which he did not in the least understand and about of which he did not see the use then the little children in the village made him very angry luckily the law of the had taught him to keep his temper for in the life and food depend on keeping your temper but when they made fun of him because he would not play games or fly or because he some word only the knowledge that it was to kill little naked kept him from picking them up and breaking them in two he did not know his own strength in the least in the he knew he was weak compared with the beasts but in the village people said he was as strong as a bull and had not the faintest idea of the difference that caste makes between man and i iv m book man the s donkey slipped in the l k hauled it out by the tail and helped to the pots for their journey to the market at that was very shocking too for the is a low caste man and his donkey is worse when the priest him threatened to put him on the donkey too and the priest told s husband that had better be set to work as soon as possible and the village head man told that he would have to go out with the next day and herd them while they no one was more pleased than and that night because he had been appointed a servant of the village as it were he went off to a circle that met every evening on a platform under a great fig tree it was the village club and the head man and the and the who knew all the gossip of the village and old the village hunter who had a tower met and smoked the sat and talked in the upper branches and there was a hole under the platform where a r lived and he had his little of milk every night because he was sacred and the old men sat around the tree and talked and pulled at the big the water pipes till far into the tiger tiger night they told wonderful tales of gods and men and ghosts and told even more wonderful ones of the ways of beasts in the till the eyes of the children sitting outside the circle out of their heads most of the tales were about animals for the was always at their door the deer and the wild pig up their crops and now and again the tiger carried off a man at twilight within sight of the village gates who naturally knew something about what they were talking of had to cover his face not to show that | 39 |
he was laughing while the tower across his knees climbed on from one wonderful story to another and s shoulders shook was explaining how the tiger that had carried away s son was a ghost tiger and his body was inhabited by the ghost of a wicked old money who had died some years ago and i know that this is true he said because always from the blow that he got in a riot when his account books were burned and the tiger that i speak of he too for the tracks of his are unequal true true that must be the truth said the nodding together i i the book are all these tales such and said that tiger because he was born lame as every one knows to talk of the soul of a money in a beast that never had the courage of a is child s talk was speechless with surprise for a moment and the head man stared it is the is it said if thou art so wise better bring his hide to for the government has set a hundred on his life better still do not talk when thy elders speak rose to go all the evening i have lain here listening he called back over his shoulder and except once or twice has not said one word of truth concerning the which is at his very doors how then shall i believe the tales of ghosts and gods and which he says he has seen it is full time that boy went to said the head man while puffed and at s impertinence the custom of most indian villages is for a few boys to take the cattle and out to in the early morning and bring them back at night and the very cattle that would a white man to death allow themselves to be tiger tiger and and shouted at by children that hardly come up to their noses so long as the boys keep with the herds they are safe for not even the tiger will charge a mob of cattle but if they to pick flowers or hunt they are sometimes carried off went through the village street in the dawn sitting on the back of the great herd bull and the blue with their long backward sweeping horns and savage eyes rose out of their one by one and followed him and made it very clear to the children with him that he was the master he beat the with a long polished and told one of the boys to the cattle by themselves while he went on with the and to be very careful not to stray away from the herd an indian ground is all rocks and and and little among which the herds scatter and disappear the generally keep to the pools and muddy places where they lie or in the warm mud for hours drove them on to the edge of the plain where the river came out of the then he dropped from s neck trotted off to a and found gray brother ah said gray brother i i i j io the book i have waited here very many days what is the meaning of this cattle work it is an order said i am a village herd for a while what news of he has come back to this country and has waited here a long time for thee now he has gone off again for the game is scarce but he means to kill thee very good said so long as he is away do thou or one of the brothers sit on that rock so that i can see thee as i come out of the village when he comes back wait for me in the by the tt t in the of the plain we need not walk into s mouth then picked out a shady place and lay down and slept while the round him in india is one of the things in the world the cattle move and and lie down and move on again and they do not even low they only and the very seldom say anything but get down into the muddy pools one after another and work their way into the mud till only their noses and staring china blue eyes show above the surface and there they lie like logs the sun makes the rocks tiger tiger i dance in the heat and the herd children hear one never any more almost out of sight overhead and they know that if tliey died or a cow died that would sweep down and the next miles away would see him drop and follow and the next and the next and almost before they were dead there would be a score of hungry come out of nowhere then they sleep and wake and sleep again and little baskets of dried grass and put in them or catch two praying and make them fight or string a of red and black nuts or watch a on a rock or a snake hunting a near the then tliey sing long long songs with odd native at the end of them and the day seems longer than most people s whole lives and perhaps they make a mud castle with mud figures of men and horses and and put into the men s hands and pretend that they are kings and the figures are their armies or that they are gods to be then evening and the children call and the lumber up out of the mud with noises like going off one after the other and they all string across the gray plain back to the twinkling village lights no the book day after day would lead the out to their and day after day he would c see gray brother s back a mile and a half away across the plain so | 39 |
he knew that had not come back and day after day he would lie on the grass listening to the noise round him and dreaming of old days in the if j t m had made a false step with his lame in the by the would have heard him in those long still mornings at last a day came when he did not see gray e gray m tiger tiger brother at the signal place and he laughed and headed the for the by the d m tree which was all covered with golden flowers there sat gray brother every l on his back lifted he has hidden for a month to throw thee off thy guard he crossed the last night with hot foot on thy trail said the i wolf panting frowned i am not afraid of but is very cunning have no fear said gray brother his i lips a little i met in the dawn now j he is telling all his wisdom to the but he told ke everything before i broke his back s plan is to wait for thee at the j village gate this evening for thee and for no one else he is lying up now in the big dry of the has he eaten to day or does he hunt i empty said for the answer meant life or death to him he killed at dawn a pig and he has j drunk too remember could never fast even for the sake of revenge oh fool fool what a s it is i eaten and drunk too and he thinks that i shall j the book wait till he has slept now where does he lie up if there were but ten of us we might pull him down as he lies these will not charge unless they wind him and i cannot speak their language can we get behind his track so that they may smell it he swam far down the to cut that off said gray brother told him that i know he would never have thought of it alone stood with his finger in his mouth thinking the big of the that opens out on the plain not half a mile from here i can take the herd round through the to the head of the and then sweep down but he would out at the foot we must block that end gray brother thou cut the herd in two for me not i perhaps but i have brought a wise gray brother trotted off and dropped into a hole then there lifted up a huge gray head that knew well