Latest / The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and other Stories / Bengal Dacoits and Tigers-Sunity Devi

Transcript

Bengal Dacoits and Tigers-Sunity Devi · The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and other Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Section one of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This is a
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Bengaldicoits and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar Sunitidevi Decoit stories
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the Ji's discovery. It was the month of Jeshta May
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: June in Bengal, and the earth languished under the scorching
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: rays of the sun and sent up a voiceless prayer
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to the rain god to come soon and refresh the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: fields and jungles with a welcome barsat rainy season. Yet,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: in spite of the intense heat, a young and delicately
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: nurtured Bengali lady was traveling. She was on her way
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: to pay a visit to her parents in law, for
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: after marriage, the bride returns to her childhood's home and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: remains there, paying visits from time to time to her
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: husband's home until the day comes when she goes to
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: live there. It is a Bengali custom that ladies, especially
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: young lady, must always wear their jewelry even when traveling, arms, wrists,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: neck and ankles bare of jewels are a sign of
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: widowhood or dire poverty. Our young heroine was accordingly adorned
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: with jewels, and she was also richly attired. Was she
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: not the daughter of a wealthy man and going to
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: visit her mother in law? So her mother had lovingly
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: dressed her in an exquisite gold embroidered Banara's silk surrey
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of finest texture and superb workmanship, and the jewelry which
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: adorned her graceful arms, neck and ankles was in keeping
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: with the richness of her costume. Twelve bearers took turns
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: in carrying the covered palanquin or palki in which she traveled.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: They had been in her father's service for many years
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and were known to be trustworthy. A faithful ge or
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: maid accompanied her, sometimes walking beside the palqui and at
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: other times sitting within to fan her young mistress and
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: help to enliven the weary journey with tales of former travels.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Two men servants, whom in Bengal we called the vans
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and who are permitted to bear arms in defense of
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: their master's goods, completed the party. One of them walked
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: on either side of the palanquin, and each carried a
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: naked sword in his hand. These two men were tried
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: and trusted retainers of the young lady's father, and were
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: prepared to defend their master's daughter, even at the cost
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: of their lives. The route lay through a lonely country district,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: with stretches of rice fields scattered between the villages, nestling
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: here and there among groves of trees. At one of
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: these villages, the party halted a while for rest and refreshment,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: and then on again in the fierce heat of a
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: close Indian day. Thus many miles had been passed, and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the evening shades were beginning to cool the wearisome day,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: when the travelers drew near to a group of trees
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: not far from a small tank or artificial lake. The
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: parquet bearers sighted this ideal resting place and asked the
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: chi to inform their young mistress of it, and beseeched
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: that they might stop there and refresh themselves with a
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: draft of water, after which they would be able to
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: travel still faster. A gracious consent was readily given by
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the fair one within the palanquin. She had found the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: heat almost beyond endurance, and pitied the bearers, who had
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: the weight of her palki and herself added to their sufferings.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: The palanquin was gently set down under a large and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: shady tree, and that the once respectfully withdrew a little
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: distance to permit of the gea raising the covering, so
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that their kind mistress might also enjoy the grateful shade
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: and coolness of the grove. The spot was lonely, and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: their responsibility was great, so the men decided among themselves
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: that they should divide into two parties. Six should remain
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: with the guard to protect their fair charge in case
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: of any untoward happening, while the other six refreshed themselves
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: at the lake. This plan was no sooner agreed upon
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: than the first six trooped off gleefully towards the tank.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: The others stretched themselves in the shade and relaxed their limbs.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: In the interval of waiting. Time passed unheeded, till it
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: dawned upon some of those who waited that they still thirsted,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: and that the first six seemed too long away. They
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: asked the g to obtain leave for them to go
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and hurry the others up and refreshed themselves at the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: same time, so that the journey might soon be resumed,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: as the evening sun was nearing the horizon, and if
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: they delayed further, night would overtake them. The young lady
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: gave the desired permission, and the second six soon disappeared
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: towards the tank. They two were long away. The g
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: felt uneasy, but kept her fears to herself. Suddenly, she
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: too disappeared, without a word to her mistress. She had
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: decided to see what the bearers were doing at the tank.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Climbing up a tree, she crept along an overhanging branch,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: and a dreadful sight met her horrified gaze. Some of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the bearers lay dead in the shallow water, and the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: surviving ones were fighting desperately for their lives with a
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: small band of outlaws. Rushing back to the balqui. With
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the utmost speed and regardless of onlookers, she flung wide
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the door, screaming frantically. Dacoits, dacoits, run thee thee or
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: elder sister, run with these eyes of mine. I saw them.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I climbed a tree and saw them. Some of our
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: bearers lie dead, and they are killing the others. Fly,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: fly for your life. With these words, she turned and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: led the way with swiftness. Impelled by fear. The lonely
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: occupant of the palanquin received the awful tidings with horror
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: and dismay. Often had she heard tales of dacoits and
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: their rootless deeds. For a fleeting instant, the thought that
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: she must fall a victim to such desperadoes paralyzed her
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: with fear, but only for an instant. Her woman's wit
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and ingenuity moved her to action. Quickly. She divested herself
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: of her heavy jeweled anklets. How could she run? Thus waited,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and might not their value satisfy the greed of the
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: highwaymen flinging them down in the palanquins, She hastily closed
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the doors and dropped the covering over its sides, let
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: them think she was within the search of the parquet
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: would delay them awhile. Then, tucking up her rich sarre,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: she too started to run for her life. She had
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: gone but a few steps when the voices of the
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: two Durwans arrested her. They had heard the jees distracted cry,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: and their only thought was for their young mistress Ti
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: the they said, addressing her affectionately and respectfully by the
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: endearing name of sister, which is accustomed permitted in Bengol
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: to the servants of every household. In the home of
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: her girlhood, a girl is addressed asdidi or sister, and
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: in her father in law's house as beau or son's wife.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Sons of the family are addressed as thada or brother
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: strictly elder brother, and sons in law as jamai thi
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the fear not. As long as there is breath in
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: these bodies, we will defend you. If the dacoits overtake us,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: we will guard you. No harm shall come to you.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Encouraged by their presence inwards, the girl made all possible speed,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: but her delicate feet were unused to rough, hard roads,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and despite her will and brave efforts, she tripped and
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: stumbled continually. In Bengal in the hot, dry weather, the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: country roads are difficult to traverse. The deep ruts of
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: the rainy season dry up, and the once muddy earth
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: crumbles into thick, heavy dust into which the feet of
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the wayfarers sink. Fast traveling is difficult even for those
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: who are used to journeying, So the poor young lady
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: made little headway, and was soon overtaken by her pursuers.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: They had not been long in discovering her flight, and
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: was soon racing after her from under the trees. As
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: she ran, she heard their shouts, and then realized that
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: they had caught up with her guard, who were resisting them.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: The poor girl ran on and on alone, and presently
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: saw a tiny hamlet hidden among some trees. She made
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: for this as fast as her trembling limbs could carry her,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: and rushed breathlessly into a small red brick house, the
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: door of which stood slip lightly. Ajar, crying, shut the door,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: dacoits are following me. Then, overcome with fear and exhaustion,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: she sank unconscious upon the floor. The ladies of the
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: little household ran forward, on hearing her cry, and shut
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the door promptly. Dacoits were known and feared everywhere. Then
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: they tenderly ministered to the stranger. As soon as she
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: recovered her senses. She related to them what had befallen her,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: and implored their protection. The master of the house immediately
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: despatched a messenger to a distant police outpost for aid.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Soothed and comforted the girl eagerly hoped and prayed for
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: the arrival of her attendants. After some time, word was
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: brought in that a parque was approaching. Even in the dark.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: The approach of a parquey is made known by the
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: rhythmic cries of the bearers. Soon it arrived in front
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: of the red brick house, and the bearers, halting, asked
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: loudly if a strange lady, richly attired and decked with
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: jewels was within from an upper window. The master of
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the house answered them, while the girl and her kindly
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: hostess listened anxiously downstairs. The pseudo parque bearers next informed
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the listeners that they were the servants of a very
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: wealthy man and had been conveying his daughter to her
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: parents in law's house. But they boldly declared, our master's
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: daughter is such a troublesome girl. She causes us much
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: anxiety whenever she is sent to visit her mother in law.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: She is so unwilling to go that it is with
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: great difficulty that we get her safely there. The anxious
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: listeners within felt sure these were the dacoits, and longed
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: for the arrival of the police. The disguised thieves persisted
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: in their questioning for some time, in spite of the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: house master's repeated advice that they had better search elsewhere.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: At last they departed, carrying the parquays with them, and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the dwellers in the red brick house breathed more freely,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: but not for long. The village was a tiny one,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: and the pretended bearers soon returned from their search. Planting
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: the parque in the doorway, they shouted, we know for
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: certain that our mistresses hiding somewhere. We feel sure she
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: is in your house. Here we will sit till you
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: send her forth. On hearing these words, the poor pursued
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: girl fell at the feet of her host, calling herself
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: his daughter and addressing him as father, and implored of
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: him not to give her up to these awful dacoits.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: The good man assured her of his protection, while his
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: wife raised her from the floor, and, embracing her, said
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: they would all sooner suffer death than give her up.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: The trying hours dragged on till past midnight. Then the
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: dacoits announced that the lady must be produced or they
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: would force an entrance into the house. No reply was
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: given to this ultimatum. The highwaymen waited awhile and they
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: assailed the door with heavy blows. The distraught girl besought
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: her hostess to take her jewels and hand them out
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: to the burglars, and thus in shore peace and safety
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: for all. The mistress of the house declared this would
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: not satisfy the ruffians, and once more assured her guest
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: that whatever happened, they would strive to protect her. Presently,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: the dog gave way. With coarse oaths and triumphant threats.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: The dacoits entered, but unknown to them, so busy had
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: they been hammering and swearing, the police had arrived and
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: now followed in on their heels. The dacoits were all
