Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1914 — The Yellow Flash [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Yellow Flash

It Served Their Purpose

By CLARISSA MACKIE

Scott Perry stared at the old Indian tracker with v*»m «••;.*.- <■, ••■s. Did Daga Bendrib really expect him to believe that there was a tiger—a man eating tiger—a,t large in the Wundri district? Daga Bendrib bumped his turbaned head on the floor of the veranda and protested vigorously. “Ah, Sahib Perry, it is the greatest beast India hash ever known! My son-in-law glimpsed it as it sped through the village, and he swore that it went like a flash of yellow lightning, its lips dripped blood, and its eyes blazed like balls of fire. If the presence would condescend to leave his study of the birds and butterflies his servant would show him the mangled bull and the track of the great man fating tiger!’’ Again Daga' Bendrib salaamed. Perry knocked the ashes from his pipe and dropped it in his pocket. He was rather taken with the tracker’s plea that he should come and kill the tiger that was molesting the cattle and threatening the lives of the peaceful iiihVbitanis of the little mountain village. It would be a welcome change from his cverlastihg chase after the birds and butterflies of India. It was inldafternoon when they were ready to set out, Bendrib in the lead, Perry following, and in the rear trotted Sunnai, who carried the guns, as well as the knapsack. At the entrance to the village they Were met by a crowd of excited natives. There was much rejoicing over the arrival of the white sahib, whoso deadly gun would put to rout “tin* great yellow flash’’ which had killed the finest bull in the chief’s compound. The beast had dragged the animal to the outskirts of the village and had evidently been driven away from his orgy by the rising of the sun. An hour before sunset Perry ami Daga Bendrib were seated on the top

of a flimsy platform which they had hastily constructed between four palm trees within twenty feet of the dead bull. A bower of branches and shrubs concealed them from the ground, and it was from this vantage point that Perry hoped to kill the tiger with one shot from his rifle. He had killed tigers before, aud the fine skins that graced the walls and floors of his bungalow bore testimony to his skill as a marksman. The platform was ten feet above the ground, gud. provided Perry could get good sight of the great cat. he would have no difficulty in adding another royal skin to his collection. Suddenly Daga Bendrib hissed sharply through Ills teeth. “Ah, sahib! Ishnie!” whispered the tracker. “Ah. the tiger!” repeated Perry, moving cautiously beneath his bower of branches. Thei'e came a snuffling growl from a nearby thicket. Then followed silence. Daga Bendrilj breathed shortly. Perry felt his ( own heart 'beating to quick time. ' ' Something moved in the thicket behind them. “Two!” hjssed the tracker. Perry began to feel uneasy. The platform was a flimsy structure at best. If one or more tigers should :itttick it there was lid” doubt that the platform would tunihk* to pieces. Again came the growl from the left hand thicket and again a responsive movement from the thicket behind the platfo-rm. Perry had his gun sighted and pointed the barrel toward the dark bulk of the dead bull op the grass below. While Perry listened for a repetition of the soul chilling growl from the left hand thicket, there suddenly came a horrifying interruption from the rear. A wild, panther-like scream split the

airs there was a rush of wind overhead, and the two hunters were suddenly struck flat to the platform by the falling of a heavy body upon them The platform shook, tottered and fell, crashing with its burden of two men and a full grown panther. As the platform fell Daga Bendrib’s gun went off, scattering a double charge of buckshot. The panther screamed savagely and thudded heavily to the ground, rolling over in agony. The double charge of buckshot had entered its eyes and, so far as the hunters were concerned, had put the panther out of business for that occasion at least. But the excitement was not yet over. As Perry and his tracker clambered up to the remains of the fallen platform and each fo"nd a perch on the supports which stii clung to the four trees the moon found an opening among the trees ar 4 sent a broad shaft of silver light InV ,he jungle where the dead bull lay, M-rJi the stiffening panther near by. From the left hand thicket was a repetition of that low, deep, ominous growl, ending in an ugly snarl; there was a sudden rush of misplaced air as something long and yellow and black striped streaked across their vision to fall upon the body of the panther. There were the rending of flesh and the crunching of bones. The two men in the trees shivered and changed their positions. The tiger ceased his feasting, and a rigid line ran along his lithe form. His back was toward the platform, and his left shoulder presented a splendid mark for a bullet. Perry lifted his rifled shotgun to his shoulder and fired. Bang! The tiger whirled about, screamed with pain and rage and was about to charge the hunters in the. tree when there came another interruption from the thicket. This time it was a full grown tigress, and she leaped straight toward the broken platform. A bullet from Perry’s gun crashed through her brain, and she fell staggering at the very foot of the platform supports. At the same instant Daga Bendrib’s gun spattered buckshot in the eyes of the Wounded tiger, and while the beast pawed blindly at them another bullet from Perry’s Weapon stretched him beside his dead mate in the parched grass. Perry drew a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. All around them were myriad sounds from the startled denizens of the jungle. Aroused by the double killing and attracted toward the spot by the dead bull came jackals, hyenas and others of their tribes.

Perry was anxious to protect the skins he had won at lire risk of his life, so his gun answered the cries of the jungle beasts while Daga Bendrib sped toward the village to bring help. In half an hour the two tigers and 'the panther were lashed at the heels of tin ox team and tin* dead bodies were dragged to a deserted hut on the outskirts of the village where Daga Bendrib and his son-in-law -and his two brothers and their son-in-laws set to work to skin the three animals for the great sahib. Perry went back to the tree in order to guard the village from a surprise visit from the panther’s mate or from other beasts, if the smell of blood should attract them into the village. The body of the bull had entirely disappeared now. and from distant thickets Perry could hear the jackals snarling over the fragments they had sto len. He was tired and happy. The night s excitement had been a pleasant relaxaation after the dullness of bug hunting at this season, and he was grateful indeed for the information which Daga Bendrib had brought him concerning the depredations of the tiger which had killed the bull. Perry nodded in the crotch of the tree. The sun was slanting in his eyes when be was awakened by the sound of voices at the foot of the tree. He looked down and saw several men standing there. They were neighbors of Daga Bendrib. They were speaking of the triple killing made by the white sahib. “That Daga Bendrib, he’ is a clever man.’’ said one enviously. “Who but Daga Bendrib and his son-in-law would have dreamed of killing his best bull—the finest in the village—and then running ten miles to the bungalow of the white sahib and telling him that a tiger had been seen in the village and had carried off a bull?” “Who indeed?” echoed his companions. “And, 10, when the white sahib returns with Daga Bendrib and with the promise of many rupees if a tiger is shot, waits for the wicked beast why, the tiger comes, and the tiger’s mate, aud, as if those were not rupees enough in crafty Daga Bendrib's pocket, there also comes a panther! All attracted by the smell of the dead bull’s blood, when we all know that the jungle has been cleared of these beasts for many years! Whence came these blood hunters? From the distant mountains’*’’ “Clever Daga Bendrib!” muttered his companions, as the three returned to the village. Perr.r grinm«l to himself as he thought oyer this revelation of Daga Bendrjb’s device to earn a few rupees. His reward would be ample and the sacrifice of the tine bull would be well justified in the eyes of Daga Bondrib’s neighbors, Daga Bendrib’s soiis-in-law and his brothers and their sons-in-law. As for Periy himself, he calculated what the tiger skins were worth to him when he could return to America and dispose of them, and he was! well satisfied with (he craft of Daga Bendrib and with the opportune arrival <f the “yellow flash.”

HE WAS BATHER TAKEN WITH THE TRACKER’S PLEA.