and the hot air was filled with the most desolate cry of all the the hunting howl of a wolf at midday said clapping his hands i might have known that thou not forget me we have a big work in hand cut the herd in two keep the cows and tiger tiger together and the and the by themselves the two wolves ran ladies chain fashion in and out of the herd which and threw up its head and separated into two in one the cow stood with their in the and glared and ready if a wolf would only stay still to charge down and the life out of him in the other the and the young and stamped but though they looked more imposing they were much less dangerous for they had no to protect no six men could have divided the herd so neatly what orders panted they are trying to join again slipped on to s back drive the away to the left gray brother when we are gone hold the cows together and drive them into the foot of the how far said gray brother panting and snapping till the sides are higher than can jump shouted keep them there till we come down the swept off as and gray brother stopped in front of the cows they charged down on hi the book he ran just before them to the foot of the as drove the far to the left well done another charge and they are fairly started careful now careful a snap too much and the will charge this is work than driving thou think these creatures could move so swiftly called i have have hunted these too in my time gasped in the dust shall i turn them into the ay turn swiftly turn them is mad with rage oh if i could only tell him what i need of him to day the were turned to the right this time and into the standing thicket the other herd children watching with the cattle half a mile away hurried to the village as fast as their legs could carry them crying that the had gone mad and run away but s plan was simple enough all he wanted to do was to make a big circle and get at the head of the and then take the down it and catch between the and the cows for he knew that after a meal and a full drink would not be in any condition to fight or to up the tiger tiger sides of the he was soothing the now by voice and had dropped far to the rear only once or twice to hurry the rear guard it was a long long circle for they did not wish to get too near the and give warning at last rounded up the bewildered herd at the head of the on a grassy patch that down to the itself from that height you could see across the tops of the trees down to the plain below but what looked at was the sides of the and he saw with a great deal of satisfaction that they ran nearly straight up and down and the vines | 39 |
he wondered whether the round his neck would protect him he lay as still as still expecting every minute to see turn into a tiger too great king he said at last in a whisper yes said without turning his head a little tiger tiger i am an old man i did not know that thou anything more than a herd boy may i rise up and go away or will thy servant tear me to pieces go and peace go with thee only another time do not with my game let him go away to the village as fast as he could looking back over his shoulder in case should change into something terrible when he got to the village he told a tale of magic and enchantment and that made the priest look very grave went on with his work but it was nearly twilight before he and the wolves had drawn the great gay skin clear of the body now we must hide this and take the home help me to herd them the herd rounded up in the misty twilight and when they near the village saw lights and heard the and bells in the temple blowing and half the village seemed to be waiting for him by the gate that is because i have killed he said to himself but a shower of stones whistled about his ears and the villagers shouted the book f s demon go away get quickly or the priest will turn thee into again shoot shoot the old tower went off with a bang id a young in pain more i shouted the villagers he turn bullets that was thy ow what is this said bewildered stones flew thicker they are not unlike the pack these brothers line said sitting down is my head that if bullets mean anything cast thee out if go away shouted the waving a of the sacred plant again last time it was because i was a man this time it is because i am a wolf let us go a woman it was ran across to the herd and cried oh my son my son they say thou art a who can turn himself into a beast at will i do not believe but go away or they will kill thee says thou art a but i know thou hast s death come back shouted the crowd come back or we will stone thee tiger tiger laughed a little short ugly laugh for a j stone had hit him in the mouth run back this is one of the foolish tales they tell j under the big tree at dusk i have at least paid for thy son s life farewell and run quickly for i shall send the herd in more swiftly than their i i am no farewell now once more he cried bring the herd in the were anxious enough to get to the village they hardly needed s yell but charged through the gate like a scattering the crowd right and left i keep count shouted scornfully j it may be that i have stolen one of them keep count for i will do your no more i fare you well children of men and thank j that i do not come in with my wolves and hunt you up and down your street i he turned on his bee and walked away with j the lone wolf and as he looked up at the stars j he felt happy no more sleeping in traps for me let us get s skin and j go away no we will not hurt the village for j was kind to me j when the moon rose over the plain making it j look all the villagers saw the book with two wolves at his heels and a bundle on his head trotting across at the steady wolf s trot that eats up the long miles like fire then they the temple bells and blew the louder than ever and cried and embroidered the story of his adventures in the till he ended by saying that stood up on his hind legs and talked like a man the moon was just going down when and the two wolves came to the hill of the council rock and they stopped at mother wolf s cave they have cast me out from the man pack tiger tiger lay mother shouted but i come with the hide of to keep my word mother wolf walked stiffly from the cave with the behind her and her eyes glowed as she saw the skin i told him on that day when he crammed his head and shoulders into this cave hunting for thy life little i told him that the hunter would be the hunted it is well done little brother it is well done said a deep voice in the thicket we were lonely in the without thee and came running to s bare feet they up the council rock together and spread the skin out on the flat stone where used to sit and it down with four of and lay down upon it and called the old call to the council look look well o wolves exactly as he had called when was first brought there ever since had been the pack had been without a leader hunting and fighting at their own pleasure but they answered the call from habit and some of them were lame from the traps they had fallen into and some from shot wounds and some were from eating bad food and many were missing but they came to the council rock all that were left of r the book and saw s striped hide on the rock and the huge claws dangling at the end of the empty dangling feet it was then that made up a song without any a song that came | 39 |
up into his throat al by itself and he shouted it aloud leaping up and down on the rattling skin and beating time with his heels till he had no more breath left while gray brother and howled bet the verses look well o wolves have i kept my word said when he had finished and the wolves yes and one tattered wolf howled lead us again o lead us again o man for we be sick of this and we would be the free people once more nay that may not be when ye are full fed the madness may come upon ye again not for nothing are ye called the free people ye fought for freedom and it is yours eat it o wolves man pack and wolf pack have cast me out said now i will hunt alone in the and we will hunt with thee said the four tiger tiger so went away and hunted with the four in the from that day on but he was not always alone because years afterward he became a man and married but that is a story for grown song that he sang at the council rock when he danced on s hide the song of i am singing let the listen to the things i have done said he would kill would kill at the gates in the twilight he would kill the he ate and he drank drink deep for when wilt thou drink again sleep and dream of the kill i am alone on the grounds gray brother come to me come to me lone wolf for there is big game bring up the great bull the blue herd with the angry eyes drive them to and fro as i order thou still wake o wake i here come i and the are behind the book of the stamped with his rs of the whither went u dig holes nor the that fly he is not the bat to hang branches little that to tell me where he ran s there he is there under the na lies the lame one up p and kill i here is meat break the of the le is asleep we will not