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: captured and confessed their guilt as to the murder of
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the parque bearers and the probable death of the two Taruwans,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: who the averred had fought like tigers. The bodies of
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: these two devoted servants were found, all battered and bruised,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: on the roadside, and were given honorable cremation by their master,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: whose daughter they had saved by their devotion. The g
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: was found close to the spot, hiding among the branches
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: of a tree. She had witnessed the fight between the
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Taruwans and the dacoits and the flight in pursuit of
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: her mistress. When both reached home again, the chief filled
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: up dull hours with vivid accounts of their adventure. This
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: little story is a true one and shows how difficult
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: and dangerous travel was in the old days in Bengal.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Traveling by palquis is now in many parts a thing
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of the past, for the whole province is being linked
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: together by a network of railways. Good roads and better
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: police arrangements also lessen the terrors of traveling in places
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: where railways are still wanting. End of section one.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Section two of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This is a
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Bengal Dacoits and Tigers by Maharani of kut Behar Suniti
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Divi Decoit Stories Trapped by a Cobra. Not many years ago,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: a young married lady was journeying alone. It is not
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: customary in India for young women, even if married, to
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: go out by themselves. The purdase system unfits them for independence.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Even when going for a short distance by palanquin or
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: just a carriage drive a shaf omarone is necessary. Yet
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: occasions arise when it is imperative that they should journey,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: but no suitable escort can be found or spared for
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: the purpose. They are then obliged to go with servants.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: It may seem strange that young ladies should be permitted
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: to travel alone with servants, but readers who know India
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: will not be surprised, for Indians treat their servants after
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: the patriarchal system, especially those who have served the family
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: for generations. Even hired attendants like the driver in this story,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: are thoroughly trusted when known to the family. The young
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: lady was on her way to visit her father and mother.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Indian parents in law cannot visit at the parental home
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: of their daughter in law. Therefore Boma journeyed alone with
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: her little son, a child of about five years of age.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: The distance was not a long one, only from Calcutta
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: to Drgapore, a village a few miles away from the city.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: So a hackney carriage was hired with the driver who
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: had often before been employed by her father in law,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: and everyone felt assured Boma would reach her destination safely.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Her mother in law saw her into the carriage. Her
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: little boy was lifted up beside her, and, with many
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: injunctions to drive carefully and with speed ringing in his ears,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: the driver whipped up his horses and they were off.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Boma knew the road well often. She had journeyed to
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: and fro in the early years of her married life,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: and even after the birth of her little son, her
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: visits to her parents had been frequent. The carriage was
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: clothes and her heavy silken sorry hot to wear, so
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: she opened the Venetians and lazily watched the familiar landmarks
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: as they passed. She had started early so that the
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: journey should be accomplished in daylight, and still they did
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: not reach home. She noted the various trees and hedges,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: and was puzzled. Surely the road seemed different. The sun,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: a ball of golden fire, sank to rest in a
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: bed of many tinted clouds, and still they had not arrived.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Boma felt strangely anxious. The carriage suddenly swerved to her dismay.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: She saw they had turned into a rough and untraveled road,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: with patty feels on either side. The place seemed lonely.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: It was now rapidly growing dark. For India after sunset
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: night does not long delay her coming. A presentiment of
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: evil clutched Boma's heart. She whispered to her little boy
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: to ask the driver where they were and when they
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: should arrive. In India, it is not permitted a woman
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: to address any man save her husband, father, and brothers.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: The child obeyed, but the driver made no reply. Ask again,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: whispered the mother. He has not heard you. The boy
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: asked when shall we arrive? Again and again, but not
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: a word answered the driver. Bomah, now thoroughly alarmed, beat
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: the shutters of the carriage and commanded her son to
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: shout loudly. The boy screamed at the top of his voice,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: why don't you reply? What road is this? The driver
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: now answered disrespectfully, you will soon know where you are going,
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: and laughed. His rude, gruff tone and evasive answer confirmed
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Bomah's worst fears. The awful word dacoit stood out in
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: her mind in letters of fire. Horror and dread filled
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: her soul. Drawing her child towards her, she hushed his
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: eager questioning and waited in silent anguish for the coming danger.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: The carriage bumped and rattled over the uneven road. Presently
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: it stopped. It was now almost dark. The door was
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: jerked open, and a harsh voice commanded get out of
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: the carriage. Polma recognized the driver's voice, and, realizing the
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: futility of objecting without a word, she stepped down and
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: helped her little son to alight. Follow me was the
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: next rough order. Again, she silently obeyed. The man left
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: the road and led her a little distance away, under
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: the shadow of some trees. Take off your jewels, give
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: them to me. A faint sigh of relief escaped her.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Perhaps the jewels were all he wanted. Quickly, she unclasped
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: her handsome necklet and gave it to him. He grasped
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: it greedily with one hand and extended the other for more.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: One by one, she stripped her wrists and arms of
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: their lovely bracelets and bangles and handed them to him.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: He growled. She pulled the rings from her fingers and
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: added to them her ear and nose rings. Your waist chain,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: he snapped. She unclasped and dropped its golden weight into
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: those greedy hands. Take off your anklets. I want all,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: he sneered. She knelt on the ground to unclasp them,
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: then rising handed them to him, wondering what more would follow. Meanwhile,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: the child wept bitterly and angrily forbade the driver to
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: take his mother's jewels, calling him a robber and a thief. Yes, decoit,
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: I am the scoundrel, replied to the boy's revilings, and
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: if you will not be quiet, I will teach you
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: how to Boma gently strove to console and silence her son.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Fret not, your father will give me more and better jewels.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Take off your sorry was the next outrageous command. The
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: boy's indignation flamed afresh. His mother took an unguarded step
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: forward and asked, are not my jewels enough that you
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: want the sorry off my back?
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: Ay?
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: You're sorry and all you you have Silence your child
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: or I will kill him. Terrible, was the harsh voice.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: In its determination. Bomah's heart stood still. Entreaty would be
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: of no avail. She unwound the richly embroidered silken folds
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: from about her and cast the golden green sorry at
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: his feet. Take it you have stripped, my mother, screamed
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: the boy. The ruffian caught the sorry with a fearful oath,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: and turning on him, said now I can deal with you.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: I will fetch a brick from yonder kill and pound
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: the breath out of you. With these words, he strode forward,
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: tying the jewels in the sorry as he went. Now,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: her sorely tired nerves gave way and distracted with grief,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: Bomah caught her child in her arms, and their mingled
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: cries rent the air, but the thief did not return.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: About midnight, a village policeman going his rounds heard their cries.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: At first, he paid no heed to them. Jackal swarmed
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: and disturbed the night. Again, the anguish voices quivered in
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the air. There was something human in the sound. He
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: stopped to listen. The cries rose again. He walked forward
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: in their direction. Clearer as he advanced, shrilled the distressed voices,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: and he recognized they were those of a woman and
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: a child. He quickened his steps and hastened to the spot.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: The light from his lantern revealed Boma and her son,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: clinging to each other and weeping pietously. Who are you?
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: What ails you? He asked the distraught mother unconscious of
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: the flight of time, thinking the heartless dacoit returned to
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: kill her boy, fell at his feet in agony of supplication,
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: spare my son, take my life instead. I am a
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: chalcatar what's up? But so dulled were her ears with
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: fear and grief that he was twice obliged to repeat
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: his words. When the joyful intelligence reached her brain, she
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: burst into tears, Oh, save my son. Then the consciousness
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: that the danger was past reminded her of her own plight,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: and she sobbed. Give me something to wear. The policeman
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: had noticed her seminude state, dropping his puggery at her feet,
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: he turned away. She shook out its many folds and
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: draped it about her body. Then she related what had
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: befallen her, and pointed toward the direction the thief had taken.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: The policeman walked cautiously forward, his lantern raised in one
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: hand and his lotte tightly grasped in the other. A
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: few yards away, he came to an old brick kiln. Here,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: prone among the broken bricks lay the robber, in greater
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: straits than his victims. A huge cobra was tightly coiled
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: around his right arm, while on the left hung the
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: sorry and the jewels. The rays of the lantern disturbed
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: the snake with an angry hiss. It uncoiled itself and disappeared.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: The dacoit more dead than alive from simple fear of
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: the snake's fatal sting, yielded himself a prisoner, and it
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: was subsequently discovered that the whole gang of whom he
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: was a member were license hackney drivers. End of section
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: two read by Robin Lee, Richmond, California, marched second, two
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: thousand twenty.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: Section three of Bengel, Dakoits and Tigers. This is a
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Bengel,
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: Dakoits and Tigers by Maharani of kuch Bahar, Suniti de Vi.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Section three Dakote Stories Saved by a Bear. The evening
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: shadows and silence had settled on the River Hugli, as
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: an old Brahman wended his way to one of the
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: many gats landing places. Singa's little boats which ply backwards
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: and forwards all day, carrying passengers to and from Calcutta
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: had all been made fast for the night. Some of
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: the boatmen were cooking their evening meal, while others set
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: about on the decks, smoking and singing. Many of the
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: boats were wedged, closed together and drawn up onto the bank.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: But one lay well on the water and some distance
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: from its fellow craft. Its Manchi headman stood on the
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: stern deck, binding together the mat of his boat. His
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: seemingly careless gaze took in the Brahmin about to descend
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: the bank. He noted that the old man carried a parcel,
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: partly concealed in his chadar scarf, and from the manner
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: in which he hugged it, the observer concluded it contained
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: something valuable. As the Brahmin came near, the Manchi saw
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: it was a bag of money. The old man picked
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: his way down the bank and called upon boat after
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: boat to take him to a small village near Serampoor,
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: for in those days there was no railway. None were
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: willing to go so far. Meanwhile, a whispered consultation had
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: taken place between the Machi and Dar's horsemen of the
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: farthest dinghy. When the only accosted them, they first demurred
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: and then, as though still reluctant, consented to hire their boat.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: Just as they were pushing off, a man with the
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: performing bear ran down the bank. Where goest thou, he asked?