wake him for his h is very great the have come down it the black have come up to know re is a great assembly in his no cloth to wrap me the will see that i am naked i am ashamed to meet all these people lend me thy coat lend me thy gay striped coat that i may go to the council rock by the bull that bought me i have made a promise a little promise only thy coat is lacking before i keep my word with the knife with the knife that men use with the knife of the hunter the man will stoop down for my gift waters of the bear witness that gives me his coat for the love that he bears me pull gray brother pull heavy is the hide of tiger tiger the man pack are angry they throw stones and talk child s talk my mouth is bleeding let us run away through the night through the hot night run swiftly with me my brothers we will leave the lights of the village and go to the low moon waters of the the man pack have cast me out i did them no harm but they were afraid of me why wolf pack ye have cast me out too the is shut to me and the village gates are shut why as flies between the beasts and the birds so fly i between the village and the why i dance on the hide of but my heart is very heavy my mouth is cut and wounded with the stones from the village but my heart is very light because i have come back to the why these two things fight together in me as the fight in the spring the water comes out of my eyes yet i laugh while it falls why i am two but the hide of is under my feet all the knows that i have killed look look well o wolves my heart is heavy with the things that i do not understand the white seal thee my baby the night is us i black arc the waters that sparkled so green son o er the looks downward to find us st in the hollows that rustle between meets there soft be pillow curl at thy ease t the storm shall not wake thee nor overtake thee asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas the white seal all these things happened several years ago at a place called or north east point on the island of st paul away and away in the sea the winter told me the tale when he was blown on to the of a steamer going to and i took him down into my cabin and warmed and fed him for a couple of days till he was fit to fly back to st paul s again is a very odd little bird but he knows how to tell the truth nobody comes to except on business and the only people who have regular i the book business there are the they come in the summer months by hundreds and hundreds of thousands out of the cold gray sea for beach has the finest accommodation for of any place in all the world sea catch knew that and every spring would swim from whatever place he happened to be in would swim like a boat straight for and spend a month fighting with his companions for a good place on the rocks as close to the sea as possible sea catch was fifteen years old a huge gray fur seal with almost a mane on his shoulders and | 39 |
long wicked when he heaved himself up on his front he stood more than four feet clear of the ground and his weight if any one had been bold enough to weigh him was nearly seven hundred pounds he was all over with the marks of savage fights but he was always ready for just fight more he would put his head on one side as though he were afraid to look his enemy in the face then he would shoot it out like lightning and when the big teeth were firmly fixed on the other seal s neck the other seal might get away if he could but sea catch would not help him yet sea catch never chased a beaten seal for that was against the rules of the beach he the white seal only wanted room by the sea for his nursery but as there were forty or fifty thousand other hunting for the same thing each spring the whistling roaring and blowing on the beach was something frightful from a little hill called s hill you could look over three and a half miles of ground covered with fighting and the surf was dotted all over with the heads of hurrying to land and begin their share of the fighting they fought in the they fought in the sand and they fought on the smooth worn rocks of the for they were just as stupid and as men their wives never came to the island until late in may or early in june for they did not care to be torn to pieces and the young two three and old who had not begun housekeeping went inland about half a mile through the ranks of the and played about on the sand in and and rubbed off every single green thing that grew they were the the and there were perhaps two or three hundred thousand of them at alone sea catch had just finished his forty fifth fight one spring when his soft sleek gentle the book up out of the sea and he caught ly the of the neck and her n his saying late al where have you been was not the fashion for sea catch to eat ing during the four months he stayed on and so his temper was generally knew better than to answer back around and how thoughtful you ve taken the old place again should think had said sea catch look as scratched and bleeding in twenty le eye was almost blind and his sides iii to ribbons oh you men you men said herself with her hind why can t you be sensible and settle your places quietly you look as though you had been fighting with the whale i have n t been doing anything but tight since the middle of may the beach is crowded this season i ve met at least a hundred from beach house hunting why can t people stay where they belong i ve often thought we should be much happier if we hauled out at island instead of this crowded place said the white seal only the go to island if we went there they would say we were afraid we must preserve appearances my dear sea catch sunk his head proudly between his fat shoulders and pretended to go to sleep for a few minutes but all the time he was keeping a sharp for a fight now that all the and their wives were on the land you could hear their miles out to sea above the at the lowest counting there were over a million on the beach old mother tiny babies and fighting crawling and playing together going down to the sea and coming up from it in and lying over every foot of ground as far as the eye could reach and about in through the fog it is nearly always at except when the sun comes out and makes everything look all and rainbow colored for a little while s baby was born in the middle of that confusion and he was all head and shoulders with pale watery blue eyes as tiny must be but there was something about his coat that made his mother look at him very closely the book she said at last our baby s je white y shells and dry h there never has been such a thing as a white seal t help that said there s and she sang the low that all the mother sing to their you must n t swim till you re six old or your head will be sunk by your heels and summer and are bad for baby are bad for baby dear rat as bad as bad can be but splash and grow strong and you can t be wrong child of the open seal of course the little fellow did not understand the words at first he and scrambled about by his mother s side and learned to out of the way when his father was fighting with another seal and the two rolled and roared up and down the slippery rocks used to go to sea to get things to eat and the baby was fed only once in two days but then he ate all he could and upon it the white seal the first thing he did was to crawl inland and there he met of thousands of babies of his own age and they played together like went to sleep on the clean sand and played again the old people in the took no notice of them and the kept to their own grounds so the babies had a beautiful when came back from her deep sea fishing she would go straight to their and call as a sheep calls for a lamb and wait until she heard then she would take the of straight lines in his | 39 |