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Sarah poor, answered the Brahmin. Before the boatman could reply,
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: my home is nearby. The man remarked gladly and jumped
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: into the boat, pulling his bear after him. The boatmen
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: scowled angrily, get out, we go not so far, but
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: he would not. The Manji warned him that he and
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: his bear would gain nothing by forcing themselves into the boat.
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: These boatmen are queer customers, he laughingly remarked to the Brahmin,
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: and them gain nothing. Why I will reach my home,
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: so you say, they answered. The bear man wondered within
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: himself at their unwillingness to give him as a passenger.
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: He and the old Brahmin made a few remarks to
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: each other, then they fell silent. They were near the
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: end of their journey when the bearman asked suddenly, Manji,
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: have we not passed serampor are you the guru of
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: boatmen that you questioned me? Replied the Mangi, and then,
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: in a more conciliatory tone, added, we are going higher
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: up for a crossing the tide is strong. The explanation
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: was reasonable, but the Bearman's suspicions had been awakened, and
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: he was on the alert. The Brahman sat placidly, nursing
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: his pig, which the Bearman too had noticed contained money.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: He had also noticed that the Manches kept glancing furtively
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: at it and its owner. The river crossed, the boat
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: hugged the bank. After a time, it came to a
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: standstill when the Manches jumped ashore with the rope and
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: secured it to a tree. The Brahman and the bear
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: man both asked, what is wrong? Why stop the boat
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: in this train? You will soon know, you will soon see,
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: answered the boatman, and chuckled over some secret joke, as
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: one after another each stepped ashore and disappeared. The aged
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: Brahman gazed after them apprehensively, then placing his money between
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: his knees. As he sat on the deck with cross
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: legs tucked under him, he folded his hands together and
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: bent forward in prayer. The bear Man thought with himself,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: prayer for him, action for me, and saying softly to
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: the old man Brahmin Thakoor, something is brewing I followed
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: to see. He too stepped ashore. Not far from the tree,
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: he found a small thatched house and several men gathered
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: behind it. Moving wearily forward. Among the group, he recognized
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: the man Cheese da Koits. He whispered to himself. Then
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: an inspiration struck him. He ran back to the boat
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: and asked the Brahmin to change his seat to this
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: turn and be ready to steer off when he gave
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: him as. He took up a position in the prow
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: and fondled his bear. Within a few minutes, a party
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: of men appeared coming towards the Dinghi. Some were boatmen,
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: all were dacoits. The actor loosened the bear's chain, saying
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: go go hug the life out of all of them.
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: The sagacious animal responded to his master's order with a
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: fierce charge right among the approaching band of robbers. With
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: startled cries, they fled in all directions, quite sure they
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: were effectively scattered. The bear men called his animal back,
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: secured its chain once more, and pushed from the shore
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: with some difficulty. He and the old Brahmin navigated themselves
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: back to Calcutta and informed the police authorities there. The
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: police took possession of the dinghy, which on inspection proved
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: to be a dukoit's nest, well equipped with instruments fitted
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: for murder and robbery. But none of this gang of
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: river dacoits were captured. The wives of the Brahmin and
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: the showmen were currently saved by a wonderful intelligence of
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: the latter's bearer. End of section three read by Elijah Fisher.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: Section four of Bengaldekoit's and Tigers. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit librivos dot org. Bengaldkoits
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar Suliti Davi Dekoit's Stories.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: Ragudkoit mother Babu, a Calcutta gentleman, owned much property in
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: that city and was known far and wide on account
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: of his great wealth. To do him honor, the city
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: fathers had named a tank after him. At that time,
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: there flourished a notorious Dekoit Raghu, for whose capture government
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: had offered a handsome reward. But like Robin Hood of
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: old Rugudekoit had caught popular fancy by his generosity to
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: the poor. Though he looted the rich to the needy,
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: the famine stricken and widows, he was always kind. No
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: one would inform against him. Mother Babu had a fine
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: country house in Chandernagore where he frequently entertained his friends.
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: On one of these occasions, the latest doings of rugudakoit
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: were being discussed. The Babu remarked confidently, he dare not
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: visit me. He knows my house is well guarded. One
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: of the guests quickly rejoined, oh, don't say that rugudakoit
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: Ti is a dangerous and clever man. A few days after,
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: Mother Babu received a letter from the famous outlaw saying
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: that he would be pleased to visit the rich man's
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: country house. Mother Babu was amazed at the audacity of
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: the fellow and wondered how his remark had reached the
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: robber's ears. He immediately sent information to Calcutta and asked
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: for a strong body of police to be sent at
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: his expense. They arrived and his country residence was extra
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: well guarded for some time, but nothing happened. Mother Babu
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: concluded that the letter had been a hoax, so the
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: police guard was withdrawn. Mother Babu's Chandernagor house stood on
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: the bank of the river. One dark night, a boat
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: came quietly to the guard. Its occupants silently landed and
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: proceeded stealthily to the house. Every door and window was
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: securely fastened. But what mattered that to Ragu and his band.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: Tall trees graced the grounds everywhere, and many grew near
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: the house. Climbing the nearest, some of the decoits reached
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: up a long and stout bamboo from it to the
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: flat roof. A slim youth crawled over and fixed the
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: other end securely. Then one by one some of the
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: gangs slid across the door of the staircase leading down
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: into the house stood open, creeping like cats. Downstairs, they
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: gained the entrance hall. Here they found all this darvans
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: fast asleep. The light of their lanterns showed the Darwan's
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: swords hanging on the wall. In a trice. Thedakoits had
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: them down unsheathed, and oh bitter blow dispatched Mother Babu's
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: men with their own weapons. Then, noiselessly opening the door,
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: they admitted the remainder of the band. For a few hours,
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: there was uproar, confusion and dismay while the burglars invaded
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: room after room and collected all Mother of Babu's treasures,
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: with which they disappeared. While still smarting under the loss
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: of his valuables, the Babu received another letter from Rugu
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: da Koit asking had his visit given Mother of Babu pleasure.
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: End of section.
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: Four Section number five of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This
• 31:58
  Speaker 5: is a LibriVox recording. All librivoxs recordings are in the
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 32:04
  Speaker 5: LibriVox dot org. Bingal Dacoits and Tigers by Maharani of
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: kuch Behar Sunity de Vi Ducoit Stories girl as Kalimah,
• 32:18
  Speaker 5: a large and well to do family lived happily in
• 32:21
  Speaker 5: a country place in Bingal. One day their peace was
• 32:25
  Speaker 5: disturbed by an anonymous letter. The writer warns them to
• 32:29
  Speaker 5: expect a da Koity burglary. These Indian outlaws always made
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: it a point of honor to inform their intended victims
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: and always come with drums, torchlight and a sort of
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: war cry. There was much valuable jewelry in the house,
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: and the family, thinking discretion the better part of valor,
• 32:50
  Speaker 5: gathered altogether, pecked it securely, and taking it with them,
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: left their home about sunset for safe quarters. Somehow, one
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: of the younger ladies, with a tiny infant, was left behind.
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: Unaware of the warning letter or desertion of the family,
• 33:08
  Speaker 5: she slept peacefully through the early hours of the night,
• 33:12
  Speaker 5: but later she was awakened by the sound of drums
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: and loud cries, which she recognized as the signal of
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: the dacoits. Rushing out of her chamber. She discovered that
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: the burglars were already in the house and none of
• 33:27
  Speaker 5: the family were to be found. From room to room
• 33:30
  Speaker 5: she fled, finding none to protect her, and realized she
• 33:34
  Speaker 5: was alone and helpless. Even her husband was gone. She
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: was a high spirited and resourceful girl. She knew her
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: life and the babies as well, were in danger, and
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: she determined to outwit the burglars. She had a swarthy complexion,
• 33:53
  Speaker 5: like Cali, the dacoit's divinity often had her mother bemoaned
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: its darkness. Now it should serve her, But was she
• 34:04
  Speaker 5: black enough to make assurance? Doubly sure, she cut up
• 34:08
  Speaker 5: a bottle of ink, which she knew where to find,
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: and hastily smeared her face and limbs with it. Then,
• 34:16
  Speaker 5: hiding her baby in a safe corner, she uncoiled her
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: heavy hair and let its luxuriant black tresses fall about
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: her like a cloak. Her preparations complete, she placed herself
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: in a large niche at the head of the stairs.
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: The dacoits found nothing below worth attention, and trooped upstairs.
• 34:37
  Speaker 5: The flickering glare of their torches fell upon a lifelike
• 34:41
  Speaker 5: image of Klie the Terrible, with protruding scarlet tongue and fixed,
• 34:47
  Speaker 5: staring eyes. The girl stood, immovable and breathless, silently invoking
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: all her family gods to come to her aid in
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: her bold design. With an awe struck cry of mercy, Mercy, Kalima,
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: the thieves fell prostrate at her feet. The girl held
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: her breath. Was it possible that her plan had succeeded?
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: The slow seconds passed, The chief arose, Come, brothers, we
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: touch nothing where Mother Kali is worshiped. With hasty and
• 35:24
  Speaker 5: reverent steps, they descended the stairs and left the house.
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: Long after the dacoits had gone, the girl stood there.
• 35:33
  Speaker 5: Then the strain snapped and she relapsed to her normal self.
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: Fears swept over her, and she rushed out of the house,
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: but her trembling limbs could not carry her far. She
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: fell in a dead faint on the pathway. The neighbors,
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: who had heard the Dacots enter the house and seen
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: them go away silent and empty handed, came to learn
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: the mystery and found her there. When the family returned
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: the next morning, the neighbors abused them soundly for leaving
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: the girl in her babe behind. The girl herself was
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: so hurt by the neglect that she had scarcely strength
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: enough to relate the strange happenings of the night. Her
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: husband to found it very difficult to make his peace.
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: He said that he believed her to be with the
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: ladies of the family. In Zanana families, even the most
• 36:21
  Speaker 5: devoted husband has little voice in his wife's movements, as
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: all arrangements are left in the hands of the mother
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: in law. There are several ladies and children in the family,
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: and the mother in law had thought the girl was
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: with some of them. Friendship was, however, finally restored. All
• 36:41
  Speaker 5: generously admired her ingenuity and realized her bravery from the
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: white haired old father to the smallest child. Everyone was
• 36:49
  Speaker 5: grateful then and always after for her presence of mind
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: on that memorable night. End of section number five read
• 37:00
  Speaker 5: by Brianna Chiles, March twenty twenty three.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Section six of Bingol d'egoits and Tigers. This is a
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Bingol d'agoits and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar Sunniti Devi
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Dakoit stories the deputy magistrate in the Darker district. A
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: few years ago there was a big dagoity. A deputy
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: magistrate was ordered to secretly investigate the matter and if possible,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: to capture the mescreans. Besides his cook and personal attendance,
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: he took with him some policemen, all were disguised. They
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: traveled in several small boats. It was late in the
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: evening as they neared the place where the burglary had occurred,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: he decided to proceed no further. That night the boats
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: would do. The men cooked their evening meal and all retired.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: About midnight, the magistrate awoke with a start to hear
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: many voices calling him by name. He listened, So you
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: have come to arrest us, to put us in jail,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: to hang us. Ah, you will soon see who will
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: be punished. We shall know how clever you are. The
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: night was pitch dark. He noiselessly opened the small window
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: of the boat and saw a number of men with
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: flaming torches in their hands and armed with heavy sticks,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: coming down the bank. There was no time to call
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: his men. He seized his loaded revolver. But what was
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: one against so many? He decided to bolt the land
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: way was barred by the decoits. What of the river?
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: He was a good swimmer, but the water looked black
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: as ink and swarmed with crocodiles. Yet to stay in
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: the boat meant certain death. If he gained the opposite bank,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: he could make for his father in law's house, which
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: was near the river and where his wife was then staying.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: He might escape the crocodiles. He determined to risk it.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Like a flash, all this passed through his mind. Opening
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: the other window, he clambered out stealthily and slipped into
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: the water. A few powerful strokes carried him across. He
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: stumbled up the bank and raced through the thorny jungle
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: to his father in law's house. The sleeping family were
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: disturbed by his violent knocking. As soon as he was admitted,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: he went to his wife's room. She was horrified to
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: hear of his danger. After a hasty bath and change,
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: she insisted that he should eat something, and while he
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: was refreshing himself, she informed her father of his son
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: in law's escape and predicament. To a surprise, her father said,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: I am sorry, but he must leave my house.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: Oh far?
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: How can he? She pleaded, he must, repeated the father.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: The daughter fell at her parent's feet and implored him
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: not to drive her husband forth. But no words of
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: hers could move him. Why should all suffer for one,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: he argued. She returned sadly to her husband. Presently, the
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: cries of the decode showed that they had scented their quarry.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Soon they shouted at the door, open or drive out
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: the debuty magistrate. We know he is here, Give him
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: to us, or what happens beyond your own head? The
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: wife wept piteously. Her father remained obdurate, muttering I knew
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: this would happen. The unfortunate magistrate could not understand his
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: father in law's behavior. He sat with his head bowed
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: in despair. Suddenly his wife ran to him, you must
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: try to escape. I have an idea. She pulled out
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: a sarey and some jewels and began to dress as
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: a woman. It's no use, he said, hopelessly. They will
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: catch me. Be brave, she said encouragingly, for my sake,
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: see if you cannot elude them. With tender hands, she
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: arranged the sarre, draping it well over his head to
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: conceal his face. Then, giving him a curagh or water vessel,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: told him to pretend that he was going to fetch
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: water from the river. Cheered by her courage, he caught
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: her to his heart in a mute farewell, and her
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: prayers went with him. He had not gone far from
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the house when cries arose, of there he is, But
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: some one shouted, it is a woman. Look elsewhere, and
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: he passed slowly to the river. Here he flung the
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: brass kuragh far out into the stream and ran for
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: his life along the bank. No sounds of pursuit followed him,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: and he now gained courage enough to form a plan
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: of escape. Not far from his father in law's village
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: was a small police station. Thither he bent his steps
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: and asked protection of its solitary occupant. The man recognized
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: him and asked, deputy sire, why are you here? What
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: is wrong? The magistrate told him of the dacoits and
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: of his escape. Dakoits after you, said the policeman, and
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: looked grave. Sir. I cannot help you. What has one
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: police valah against so many? If I shelter you, we
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: shall both die. You better push on for a time.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: The magistrate pleaded to deaf ears, but at length his
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: promise of promotion and reward moved the man. Come. He said,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: I will do my best, and rising, led the way
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: to his own house. Here in the inner room was
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: a high machan, a huge bamboo shelf made like a
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: raft and suspended from the roof and reached by a
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: movable ladder, used for storing all sorts of things. On
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: this machan. We some old blankets here. Conceal yourself in these,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: said the policeman. The debuty magistrate needed no second bidding.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: He climbed up and rolled himself in one of the
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: blankets and heaped the other in front of him. The
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: policeman carried the ladder away right out of the house.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Then he shut the door and returned to the office.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: After a time there came the noise of the dacoits.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: They soon entered the police station and shouted, give up
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: that deputy sib. We know he is here. Deputy, what deputy?
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: I cannot understand?
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: Where is?
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: He answered the policeman. Don't be shamming, returned the dacots contemptuously.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Thou knowest well whom we mean. Produce him if you
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: value your own life in vain. The policeman pleaded ignorance.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: His trembling limbs and shaking voice belied his words. The
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: dacoits bound him, searched the police office and then proceeded
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: to hunt the house. He is not here. That is
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: not waste further time, said one. Let's look well, said another,
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: and search every place. Some climbed them achan and discovered
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: their victim. It did not take them long to drag
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: him down and beat him mercilessly with their long sticks
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: till he became unconscious. The policeman, too, was civillly chastised him.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: They left lying there, but rolled the offending magistrate in
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: an old mat, bound him tightly with a rope, and
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: carried him away to the river as he was born
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: on their shoulders through the night air. He gradually came
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: to his senses, but kept silent and listened to his captors.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: By this time it was dawn and they were at
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: the river. The majority you were for re crossing and
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: burning him dead or alive. One dissensioned voice struck him
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: with surprise. It was his father in law's. Clearly he
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: was one of the gang, but scruples had overtaken him,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: and he pleaded that he might not be a witness
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: of the projected murder of his son in law. Spare me,
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: spare me, he cried. Some jeered, oh, oh, you still
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: have a soft corner in your heart for your son
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: in law. At last they agreed that he might absent himself,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: and he apparently turned back. The others now put their
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: burden into a boat and crossed the river. They were
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: laughing at the father in law's weakness, and as they
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: approached the cart failed to observe a government budgerow anchored there.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: It was the Divisional commissioner's He was out on a tour.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: The Paharawalla on deck checked them. Do not make such
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: a noise. The saab sleeps, they answered rudely, and the
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: watchman retorted angrily. The dacoits loudly abused the man. The
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: noise woke up the commissioner and he got out on
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: deck with a loaded revolver in hand. The dacoits jumped
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: from their dinghy and ran up the bank. It was
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: evident who they were, and the commissioner fired, aiming at
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: their legs. One man fell with a scream of pain,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: but scrambled to his feet and ran on. Nothing was
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: to be gained by chasing them through the still dark jungle.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: The commissioner turned his attention to the boat. Search it,
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: he ordered his watchmen. His quick eyes detected legs protruding
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: from a mat, and he was not surprised when his
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: Chaprasi called Sahib, a dead man lies in it. The
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: deputy murmured feebly, I am not dead.