direction striking out with her fore and knocking the head over heels right and left there were always a few hundred mothers hunting for their children through the and the babies were kept lively but as told so long as you don t lie in muddy water and get or rub the hard sand into a cut or scratch and so long as you never go swimming when there is a heavy sea nothing will hurt you here little can no more swim than little children but they are unhappy till they learn the first time that went down to the sea a wave carried him out beyond his depth and his the book h and his little hind flew up us mother had told him in the song ij next wave had not thrown him back have drowned he learned to lie in a beach pool and of the waves just cover him and lift while he but he always kept his for waves that hurt he was i t learning to use his and all he in and out of the water co j and and crawled up the and took cat on the sand and went until at last he found that he truly to the water you can imagine the times that he had with his companions under the or coming in on top of a and landing with a and a as the big wave went whirling far up the beach or standing up on his tail and scratching his head as the old people did or playing i m the king of the castle on slippery rocks that just stuck out of the wash now and then he would see a thin fin like a big s fin drifting along close to shore and he knew that that was the whale the who eats young when he can get them and would head for the beach like an the white seal arrow and the fin would off slowly as if it were looking for nothing at all late in october the began to leave st for the deep sea by families and tribes and there was no more fighting over the and the played anywhere they liked next year said to you will be a but this year you must learn how to catch fish they set out together across the pacific and showed how to sleep on his back with his tucked down by his side and his little nose just out of the water no cradle is so comfortable as the long rocking swell of the pacific when felt his skin all over told him he was learning the feel of the water and that feelings meant bad weather coming and he must swim hard and get away in a little time she said you know where to swim to but just now we follow sea pig the for he is very wise a school of were and tearing through the water and little followed them as fast as he could how do you know where to go to he panted the leader of the school rolled his white eyes and under my tail l the b he b h said that means l l there s a gale behind me come along when i h i you re south of the hi water he meant the h l l and your tail hb i i that means k m s a gale in front of you b i h i and north hi l come along the water h feels bad here b h this was one of very hb i many things that b m learned and he was al t u ways learning h taught him how to follow hj h the and the h h h b along the under sea r h banks and the k r out of his hole t among the weeds how li to skirt the lying j b below hj b water and dart like a h rifle bullet in port l hole and out at another m i rt the white seal as the fishes ran how to dance on the top of the waves when the was racing all over the sky and wave his politely to the and the man of war hawk as they went down the wind how to jump three or four feet clear of the water like a close to the side and tail curved to leave the flying fish alone because they are all bony to take the shoulder piece out of a at full speed ten deep and never to stop and look at a boat or a ship but particularly a row boat at the end of six months what did not know about deep sea fishing was not worth the knowing and all that time he never set on dry ground one day however as he was lying half asleep in the warm water somewhere off the island of he felt faint and lazy all over just as human people do when the spring is in their legs and he remembered the good firm of seven thousand miles away the games his companions played the smell of the the seal roar and the fighting that very minute he turned north swimming steadily and as he went on he met scores of his mates all bound for the same place and they said greeting this year the book are all and we can dance the dance in the off and on the new grass but where did you get at coat s fur was almost pure white now and he felt very proud of it he only said quickly my bones are aching for the d and so they all came to the re they had been born and heard the old lis their fathers fighting in the rolling mist that night | 39 |
here year after year of course the get to know of it and unless you can find an island where no men ever come you will always be driven is n t there any such island began i ve followed the the for twenty years and i can t say i ve found it yet i but look here you seem to have a fondness for talking to your suppose you go to and talk to sea me may know something don t off like that it s a six mile swim and if i were you i should haul out and take a nap first little one thought that that was good advice so he swam round to his own beach hauled out and slept for half an hour all over as will then he headed straight for a little low sheet of rocky island almost due from all of rock and nests where the by themselves he landed close to old sea the big ugly fat long of the north pacific who has no except when he is asleep as he was then with his hind half in and half out of the surf wake up for the were making a great noise ho what s that said sea and he struck the next a blow with his and him up and the next struck the next and so on till they were all awake and k staring in every direction but the right one i hi it s me said in the and looking like a little white well may i be said sea the white seal and they all looked at as you can fancy a club full of drowsy old gentlemen would j look at a little boy did not care to hear any more about just then he had seen j enough of it so he called out is n t there any place for to go where men don t ever come go and find out said sea shutting j his eyes run away we re busy here made his jump in the air and shouted as loud as he could he knew that sea never caught a fish in his life but always rooted and though he pretended to be a very terrible person naturally the and the and the the and the and the who are always looking for a chance to be rude took up the cry and so told me for nearly five minutes you could not have heard a gun fired on all the population was yelling and screaming old man while sea j rolled from side to side and j now will you tell said all out of breath go and ask sea cow said sea he is living still he be able to tell you the book how shall i know sea cow when i meet said off he s the only thing in the sea than h screamed a sea s nose and with i back to leaving the scream there he found that no one with him in his little attempts to r a quiet place for the they told it men had always driven the s part of the day s work and that if he like to see ugly things he should not gone to the killing grounds but none of the other had seen the killing and that made the difference between him and his friends besides was a white seal what you must do said old sea catch after he had heard his son s adventures is to grow up and be a big seal like your father and have a nursery on the beach and then they will leave you alone in another five years you ought to be able to fight for yourself even gentle his mother said you will never be le to stop the killing go and play in the sea and went off and danced the i ire dance with a very heavy little heart the white seal that autumn he left the beach as soon as he could and set off alone because of a notion in his bullet head he was going to find sea cow if there was such a person in the sea and he was going to find a quiet island with good firm for to live on where men could not get at them so he and by himself from the north to the south pacific swimming as much as three hundred miles in a day and a night he met with more adventures than can be told and narrowly escaped being caught by the and the spotted and the and he met all the that loaf up and down the high seas and the heavy polite fish and the scarlet spotted that are in one place for hundreds of years and grow very proud of it but he never met sea cow and he never found an island that he could fancy if the beach was good and hard with a behind it for to play on there was always the smoke of a on the horizon boiling down and knew what that meant or else he could see that had once visited the island and been killed off and knew that where men had come once they would come the book picked up with an old s who told him that island was t very place for peace and quiet and when went down there he was all but smashed to pieces against some wicked black cliffs in a heavy storm with lightning and thunder yet as he pulled out against the gale he could see that even there had once been a seal nursery nd it was so in all the other islands that he visited gave a long list of them for he said that spent five seasons exploring h a four months rest each year | 39 |