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: I live.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: The Geprasi amended the first statement, Saib, he speaks. The
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: commissioner jumped into the dinghy, cut the ropes that bound
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: the unfortunate man and discovered the deputy magistrate. It did
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: not take him long to recover and pour his tale
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: of woe into his chief's ears. By sunrise they were
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: all after the decoits. Blood drops marked the way, and
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: nearby they found the wounded man, who only able to hobble,
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: had hidden himself in a thicket. The deputy magistrate's father
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: in law was arrested. He was one of the leaders
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: of the band. It did not take long to capture
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: the others, and after this, for a time this part
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: of the darker district enjoyed peace from dacoits. End of
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: section six Section seven of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, places at
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Bengal Dacoits and Tigers by Maharani of
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: Kuchbihar Suniti Devi Dacoit stories all for nothing. A young
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: and very high cast Bengali lady was married to the
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: son of a rich man who lived near Hoogli, a
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: small town within a short distance of Calcutta. Some years
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: passed but there was no sign of her son and heir.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: The parents in law were fond of the girl. She
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: had won her way into their hearts, and they sympathized
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: with her. Yet they longed to see the old name
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: being carried down the years, and whisperings grew into talk
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: of a second marriage for their son. The girl's parents
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: were anxious and distressed. Then a kindly providence intervened and
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: after months of expectation, a little son lay in her arms,
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: and both families rejoiced with the girl and shared her
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: pride in the boy baby. When the child was about
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: a year old, the young mother's brother became engaged to
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: be married. The date was fixed and invitations were sent
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: to the girl and to the family of her parents
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: in law. It was arranged that she and her baby
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: should attend the wedding. Not far off, also in Hoogli
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: lived a widowed sister of the girl in her father
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: in law's house. She too was going to the wedding,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: and it was settled that both sisters should travel in
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: the same boat to Calcutta. No male member of either
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: family could accompany them. Therefore their father sent an old
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: servant from Calcutta to fetch them. This man was trusted
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: and treated like a member of the family. With whom
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: he had been for years. The girl put together her clothes.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: Her good mother in law unlocked the great safe and
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: took out the girl's best jewels. An Indian wedding is
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: the occasion for a great display of clothes and jewelry,
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: and a well dressed and richly adorned bow raises the
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: credit of the mother in law, especially if the wedding
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: is in the girl's own family, so a careful selection
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: was made. Baby was not forgotten either, Tiny gold bangles
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: and chains had been showered upon him at his birth,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: and this was his first public appearance. They started early
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: so as to arrive during the afternoon. There was to
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: be a ceremony the next day, and many guests had
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: arrived at the bridegroom's house, and all watched eagerly for
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: the two sisters. But the hours waned by, and still
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: they tarried. Late in the evening, the old servant arrived,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: agitated and old mud bespattered. Family guests and servants plied
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: him with questions concerning the sisters. Not a word would
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: he reply. Suspicions soon voiced themselves. Dacoits were about. Everyone
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: knew of the wedding and the consequent family gathering. Everyone
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: knew too that the daughter was the cherished bow of
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: a rich family. Urged by these arguments and his own anxiety,
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: the father threatened to skin the man alive unless he spoke.
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: Intimidated by his master's anger, the servants stated that the
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: boat had capsized and the sisters and baby were drowned.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: The hours of mirth and laughter was changed to one
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: of weeping, but the father did not accept the information
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: in its entirety. He called on the police and a
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: vigorous search was made. All the boatmen were found. They
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: stated they had swum ashore, but could or would give
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: no word of the ladies. The only possible clue was
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: given by an Englishman living in a mill under the
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: river bank at Chinsurah. About midnight on the day of
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: the disappearance of the ladies, he heard the cries of
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: women and a child. At first he had thought of
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: going to see what was up, for the sounds were
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: coming from a thick jungle, and he argued it was
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: impossible any one could be there in trouble, and finally
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: thought no more of the seeming cries. This ill omened
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: happening broke up the wedding party, the marriage was canceled.
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: All the preparations had been for nothing. To this day,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: the fate of the sisters is unknown. The bride and
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: bride room elect were married to other parties. End of section.
• 52:06
  Speaker 3: Seven Section eight of Bengal Dekoit's and Tigers. This is
• 52:17
  Speaker 3: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: Bengal Dekoits and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar, Suniti Devi
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: Dekoit's Stories a Punjabi Dehkoit. In a railway train, several
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: Punjabi ladies sat on the lower births of a second
• 52:48
  Speaker 3: class compartment, laughing and talking gaily. They were, with one exception,
• 52:56
  Speaker 3: all richly dressed, and each of them wore a quantity
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: of jewels. The exception was a capable, good looking woman
• 53:06
  Speaker 3: of about twenty five. Her short hair, neck and arms
• 53:11
  Speaker 3: bare of jewelry and plain white sare proclaimed her a widow,
• 53:17
  Speaker 3: But like the others, she chatted merrily, and a listener
• 53:21
  Speaker 3: would have learned from their conversation that they had been
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: attending a wedding and were now on their way home.
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: Witty remarks about the guests, criticism of the looks of
• 53:34
  Speaker 3: the bride, and comparisons of this wedding with others, passed
• 53:39
  Speaker 3: from one to another and whiled away the hours of
• 53:42
  Speaker 3: the journey. As the train sped onwards, night fell and
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: the ladies became silent. They rested against each other and
• 53:55
  Speaker 3: dozed at intervals. The widow sat on a trunk at
• 53:59
  Speaker 3: the end of the carriage and silently told her beads.
• 54:04
  Speaker 3: The train slowed down and stopped at a little station.
• 54:10
  Speaker 3: Then the bell clanked, and once again they were on
• 54:13
  Speaker 3: their way. The little station had not been left far
• 54:18
  Speaker 3: behind when a dark figure appeared on the foot board
• 54:21
  Speaker 3: of the lady's carriage, and a man's head was thrust
• 54:25
  Speaker 3: in at one of the windows. A startled exclamation from
• 54:31
  Speaker 3: one of the party drew the attention of all to
• 54:34
  Speaker 3: the intruder, who was pulling himself up into the carriage.
• 54:40
  Speaker 3: He was very fierce looking, wore a huge turban and
• 54:45
  Speaker 3: had a bushy black beard. In one hand he held
• 54:50
  Speaker 3: a knife, and with the other he assisted himself into
• 54:55
  Speaker 3: the compartment. In spite of the lady's protestations, some of
• 55:01
  Speaker 3: them began to cry, but one or two bolder spirits
• 55:05
  Speaker 3: ventured to argue with him. In answer to their questions
• 55:10
  Speaker 3: and objections, he said, roughly, it is a long while
• 55:14
  Speaker 3: before you will reach another station. I have come for
• 55:18
  Speaker 3: your jewels. If you give them to me quietly, I
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: will not hurt any of you. But if not, and
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: he looked very expressively at the knife in his hand.
• 55:32
  Speaker 3: After some few minutes, the ladies who were inclined to
• 55:36
  Speaker 3: oppose him yielded to the tearful advice of their more
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: timid sisters, and one by one they began to unclasp
• 55:45
  Speaker 3: necklaces and belts and hand them over to the decoit,
• 55:50
  Speaker 3: together with bracelets, bangles and rings. The ruffian, finding them docile,
• 55:58
  Speaker 3: did not hustle them in any way, but stood leisurely
• 56:02
  Speaker 3: receiving the spoil. Then he carefully folded all in a
• 56:07
  Speaker 3: rich sarrey, and was knocking the ends together when the
• 56:11
  Speaker 3: train suddenly stopped, and an Englishman pushed open the door
• 56:15
  Speaker 3: of the lady's compartment and sprang at him with the exclamation,
• 56:20
  Speaker 3: you scoundrel. The sudden surprise and assault threw the robber
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: off his feet, and he fell sprawling on the carriage
• 56:30
  Speaker 3: floor with the Englishman on top of him. In the meantime,
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: the guard and others arrived and the thief was secured,
• 56:39
  Speaker 3: and his hands and feet were bound together with his
• 56:42
  Speaker 3: own puggery, and he was removed to the guard's van.
• 56:47
  Speaker 3: The widow was the heroine of the adventure. As soon
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: as she saw the man entering the carriage, she realized
• 56:55
  Speaker 3: his purpose slipping into the lavatory. She climbed through the
• 57:00
  Speaker 3: window there on to the foot board and pulled herself
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: along by the carriage rods to the next compartment, where
• 57:09
  Speaker 3: the solitary occupant, an Englishman, sat reading. He was amazed
• 57:15
  Speaker 3: to see a woman clinging to the window of his carriage,
• 57:18
  Speaker 3: but fortunately he understood the language, and when she said,
• 57:23
  Speaker 3: help thief in the next carriage, he opened the door
• 57:27
  Speaker 3: and got her into his carriage without any delay. In
• 57:32
  Speaker 3: a few words, she acquainted him with what was happening
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: in the next compartment. He immediately pulled the alarm cord
• 57:41
  Speaker 3: to stop the train and hurried along the foot board
• 57:45
  Speaker 3: to the assistance of the ladies. They were profuse in
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: their expressions of gratitude to him, but he insisted that
• 57:54
  Speaker 3: they owed their lives and their jewels to their courageous friend.
• 58:00
  Speaker 3: End of section.