found out some safe island and what is good enough for the sea cow is good enough for the sea catch all the same i wish they d hurry it was weary work for the herd never went more than forty or fifty miles a day and stopped to feed at night and kept close to the shore all the time while swam round them and over them and under them h i the book them up one half mile as they north they held a bowing council few and nearly bit off his sc he with impatience till he saw that they following up a warm current of water and n he respected them more one they sank through the shiny water sank like stones and for ihe first time since had known them began to swim quickly followed and the pace astonished him for he never dreamed that t a cow was anything of a they for a cliff by the shore a cliff that ran down into deep water and plunged into a dark hole at th foot of it twenty under the sea it was a long long swim and badly wanted fresh air before he was out of the dark they led him through my wig he said when he rose gasping and puffing into open water at the farther end it was a long but it was worth it the sea cows had separated and were lazily along the edges of the finest that had ever seen there were long stretches of smooth worn rock running for miles exactly fitted to make seal and there were of hard sand sloping inland behind them and there were for to the white seal s dance in and long grass to roll in and to climb up and down and best of all knew by the feel of the water which never a true sea catch that no men had ever come there the first thing he did was to assure himself that the fishing was good and then he swam along the and counted up the delightful low sandy islands half hidden in the beautiful rolling fog away to the northward out to sea ran a line of bars and and rocks that would never let a ship come within six miles of the beach and between the islands and the was a stretch of deep water that ran up to the perpendicular and somewhere below the cliffs was the mouth of the it s over again but ten times better said sea cow must be wiser than thought men can t come down the cliffs even if there were any men and the to would knock a ship to if any place in the sea is safe this is it he began to think of the seal he had left behind him but though he was in a hurry to go back to he thoroughly the new country so that he would be able to answer all questions the book he and made sure of the mouth of ti and through to the southward one but a sea cow or a seal would have ned of there being such a place and when back at the cliffs even could believe that he had been under them e was six days going i ome though he vi as t swimming slowly and when he hauled out st above sea lion s the first person he net was the seal who had been waiting for him and she saw by the look in his eyes that he had his island at last but the and sea catch his father and all the other laughed at him when he told them what he had discovered and a young seal about his own age said this is all very well but you can t come from no one knows where and order us off like this remember we ve been fighting for our and that s a thing you never did you preferred about in the sea the other laughed at this and the young seal began twisting his head from side to side he had just married that year and was making a great fuss about it i ve no nursery to fight for said i want only to show you all a place where you will be safe what s the use of fighting the white seal oh if you re trying to back out of course i ve no more to say said the young seal with an ugly chuckle will you come with me if i win said ko and a green light came into his eyes for he was very angry at having to fight at all very good said the young seal carelessly if you win i come he had no time to change his mind for s head darted out his teeth sunk in the j of the young seal s neck then he threw himself back on his and hauled his i enemy down the beach shook him and knocked j him over then roared to the i ve done my best for you these five seasons i past i ve found you the island where you be i safe but unless your heads are dragged off your i silly necks you won t believe i m going to j teach you now look out for yourselves i told me that never in his life i and sees ten thousand big fighting every year never in all his little life i did he see anything like s charge into the i he flung himself at the biggest sea i catch he could find caught him by the throat i choked him and him and him till i he for mercy and then threw him aside i and attacked the next you s ie a va s i the book never for four months as | 39 |
and all the night trying to make up his mind to into the middle of the room but he never gets there don t kill me said almost weeping don t kill me do you think a snake said scornfully those who kill get killed by said more sorrowfully ever and how am i to be sure that won t mistake me for you some dark night there s not the least danger said but is in the garden and i know you don t go there my cousin the rat told me said and then he stopped told you what h sh is everywhere you should have talked to in the garden i did n t so you must tell me quick or i ii bite you sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers i am a very poor man he sobbed i never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room h sh i must n t tell you anything can t you hear the book listened the house was as still as still but he thought he could just catch the faintest scratch scratch in the world a noise as faint as that of a walking on a window pane the dry scratch of a snake s scales on that b or he said to himself and he is crawling into the bath room you re right i should have talked to he stole off to s bath room but there was nothing there and then to s mother s bath room at the bottom of the smooth plaster wall there was a brick pulled out to make a for the bath water and as stole in by the where the bath is put he heard and whispering together outside in the moonlight when the house is emptied of people said to her husband he will have to go away and then the garden will be our own again go in quietly and remember that the big man who killed is the first one to bite then come out and tell me and we will hunt for together but are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing the people said everything when there were no people in ta vi the did we have any in the garden so long as the is empty we are king and queen of the garden and remember that as soon as our eggs in the bed as they may to morrow our children will need room and quiet i had not thought of that said i will go but there is no need that we should hu it for afterward i will kill the big man and his wife and the child if i can and come away quietly then the will be empty and will go all over with rage and hatred at this and then s head came through the and his five feet of cold body followed it angry as he was was very frightened as he saw the size of the big himself up raised his head and looked into the bath room in the dark and could see his eyes glitter now if i kill him here will know and if i fight him on the open floor the odds are in his favor what am i to do said waved to and fro and then heard him drinking from the biggest water jar that was used to fill the bath that is good the book said the snake now when was killed the big man had a stick he may have that stick still but when he comes in to in the morning he will not have a stick i shall wait here till he comes do you hear me i shall wait here in the cool till there was no answer from outside so knew had gone away himself down by round the at the bottom of the water jar and stayed still as death after an hour he began to move muscle by muscle toward the jar was and looked at his big back wandering which would be the best place for a good hold if i don t break his back at the first jump said he can still fight and if he fights o he looked at the thick ness of the neck below the hood but that was too much for him and a bite near the tail would only make savage it must be the head he said at last the head above the hood and when i am once there i must not let go then he jumped the head was lying a little clear of the water jar under the curve of it and as his teeth met his back against the of the red to hold down the head this gave him just one second s purchase and he made the most of it then he was battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog to and fro on the floor up and down and round ur h was in great circles but his eyes were red and he held on as the body over the floor the tin and the soap dish and the flesh brush and against the tin side of j the bath as he held he closed his jaws the book and for he made sure he would be to death and for the honor of his family he preferred to be foimd with his teeth locked he was dizzy aching and felt shaken to pieces when something went off like a just behind him a hot wind knocked him senseless and red fire his fur the big man had been by the noise and had fired both barrels of a shot gun into just behind the hood held on with hi s eyes shut for | 39 |
ing to and fro singing a song of triumph son of the big man that killed she stay still i am not ready yet wait i a little keep very still all you three if you move i strike and if you do not move i strike j oh foolish people who killed my i s eyes were fixed on his father and all i his father could do was to whisper sit still you must n t move keep still then came up and cried turn i round turn and fight all in good time said she without moving her eyes i will settle my account with you i presently look at your friends j they are still and white they are afraid they i dare not move and if you a step nearer i i strike i look at your eggs said in the i bed near the wall go and look i the big snake turned half round and saw the egg on the ah h give it to me i she said put his one on each side of the egg and his eyes were blood te the book price for a snake s egg for a young for a young king for the last the very last of the brood the are eating all the others down by the bed spun clear round forgetting everything for the sake of the one egg and saw s father shoot out a big hand catch by the shoulder and drag him across the little table with the tea cups safe and out of reach of chuckled the boy is safe and it was i i i that caught by the hood last night in the bath room then he began to jump up and down all four feet together his head close to the floor he threw me to and fro but he could not shake me off he was dead before the big man blew him in two i did it come then come and fight with me you shall not be a widow long saw that she had lost her chance of killing and the lay between s give me the give me the last of my eggs and i will go away and never come back she said lowering her yes you wi come back for you with fight widow the big man has gone for his gun fight was bounding all round keeping just out of reach of her stroke his little eyes like hot coals gathered herself together and out at him jumped up and backward again and again and again she struck and each on the of the and herself together like a watch spring i danced in a circle to get behind the book and spun round to keep her head to head so that the rustle of her tail on the sounded hke dry leaves blown along by the wind he had forgotten the egg it still lay on the and came nearer and nearer to it till at last while was drawing breath she caught it in her mouth turned to the steps and flew like an arrow down the path with behind her when the runs for her life she goes like a across a horse s neck knew that he must catch her or all the trouble would begin again she headed straight for the long grass by the thorn bush and as he was running heard still singing his foolish little song of triumph but s wife was wiser she flew off her nest as came along and her wings about s head if had helped they might have turned her but only lowered her hood and went on still the instant s delay brought up to her and as she plunged into the rat hole where she and used to live his little white teeth were clenched on her tail and he went down with her and very few however wise and old they may be care to a into its hole it was dark in the hole and never knew when it might open out and give room to turn and strike at him he held on savagely and struck out his feet to act as on the dark slope of the hot moist earth then the grass by the mouth of the hole stopped waving and said it is all over with we must sing his is dead p or will surely kill him so he sang a very mournful song that he made up all on the spur of the minute and just as he got to the most touching part the grass quivered again and covered with dirt dragged himself out of the hole leg by leg his whiskers stopped with a little shout shook some of the dust out of his fur and it is all over he said the widow will never come out again and the red that live between the grass stems heard him and began to troop down one after another to see if he had spoken the truth curled himself up in the grass and slept where he was slept and slept till it was late in the afternoon for he had done a hard day s work ia the book now he said when he awoke i will go back to the house tell the and he will tell the garden that is dead the is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the beating of a hammer copper pot and the reason he is always making it is because he is the town to every indian garden and tells all the news to everybody who cares to listen as went up the path he heard his attention notes like a tiny and then the steady is dead is dead that set all the birds in the garden singing and the for and used | 39 |
to eat as well as little birds when got to the house and s mother she looked very white still for she had been fainting and s father came out and almost cried over him and that night he ate all that was given him till he could eat no more and went to bed on s shoulder where s mother saw him when she came to look late at night he saved our lives and s life she said to her husband think he saved all our lives woke up with a jump for all the are light oh it s you said he what are you for all the are dead and if they were n t i m here had a right to be proud of himself but he did not grow too proud and he kept that garden as a should keep it with tooth the book id spring and bite till never a w its head inside the walls s in honor of and tailor am i doubled the joys that i know proud of my through the sky proud of the house that i nd under so i my music so i house that i sing to your again mother oh lift up your head evil that us is slain death in the garden lies dead terror that hid in the roses ia impotent flung on the hill and dead who hath delivered us who tell me his nest and his name the the true with of flame the ivory the hunter with of flame give him the thanks of the birds bowing with tail feathers spread praise him with words nay i will praise him instead hear i will sing you the praise of the bottle with of red here interrupted and the rest of the song is lost m of the what t was i am sick of rope and chain remember my old strength and all my affairs sell my back to man for a bundle sugar cane d out to my own kind and the wood folk in their it until the day until the morning break lie winds kiss the waters clean caress forget my ankle ring and snap my stake will my lost loves and of the which means black snake had the indian government in every way that an elephant could serve it for years and as he was fully twenty years old when he was caught that makes him nearly seventy a ripe age for an elephant he remembered pushing with a big leather on his forehead at a gun stuck in deep mud and that i was before the war of and he had not then come to his full strength his mother the darling who had been caught in the same drive with told him before his little milk had dropped out that who were afraid always got i ai the book hurt and knew that that advice was good for the first time that he saw a shell burst he backed screaming into a stand of piled and the pricked him in all his places so before he was twenty five he gave up being afraid and so he was the best loved and the best looked after elephant in the service of the government of india he had carried tents twelve hundred pounds weight of tents on the march in upper india he had been hoisted into a ship at the end of a steam and taken for days across the water and made to carry a mortar on his back in a strange and rocky country very far from india and had seen the emperor lying dead in and had come back again in the steamer entitled so the soldiers said to the war he had seen his fellow die of cold and and starvation and up at a place called ah ten years later and afterward he had been sent down thousands of miles south to haul and pile big of in the timber yards at there he had half killed an young elephant who was his fair share of the work after that he was taken off timber and employed with a few score other of the who were trained to the business in helping to catch wild among the hills are very strictly preserved by the indian government there is one whole department which does nothing else but hunt them and catch them and break them in and send them up and down the country as they are needed for work stood ten fair feet at the shoulders and his had been cut off short at five feet and bound round the ends to prevent them with bands of copper but he could do more with those than any elephant could do with the real sharpened ones when after weeks and weeks of cautious driving of scattered across the hills the forty or fifty wild monsters were driven into the last and the big drop gate made of tree trunks lashed together down behind them at the word of command would go into that generally at night when the of the made it difficult to judge distances and picking out the biggest and wildest of the mob would hammer him and him into quiet while the men on the backs of the other and tied the smaller ones the book there was nothing in the way of fighting that the old wise black snake did not know for he had stood up more than once in his time to the charge of the wounded tiger and curling up his soft trunk to be out of harm s way had knocked the springing brute sideways in mid air with a quick cut of his head that he had invented all by himself had knocked him over and upon him with his huge knees till the life went out | 39 |