• 58:01
  Speaker 6: Eight Section nine of Bengal du Quats and Tigers. This
• 58:13
  Speaker 6: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 58:17
  Speaker 6: public domain. For information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox
• 58:23
  Speaker 6: dot org. Read by Amos Buchanan. Bengal du Quats and
• 58:28
  Speaker 6: Tigers by Maharani of Couch Bahar Sineti de Vi du
• 58:34
  Speaker 6: Quats stories a child's experience. Some years ago in a
• 58:41
  Speaker 6: country place not far from Calcutta, there lived a well
• 58:45
  Speaker 6: to do Bengali gentleman. He was an old man and
• 58:49
  Speaker 6: his large family, consisting of sons, grandsons, and his brothers
• 58:53
  Speaker 6: with their wives and children and many dependent relatives, all
• 58:57
  Speaker 6: lived happily together in their ancestral home. It was an
• 59:01
  Speaker 6: old fashioned house with verandas, courtyards and many rooms in
• 59:07
  Speaker 6: a large delan or veranda. All the family poojas were
• 59:10
  Speaker 6: celebrated here. The daughters of the house were married, and
• 59:14
  Speaker 6: for generations the old walls had looked on at family
• 59:18
  Speaker 6: gatherings and festivities. There were extensive grounds round the house,
• 59:24
  Speaker 6: quite close to the zenana. There was a large kitchen
• 59:27
  Speaker 6: garden which supplied all the vegetables consumed daily in the house,
• 59:32
  Speaker 6: and so plentiful was the produce that large trays filled
• 59:36
  Speaker 6: with vegetables were sent out every day as presents to friends, relatives,
• 59:42
  Speaker 6: and to the neighboring temples. A little further away was
• 59:46
  Speaker 6: an orchard, and in spring the numerous mango trees delighted
• 59:50
  Speaker 6: all eyes with their blossoms, and there were jackfruit trees, peaches, plums,
• 59:56
  Speaker 6: and guava trees in numbers, besides long lines of plantains
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 6: and palms of several kinds. In the garden, orchard and stables.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 6: There were tanks and wells, so that the supply of
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 6: water was sufficient for the needs of such a large establishment.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 6: In front of the mansion there was a large ornamental
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 6: tank or lake, with white marble steps leading to its waters.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 6: Here every evening the men and boys of the family
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 6: gathered to recreate and enjoy the cooling south breeze, and
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 6: they were often joined by neighbours, and many a pleasant
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 6: hour was spent on those marble steps. An avenue of
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 6: trees and a high hedge rendered the house quite private,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 6: and the roof was a lovely recreation place and promenade
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 6: for the ladies and girls of the family, who were
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 6: all purda. The old man's wealth was much discussed, and
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 6: the expensive clothes and rich jewels of the ladies were
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 6: often spoken of. One day, the old gentleman received a
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 6: warning letter from a band of Duquats that the house
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 6: would be visited by them that night. After some hurried consultation,
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 6: the family packed up all their jewels and valuables and
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 6: sought shelter in flight. It was decided to spend the
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 6: night at a place a few miles distant. In the excitement,
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 6: a young mother was separated from her little boy, a
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 6: child of about three or four years of age. She
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 6: concluded that he was with some other member of the
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 6: family in another carriage, and did not trouble herself about it,
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 6: But on their arrival at their place of refuge, he
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 6: was not found with any of the others. The mother's
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 6: distress of mind was pitiful. She wished to return for
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 6: her child, but it was growing dark and there was
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 6: the danger of meeting the Duquats, so her wish was overruled,
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 6: and through the long night she suffered terrible anxiety, picturing
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 6: in her mind all that was perhaps befalling her little son.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 6: In the meantime, the child child was sleeping sweetly and
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 6: peacefully in his bed in his mother's room. Tired out
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 6: with play, he had slipped into bed unknown to anyone,
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 6: and there he lay. About twelve at night, the Duquats
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 6: arrived and broke into the house. They searched the empty
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 6: rooms and were furious at finding no valuables worth carrying away.
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 6: They came to the room where the little boy slept,
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 6: and their loud voices awakened him. He sat up, and,
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 6: seeing their strange faces and glaring torches, screamed with fright.
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 6: One of them threatened to kill him if he did
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 6: not stop his noise. Another stepped to the bedside, and,
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 6: taking the little boy in his arms, said, little one,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 6: do not cry, no one will hurt you. The child
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 6: recognized his father's servant and twined his little arms around
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 6: the man's neck. The other Duquots laughed and walked out
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 6: of the room, leaving their comrade with the child. When
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 6: daylight broke, the family returned home, and the poor young
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 6: mother flew through the house in search of her child.
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 6: To her surprise and joy, she found him sleeping peacefully
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 6: in her own room. Her hysterical caresses awakened him, and
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 6: the little fellow could not understand what ailed His mother
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 6: did nothing happen during the night. She asked, did you
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 6: see anything or any one? My son, rubbing his chubby
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 6: knuckles in his eyes. The sleepy little boy answered, oh, yes,
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 6: where were you mother? A lot of men came. Some
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 6: wanted to hit me, but naming the servant was with them,
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 6: and he sent them away. Then he gave me sweets
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 6: and put me to sleep. The servant was arrested and
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 6: he confessed that he was one of the band of
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 6: ducoats who had sent the morning letter and had broken
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 6: into the house. Nearly the whole band was captured. End
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 6: of section nine.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 3: Section ten of Bengaldekoits and Tigers. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 3: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Bengaldkoits
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 3: and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar, Suniti Davi Decoit stories
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 3: two Chinese decoits. In a large house in Calcutta, there
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 3: lived an englishman, his wife and her sister, Missus c
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 3: was of a highly strung and nervous disposition, and as
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 3: her husband's business frequently occasioned his absence from home, they
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 3: had persuaded her sister Ethel to come out to India
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 3: on a long visit. Ethel was a bright, lively girl,
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 3: very practical, and quite the opposite of her sister, whom
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 3: she often rallied for her timidity. Once, when Alice was
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 3: more trying than usual, Ethel exclaimed, perhaps if I were
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 3: a little like you, Alice, delicate, nervous and silly, I
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 3: might get a husband who would fuss over me like
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 3: Charlie does over you. Alice laughed at her sister's earnestness
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 3: and said, if you were not healthy and strong minded,
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 3: you would understand me better Ethel. Not long afterwards, the
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 3: two ladies were left alone for some days as mister
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 3: C was obliged to go up country on business. While
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 3: he was away, Ethel slept with her sister. It was
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 3: the cold weather, when night closes in early and the
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 3: evenings are long. Missus C liked an early dinner, soon
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 3: after which she always retired. Ethel liked to spend the
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 3: long quiet evenings reading or writing, and often sat up
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 3: till midnight. One afternoon while they were at lunch, a
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 3: telegram was brought in, and on opening it, Alice exclaimed, delightedly,
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 3: Charley will be back in time for dinner. The evening
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 3: passed away till dinner time, but mister c did not arrive,
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 3: and the ladies waited till nine o'clock. Then they dined,
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 3: and when the clock struck ten, and still there was
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 3: no arrival, Alice said she would go to bed, as
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 3: Charley must have missed his train, and the next was
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 3: not due till near midnight. Ethel looked up from her
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 3: book and said, well, I am sleeping in my own room.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 3: Oh you know I hate to be alone, exclaimed Alice.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 3: You might come and sleep in mine until Charley comes in. Alice,
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 3: you are selfish, retorted Ethel. I shall barely be in
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 3: bed before he walks in. The only thing for me
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 3: is to go to bed in your room in my
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 3: evening dress. How silly you are, said Alice peevishly. Why
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 3: cannot you undress as usual? Charley may not come at
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 3: all to night, and I dread being alone? Oh very well,
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 3: said Ethel. I will come and read in your room
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 3: till Charley does come. I shall never marry a man
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 3: who is always away on business. With these words, she
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 3: forsook her easy chair and accompanied her sister into the
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 3: large bedroom. She threw herself on the side of the
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 3: bed and went on with her book. Alice undressed, got
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 3: into bed, and was soon asleep. Ethel finished her book
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 3: and then lay waiting for her brother in law. The
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 3: lights in the hall and on the landing were not extinguished,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 3: but the house was still and quiet. It was near twelve,
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 3: and Alice was just wondering if mister C would really
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 3: arrive or if it would not be better for her
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 3: to undress and get into bed comfortably. When she heard
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 3: gentle footsteps on the stairs. There's Charlie, she said to herself,
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 3: And how softly he is coming upstairs. He is a
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 3: considerate husband. She looked at her sister saw that she
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 3: was sleeping very soundly. I will pretend to be asleep too,
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 3: said Ethel to herself, and she drew up the bedclothes
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 3: to hide her evening dress and put a pillow over
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 3: her head. To her disappointment, Charlie delayed his coming, and
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 3: she was wondering if he was dining when the door
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 3: slowly opened, but instead of Mistress C, two chinamen entered
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 3: the room. Ethel stared at them from under her pillow
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 3: with amazement. At first they stood motionless beside the door,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 3: then closing it noiselessly, they advanced into the room. Their
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 3: quaint clothes, long pigtails, and red eyes, together with their
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 3: stealthy moments and the hour of midnight, created an uncanny
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 3: atmosphere in the room, and for the first time in
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 3: her life, Ethel began to understand what nerves mean. Never
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 3: in her life had her pulses jumped and throbbed as
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 3: they were doing. Now. She controlled her inclination to scream,
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 3: and from under her pillow watched the men. They examined
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 3: the room, and one of them approached the twilette table
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 3: and began to transfer the jewels and silver ornaments which
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 3: lay upon it to a capacious bag. The other took
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 3: a big cigar out of his pocket and lit it.
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 3: Then he stepped to missus Sea's side and began to
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 3: puff the smoke into her face. She was sleeping upon
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 3: her back, and though she at first stirred uneasily, she
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 3: soon seemed to sink into a deeper sleep. After a
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 3: few minutes by her side, the chinamen moved round to
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 3: Ethel's side of the bed, but seeing that her head
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 3: was covered by a pillow and that she was apparently
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 3: fast asleep, he turned to help his comrade. At this moment,
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 3: mister C's voice sounded in the hall, and he came
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 3: running upstairs, whistling gaily. The robbers exchanged alarmed looks and
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 3: hastily hid themselves and their bag of booty behind a
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 3: large almera. Charlie opened the door and came into the room, saying, Alice,
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 3: where are you? Approaching the bed, he said, what asleep
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 3: and bent over his wife, but she was in a
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 3: deep slumber and oblivious of her husband's presence. He noticed
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 3: Ethel's form on the opposite side of the bed, and
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 3: walking gently round, touched her arm and whispered, are you
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 3: asleep too? She lifted the pillow, stretched her arms, and
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 3: then sat up on the bed. He noticed her evening
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 3: dress and was explaining his late arrival when she jumped
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 3: up crossly from the bed and saying, look at your wife.
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 3: Is she not? Looking? Ghastly went out of the room.
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 3: Charlie returned to his wife's side and looked closely at her.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 3: Her face seemed strangely pallid and her hands were cold.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 3: He endeavored to wake her and was still trying to
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 3: rouse her when Ethel returned to the room, followed by
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 3: several of the servants, who looked excited. In answer to
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 3: his question, what is wrong with Alice, Ethel said, there
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 3: are two thieves hidden behind the almera. Let the servants
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 3: help you to secure them, and then you will know
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 3: what is wrong with Alice. The two chinamen were soon
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 3: rooted out from behind the almera, captured and handed over
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 3: to the police. A doctor was summoned and Alice was
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 3: brought out of the stupor she had been thrown into
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 3: by the fumes of opium smoke. End of Section ten.
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 7: Section eleven. Ben Gardakoits and Tigers. This is Lebrot's recording
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 7: only brought recordings from the public domain from informational Vrountier
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 7: Pays visitly broks dot Org. Ben Gardakoits and Tigers by
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 7: Maharani of Kotebihar Sanity de Vi the Koit Stories and
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 7: Faithful Servant I wrote to Zemindar named Bose lived in
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 7: luck Now. He had emigrated there from Bengal, acquired land
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 7: there and studied the language until he could speak Urdu
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 7: like a Hindustanee. He became so much a native of
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 7: luck now that and business took him down to Calcutta,
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 7: he felt himself a foreigner and stranger in Bengal. His
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 7: wife was an invalid, and as the years told on her,
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 7: it'd frequently to take her to Calcutta for medical advice
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 7: and treatment. The only child was a daughter, who was
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 7: the darling of their household. The second favorite in the
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 7: family was a boy called Ram, who, though really a servant,
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 7: was treated like a son of the house, and both
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 7: mister and missus Bows were very fond of him. When
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 7: quite a small boy, Ram had been taken into service
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 7: in the bo's Menaji and as his parents were both
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 7: dared and he was remarkably quick and intelligent that Zemindar
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 7: took a fatherly interest in the lad and had him
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 7: taught to read and write. Teacher thought so highly of
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 7: Ram's intellect that he was taught one subject after another
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 7: by his indulgent master. When he grew older, It especially
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 7: edg educated and trained for a state work. When his
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 7: citycation was finished, he was appointed to be the confidential
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 7: clerk and cashier, and gradually grew to know as much
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 7: of Bose's money fairs as the Semedar did himself. When
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 7: if the rich man went on his estate, Ram went
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 7: with him. At times of collection, Ram had the office
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 7: of counting the silver and locking it up in the
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 7: cash box. Frequently thousands of rupees passed through his hands
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 7: in this way, and he alone always knew what amount
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 7: of money the cash box contained. One year, Bose and
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 7: the faithful Ram had been round the Zemindari collecting rents,
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 7: and as many who had been in arrears paid up,
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 7: they returned with a larger sum of money than usual.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 7: This was locked up in the cash box, and Bose
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 7: told his wife in Ram's hearing for the next day
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 7: he should deposit it in the bank. The cash box
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 7: was always kept at night on a table by the
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 7: Zemindar's bedside. The Boses had a large house in Lucknow,
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 7: and it was nearly always full, as Missus Boast was
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 7: fond of company, and they invariably had a number of
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 7: relatives and friends staying with them. Mister and Missus Boast
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 7: led upstairs in a large south room which opened into
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 7: another large room alongside of it. The only furnture in
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 7: their room with their two beds and a table which
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 7: stood between the beds to hold the cash box, and
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 7: a lantern. The night of the Zemindar's return, his wife
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 7: could not sleep. She had been ill, and she counted
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 7: the long hours as the night wore on, the light
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 7: of the lantern showed her husband's sleeping form, naked sword
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 7: which always hung at his bedpost, and the bare whitewashed
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 7: wars of the room. As she lay awake, Missus Bows
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 7: thought she heard a noise at the door leading into
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 7: the other room. The noise came again, and she listened intently.
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 7: Someone opened the door and then shut it. Missus Bows
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 7: kept still, listened and watched. Someone again opened and shut
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 7: the door gently, then again and again. It struck missus
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 7: Bow's that this was being done to ascertain whether the
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 7: inmates of the room were asleep or awake. She continued
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 7: to keep perfectly still. Now the door was pushed wide open,
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 7: and Ram entered and closed the door softly behind him.
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 7: When Missus Bows saw him enter, her first door was
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 7: that he was the bear of some bad news, and
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 7: she very nearly asked him what was the matter, But
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 7: his stealthy movements made her fain sleep and see what
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 7: he was about. And as he approached her bed on tiptoe,
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 7: she closed her eyes and lays of peacefully sleeping. He
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 7: stood beside the bed, apparently watching her. Missus Boses's nose
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 7: were tingling with fear as it took all her powers
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 7: of self conjol to keep her eyes closed and her
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 7: breath steady. Just as the effort seemed more than she
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 7: could keep up, Ram moved away from her bed. Through
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 7: her eye lashes. She watched him creep noiselessly to the
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 7: table and examined the cash box. Then he returned to
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 7: the side of her bed and coughed. Missus bows again
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 7: succeeded in keeping perfectly still, and he moved round to
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 7: his master's bedside. He stood motionless for some seconds, and
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 7: then unfastened the sword. The Zamadar was sleeping heavily, and
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 7: as he detached the sword, Ram smiled himself as if
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 7: everything was very satisfactory. He grasped the sword in his
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 7: right hand and made a trial stroke. Then, smiling again,
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 7: he lifted the curtain of the Zamandar's bed with his
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 7: left hand. Missus Bowes felt sure that his motive was
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 7: murder as well as robbery, and she now shrieked loudly
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 7: for aid. At the first sound of a voice, Ram
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 7: dropped the sword and fled from the room. His wife's
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 7: piercing screams of murder help robed the Zamindar, but by
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 7: the time he understood what had taken place, Ram had
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 7: let himself out of the house and was gone. When
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 7: morning came. The police were informed, and the Zemindar offered
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 7: a handsome reward for the arrest of Ram. But though
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 7: the police hunted in luck Now and elsewhere, and also
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 7: such a village where Ram's relatives lived, no one knew
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 7: anything of him. He was never again heard of in
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 7: luck Now. Some years after, the old Zemindar died, and
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 7: one of the last remarks he made was, I should
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 7: like to know what has happened to poor Ram. He
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 7: had never forgotten his affection for his old protegee, and
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 7: had quite forgiven him for his ungratefulness. And of Section eleven,
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 7: read Bay and curl Section twelve of ben Gard Decoits
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 7: and Tigers. This is a Liberox recording. All Librok's accordings
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 7: were in the public domain from more informations of volunteer
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 7: Visitlybros dot Org, Benguard, Dacoits and Tigers by Maharani of
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 7: Cooch Bihar Sanity de Vi Tiger Stories the Bearer's fate.
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 7: Mister Gubda, a Bengali gentleman, was a skilled engineer. A
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 7: government thought highly of him. Whenever any work of special
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 7: difficulty had to be undertaken, always chose him. At one
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 7: time he was stationed at Hazara Bagh. This district is
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 7: even now infested with tigers, and in those far off days,
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 7: these lords of the jungle roamed far and wide. There
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 7: was then no railway. Traveling was done by palki or
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 7: by push push, a boxlike carriage on four wheels, in
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 7: which the travelers forced to recline, and which relays of
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 7: coolies pushed before them. The roads were often mere tracks
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 7: through dense forest. It happened that mister Gubter was ordered
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 7: to report on some important work a few miles away.