with a gasp and a howl and there was only a striped thing on the ground for to pull by the tail yes said big his driver the son of black who had taken him to and of of the who had seen him caught there is nothing that the black snake fears except me he has seen three generations of us feed him and groom him and he will live to see four he is afraid of me also said little standing up to his full height of four feet with only one rag upon him he was ten years old the eldest son of big and according to custom he would take his father s place on s neck when he grew up and would handle the heavy iron the elephant that had of the been worn smooth by his father and his grandfather and his great grandfather he knew what he was talking of for he had been born under s shadow had played with the end of his trunk before he walk had taken him down to water as soon as he could walk and would no more have dreamed of his shrill little orders than he would have dreamed of killing him on that day when big carried the brown baby under s and told him to salute his master that was to be yes said little he is afraid of me and he took long strides up to called him a fat old pig and made him lift up his feet one after the other said little thou art a big elephant and he his head quoting his father the government may pay for but they belong to us when thou art old there will come some rich and he will buy thee from tlie government on account of thy size and thy manners and then thou wilt have nothing to do but to carry gold in thy ears and a gold on thy back and a red cloth covered with gold on thy sides and walk at the head of the of the king then i shall sit on thy neck o with a silver and men i before us with golden sticks crying room for the king s elephant i that will be good but not so good as this hunting in the said big thou art a boy and as wild as a calf this running up and down among the hills is not the best government service i am getting old and do not love wild give me brick one stall to each elephant and big to tie them to safely and flat broad roads to exercise upon instead of this come and go the were good there was a close by and only three hours work a day little remembered the elephant and said nothing he very much preferred the camp life and hated those broad flat roads with the daily for grass in the reserve and the long hours when there was nothing to do except to watch in his what little liked was to scramble up bridle paths that only an elephant could take the dip into the valley below the glimpses of of the the wild miles away the rush of the frightened pig and under s feet the blinding warm rains when all the hills and valleys smoked the beautiful misty mornings when nobody knew where they would camp that night the steady cautious drive of the wild and the mad rush and blaze and of the last night s drive when the poured into the like in a found that they could not get out and flung themselves at the heavy posts only to be driven back by and and of blank even a little boy could be of use there and was as useful as three boys he would get his torch and wave it and yell with the best but the really good time came when the driving out began and the that is the looked like a picture of the end of the world and i men had to make signs to one another because they could not hear themselves speak then little would climb up to the top of one of the quivering posts his sun i brown hair flying loose all over his shoulders and he looking like a in the torch light and as soon as there was a lull you could hear his i high pitched of encouragement to r the book above the and crashing and snapping of ropes and groans of the mail mail go on go on black snake do give him the careful careful mar hit him hit him mind the post a he would shout and the big fight between and the wild elephant would sway to and fro across the and the old elephant would wipe the sweat out of their eyes and find time to nod to little with joy on the top of the posts he did more than one night he slid down from the post and slipped in between the and threw up the loose end of a rope which had dropped to a driver who was trying to get a purchase on the leg of a kicking young calf always give more trouble than animals saw him caught him in his trunk and handed him up to big who him then and there and put him back on the post next morning he gave him a scolding and said are not good brick elephant lines and a tent carrying enough that thou must needs go catching on thy own account little of the worthless now those foolish hunters whose pay is less than my pay have spoken to of the matter little was frightened he did not know much of white men but was the greatest white man in the world to him he was the head of all the operations the man who caught | 39 |
all the for the government of india and who knew more about the ways of than any living man what what will happen said little happen the worst that can happen is a madman else why should he go hunting these wild devils he may even require thee to be an elephant to sleep anywhere in these fever filled and at last to be trampled to death in the it is well that this nonsense ends safely next week the catching is over and we of the plains are sent back to our stations then we will march on smooth roads and forget all this hunting but son i am angry that thou in the business that belongs to these dirty will obey none but me so i must go with him into the but he is only a fighting elephant and he does not help to the book i so i sit at my ease as a not a mere hunter a i say man who gets a at the end of his e is the family of of the be trodden in the dirt of a li bad one wicked one worthless go and wash and attend to his d see that there ar no thorns in his feet v surely catch thee and ee a wild hunter of elephant s it tracks a bear shame go little went off saying a word t he told his while s examining his fe no matter said l le turning i the fringe of s huge right ear they have said my name to and perhaps and perhaps and perhaps who knows hai that is a big thorn that i have pulled out the next few days were spent in getting the together in walking the newly caught wild up and down between a couple of tame ones to prevent them from giving too much trouble on the downward march to the plains and in taking stock of the blankets and ropes and things that had been worn out or in the forest of the came in on his clever he had been paying off other among the hills for the season was coming to an end and there was a native clerk sitting at a table under a tree to pay the drivers their wages as each man was paid he went back to his elephant and joined the line that stood ready to start the and hunters and the men of the regular who stayed in the year in and year out sat on the backs of the that belonged to s permanent force or leaned against the trees with their guns across their arms and made fun of the drivers who were going away and laughed when the newly caught broke the line and ran about big went up to the clerk with little behind him and the said in an to a friend of his there goes one piece of good at least t is a pity to send that young cock to in the plains now had ears all over him as a man must have who to the most silent of all living things the wild elephant he turned where he was lying all along on s back and said it is that i did not the book r h know of a man among the plain drivers who had i h wit enough to rope even a dead elephant h this is not a man but a boy he went i h into the at the last drive and threw f there the rope when we were trying to get that young calf with the on his j shoulder away from his mother pointed at little and j looked and little bowed to the earth he throw a rope he is smaller than pin little one what is thy name said little was too frightened to speak but was behind him and made a sign with hi s hand and the caught him up in his trunk and held him level with s forehead in front of the great then little covered his face with his hands for he was only a child and except where were concerned he was just as as a child could be said smiling underneath his and why thou teach thy elephant that trick was it to help thee steal green corn from the roofs of the houses when the ears are put out to dry of the not green corn protector of the poor said little and all the men sitting about broke in to a roar of laughter most of them had taught their that trick when they were boys little was hanging eight feet up in the air and he wished very much that he were eight feet he is my son said big he is a very bad boy and he will end in a jail of that i have my doubts said a boy who can face a full at his age does not end in see little one here are four to spend in because thou hast a httle head under that great of hair in time thou become a hunter too big more than ever remember though that are not good for children to play in went on must i never go there asked little with a big gasp yes smiled again when thou hast seen the dance that is the proper time come to me when thou hast seen the dance and then i will let thee go into all the s the book there was another roar of laughter for that is an old joke among elephant and it means just never there are great cleared flat places hidden away in the forests that are called but even these are found only by accident and no man has ever seen the dance when a driver of his | 39 |
little turned rustling in the and watched the curve of his big back against half the stars in heaven and while he watched he heard so far away that it sounded no more than a of noise pricked through the stillness the of a wild elephant all the in the lines jumped up as if they had been shot and their at last the sleeping and they came out and drove in the with big and this rope and knotted that till all was quiet one new elephant had nearly up his and big took off s leg chain and that elephant fore foot to hind foot but slipped a of round s leg and told him to remember that he was tied fast he knew that he and his father and his grandfather had done the very same thing hundreds of times before did not answer to the order by as he usually did he stood still looking out across the moonlight his head a little raised j the and his ears spread like up to the great folds of the hills look to him if he grows restless in the night said big to and he went into the hut and slept little was just going to sleep too when he heard the string snap with a little and rolled out of his as slowly and as silently as a cloud rolls out of the mouth of a valley little after him down the road in the moonlight calling under his breath take me with you o the elephant turned without a sound took three strides back to the boy in the moonlight put down his trunk swung him up to his neck and almost before little had his knees slipped into the forest there was one blast of furious from the lines and then the silence shut down on everything and began to move sometimes a of high grass washed along his sides as a wave along the sides of a ship and sometimes a cluster of wild vines would scrape along his back or a would where his shoulder touched it but those times he moved absolutely without r of the any sound drifting through the thick forest i as though it had been smoke he was going up hill but though little watched the stars in the of the trees he could not tell in what direction then reached the crest of tlie ascent and stopped for a minute and little could see the tops of the trees lying all and under the moonlight for miles and miles and the blue white mist over the river in the hollow leaned forward and looked and he felt that the forest was awake below him awake and alive and crowded a big brown fruit eating bat shed past his ear a s rattled in the thicket and in the darkness between the tree stems he heard a digging hard in the moist warm earth and as it then the branches closed over his head again and began to go down into the valley not quietly this time but as a gun goes down a steep bank in one rush the huge limbs moved as steadily as eight feet to each stride and the wrinkled skin of the elbow points the on either with a noise like torn canvas and the that he heaved away right and the book left with his sprang back again and him on the flank and great of all together hung from his as he threw his head from side to side and out his pathway then little laid himself down close to the great neck lest a swinging bough should sweep to the ground and he wished that he were back in the lines again the grass began to get and s feet sucked and as he put them down and the night mist at the bottom of the valley chilled little there was a splash and a and the rush of running water and strode through the bed of a river feeling his way at each step above the noise of the water as it round the elephant s legs little could hear more and some both up stream and down great and angry and all the mist about him seemed to be full of rolling shadows at he said half aloud his teeth chattering the elephant folk are out to night it is the dance then out of the water blew his trunk clear and began another climb but this time he was not alone and he had not to make his of the h path that was made already six feet wide in front of him where the bent grass was h trying to recover itself and stand up many h must have gone that way only a few h minutes before little looked back and behind him a great wild with his little pig s eyes glowing like hot coals was just lifting himself out of the misty river then the trees h closed up again and they went on and up with h and and the sound of h breaking branches on every side of them h at last stood still between two tree h trunks at the very top of the hill they were part of a circle of trees that grew round an h space of some three or four acres and in h ail that space as little could see the h ground had been trampled down as hard as a h b brick floor some trees grew in the of h h the clearing but their bark was rubbed away h h and the white wood beneath showed all shiny and polished in the patches of moonlight there h b were hanging from the upper branches h k and the bells of the flowers of the great h b wa y white things like hung down h h | 39 |
back little stared once more now he understood the the had stamped out more room had stamped the thick grass and cane to the into the into tiny and the into hard earth said and his eyes were very heavy my lord let us keep by and go to s camp or i shall drop from thy neck the third elephant watched the two go away wheeled round and took his own path he may have belonged to some little native of the king s establishment fifty or sixty or a hundred miles away two hours later as was eating early breakfast his who had been double chained that night began to trumpet and to the shoulders with very foot sore into the camp s face was gray and pinched and his hair was full of leaves and with dew but he tried to salute and cried faintly the dance the elephant dance i have seen it and i die as sat down he slid off his neck in a dead faint but since native children have no nerves worth speaking of in two hours he was lying very in s with s shooting coat under his head and a glass of warm milk a little brandy with a dash of inside of him and while the old hairy hunters of the sat three deep before him looking at him as though he were a spirit he told his tale in short words as a child will and wound up with now if lie in one word send men to see and they will find that the elephant folk have trampled down more room in their dance room and they will find ten and ten and many times ten tracks leading to that dance room they made more room with their feet i have seen it took me and i saw also is very leg weary little lay back and slept all through the long afternoon and into the twilight and while he slept and followed the track of the two for fifteen miles across the hills had spent eighteen years in catching and he had only once before found such a dance place had no need to look twice at the clearing to see what had been done there or to scratch with his toe in the packed earth the child speaks truth said he all this was done last night and i have counted seventy tracks crossing the river see where s leg iron cut the bark of that tree yes she was there too they looked at each other and up and down and they wondered for the ways of are beyond the wit of any man black or white to forty years and five said have i followed my lord the elephant but never have i heard that any child of man had seen what this child has seen by all the gods of thk of the hills it is what can we say and he shook his head when they got back to camp it was time for the evening meal ate alone in his tent but he gave orders that the camp should have two sheep and some fowls as well as a double of flour and rice and salt for he knew that there would be a feast big had come up hot foot from the camp in the plains to search for his son and his elephant and now that he had found them he looked at them as though he were afraid of them both and there was a feast by the blazing in front of the lines of and little was the hero of it all and the big brown elephant the and drivers and and the men who know all the secrets of breaking the wildest passed him from one to the other and they marked his forehead with blood from the breast of newly killed cock to show that he was a and free of all the and at last when the flames died down and the red light of the logs made the look as though they had been dipped in blood too the head of all the drivers of all the s the book other self who had never seen a made road forty years who was so great that he had no other name than leaped to his feet with held high in the air above his head and shouted listen my brothers listen too you my lords in the lines there for am speaking this little one shall no more be called little but of the as his great grandfather was called before him h what never man has seen he has seen l the long night and the favor of the elephant folk and of the gods of the is with him he shall become a great he shall become greater than i even i he shall follow the new trail and the stale trail and the mixed trail with a clear eye i he shall take no harm in the when he runs under their to rope the wild and if he slips before the feet of the charging bull elephant that bull elephant shall know who he is and shall not crush him my lords in the chains he whirled up the line of here is the little one that has seen your dances in your hidden places the sight that never man saw give him honor my lords my children make your salute to of the of the i thou hast seen j him at the dance and thou too my j pearl among together to of the and at that last wild yell the whole line flung j up their trunks till the tips touched their fore j heads and broke out into the full salute the i crashing trumpet peal that only the of | 39 |
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