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 7: His devoted wife carefully packed his luggage. They were a
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 7: happy couple and each short parting was a pain in
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 7: their lives. A trustworthy old servant always accompanied his master
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 7: de camp, but the day to his mistress's surprise, he
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 7: begged not to go. When Guptor came in, his wife
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 7: told him of the man's willingness to accompany him. Nonsense,
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 7: said Gupta, he will have to go. What has happened
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 7: to him? I think he is ill. The wife excusan,
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 7: he replied, a tender heartful of the man's wistful face
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 7: and strange manner. Still, she grewed with her husband and
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 7: told the bearer he must go with his master. Forgive me,
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 7: I have high fever, Margie. He shivered, addressing her by
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 7: the honored name of mother, as is the custom of
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 7: Indian servants in an Indian household. She turned again to
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 7: her husband and said, I know what is in the
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 7: poor old fellow's mind. He's an idea he'll be killed
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 7: by a tiger. However, tell him there is no danger.
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 7: I am taking a large number of bearers, and he can
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 7: keep near the pulquey missus. Guptor tried to cheer the
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 7: slavant with this information, but he wailed, Margie, I am afraid,
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 7: surely a tiger will kill me to night. Do not
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 7: fear consoled the kind bady, your master will take good
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 7: care of you. Go you must, she continued in a
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 7: firm tone. There is no one except you who knows
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 7: his ways and can see to its comfort. Who get
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 7: ready quickly, Oh Margie, he sobbed like a child. I obey,
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 7: but my heart is heavy. Mister Gubter had to travel
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 7: through the night. After an early dinner. He started, attended
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 7: by many palquy bearers and the old servants. The moon
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 7: rose bright and glorious and bade the picturesque country in
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 7: soft radiance. The silence of the forest was broken only
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 7: by the rhythmic cries of the bearers and the pat
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 7: pat at their feet. The first stream was reached and
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 7: the bearers asked for a halt. Consent granted. They went
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 7: into the stream to drink of the deeper water. The
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 7: old servant, crouched by the palqui thirstiest, not kindly, asked
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 7: his master barbou Jee, I feel nervous. I will stay
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 7: near you. Gibda wondered what might have unstrung the man,
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 7: and felt sorry for him. Come and sit close to me,
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 7: he said. The night was cold, and the old bearer,
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 7: huddled in his blanket, sat on the edge of the
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 7: palki door. Suddenly, the stillness of the night was broken
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 7: by a rapid crash through the dry grass near the palki.
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 7: With a thrilling roar, A tiger leaped at the man
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 7: and dragged him away. The palki shook, and the bearer's
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 7: piteous cry baboogie, baboogie, I told you filled the forest
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 7: and echoed and echoed again as the tiger bore him away.
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 7: Then all became still. Gottor realized what had happened. He
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 7: lay back, sick with horror, felt as if he were
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 7: the guilty one. For many a day the old man's
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 7: dying whale rang in his ears. End of section twelve.
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 7: Read Betton Girl.
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 4: Section thirteen of Bengaled Dakoits and Tigers. This is a
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 4: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 4: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 4: Eckled to Koits and Tigers by Maharani of kuch Bihar,
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 4: Suniti de v. Section thirteen. Tiger's Stories through the Roof.
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 4: They were laying the railway through the Herisbaga district and
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 4: in a low roofed bungalow at Gerridith lived the engineer
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 4: in charge of the work. He was a young Englishman
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 4: and his only recreation in this dreary place was writing
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 4: and shooting. The coolies lived in frail little matt houses
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 4: in the same enclosure as his bungalow. One morning they
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 4: came to him and he bodied to tell him that
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 4: during the night a tiger had carried off one of
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 4: their cows. The next morning another cow was missing, and
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 4: on the third his servants awakened him with the news
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 4: that his erib pony was gone. He loved the little animal,
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 4: many a mile had he scored on its back stripes,
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 4: must be punished for this. He would sit up the
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 4: coming night and watch babbus, servants and coolies loudly approved.
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 4: What was life worth with such nightly happenings? And the
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 4: lord of the jungle would surely come again had he
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 4: not discovered a well filled larger work over. The young
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 4: man loaded his gun and after dinner took up his
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 4: position and awaited the enemy. A reliable servant sat up
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 4: with him. The bungalow was raised on piles a few
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 4: feet from the ground. It had brick walls, but a
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 4: thatched roof which sloped very low down on all sides.
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 4: The wooden windows were closed. Our friend sat at one
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 4: of them, with the venechians slightly stretched. The bungalow was
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 4: dark and still. At last a stranger order filled the air,
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 4: and then the heavy breathing of the tiger was audible.
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 4: It came and stood just outside the window. The young
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 4: fellow noiselessly pointed his gun through the venechians and fired.
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 4: An angry growl told that the tiger was wounded. Then
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 4: it charged forward with a fear roar. The Englishman fired again,
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 4: and this time thought he had finished it, But the
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 4: animal charged again with increased rage. After several attempts at
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 4: the window, it leapt for the roof and succeeded in
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 4: clutching the eaves and scrambled up. The terrified servant cried
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 4: the heb come into another room. Don't be a fool,
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 4: shouted his master. The tiger can't come through the roof.
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 4: In their huts, the poor coolies heard the shots and
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 4: the terrible roars and growls, and dared not come to
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 4: their master's assistance. The tiger tore and scratched the thatch
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 4: with all his might and soon made a hole. Look
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 4: Sahib screamed the servant, He comes through I have a
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 4: loaded gun in my hand, the saheb replied. The hole
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 4: speedily grew larger as the great cat clawed and growled.
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 4: The servant could stand it no longer. He bolted in
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 4: the next room, shutting the door between. There, he shivered
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 4: and shook till morning, when he fled to the railway
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 4: station a couple of miles away, and told the Sahibs
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 4: there his tail. They got guns and horses and rode over.
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 4: They peered through the shutters and saw the tiger in
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 4: the room. It soon scented them in charge with mighty roar.
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 4: They retreated without dignity to safe distance. Were all stopped.
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 4: One said, I say, we must see what has happened
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 4: to the poor chap. Another, so many of us unloaded guns.
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 4: We must do something. A third, let's get back and
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 4: kill the beast. They went back and fired shot after
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 4: shot through the shutters till the animal was killed. Then
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 4: they broke into the room and found their luckless comrade
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 4: dead on the floor, his loaded guns still on his hand.
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 4: The tiger must have killed him with a slap of
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 4: its mighty paw and sat on his body all night.
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 4: But clearly the animal was not a man eater end
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 4: of section thirteen Red Pylijah Fisher.
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 8: Section fourteen of Bengal Decoys and Tigers. This is a
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 8: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 8: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 8: Read by Kejha Kurdo. Bengal Decoits and Tigers by Maharani
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 8: of kuch beher Son TIDV Tiger Stories Earning the Reward.
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 8: A man eating tiger was roaming through Hazarvastation. It had
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 8: killed many villagers and had become so daring that it
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 8: entered the marketplace in broad daylight. A poor old taylor
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 8: on his way home one evening was seized by the
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 8: bloodthirsty animal, and his screams for help filled the little town.
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 8: The morning lights showed traces of the struggle between man
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 8: and beast, and where the latter had been dragged from
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 8: the main road. The villagers did puja that night that
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 8: all might be saved from a like fate. A few
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 8: days after, a pluckaman and a little boy stood talking
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 8: about the tiger. How do you know that he won't
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 8: catch you, asked the boy. The plaug man answer confidently,
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 8: I have done pooja. Barely had the words passed his lips,
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 8: then the tiger leapt upon him. The boy was tartled,
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 8: but not realizing his own danger, not only did he
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 8: not run, but also caught up a stick and tried
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 8: to save his friend. In spite of his hitting, the
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 8: animal began to devour the unfortunate man, snarling threateningly the while.
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 8: Then the boy threw away the stick and fled to
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 8: the village. The news roused the villagers, and they determined
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 8: to rid themselves of their foe. Armed with spears, sticks
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 8: and heavy bamboos, they followed the boy to the scene
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 8: of the tragedy, but the tiger was gone. The government
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 8: had offered a handsome reward to anyone who would succeed
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 8: in killing the tiger, and now a poor shopkeeper determined
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 8: to win it. He knew nothing of shooting, but worked
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 8: up the ambition of a friend who could shoot, and
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 8: had a couple of guns. Together they essayed the difficult job.
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 8: Difficult it was. The tiger seldom returned to his skill,
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 8: nor stopped at a kill any length of time, and
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 8: was known to have killed three or fourmed victims in
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 8: one day. However, they hoped for success. The villagers had
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 8: been very careful of late, and the tiger had consequently
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 8: been obliged to go hungry. It was just possible he
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 8: might return to the kill, so they got permission for
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 8: a mangled body to be left there and built a
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 8: machan near it. At sunset, they took up their places
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 8: and watched. At first, the pair felt cheerful. A brilliant
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 8: moon illuminated the whole country, making everything as clear as day,
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 8: But no tiger came. And later, as the hours dragged
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 8: on their cramped position, the nearest of a dead body,
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 8: the silence and mystery of the night all got on
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 8: their nerves, and they wished they had not attempted such
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 8: a task. But to leave now would be dangerous, so
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 8: they did their best to encourage each other and wait
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 8: it on. In the small hours of the night, they
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 8: distinctly heard the tiger coming and saw a huge black
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 8: shadow moving stealthily towards their tree. The animal looked enormous
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 8: in this uncertain light, and each thought the machan too,
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 8: and wished himself in his house in the village. Neither
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 8: dared to.
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 4: Speak or move.
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 8: Not far from the match, on was a hillock. The tiger,
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 8: after stalking round the tree, went to the corpse, smelled it,
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 8: and then, crossing to the hillock, climbed up and sat
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 8: himself there. The man felt sure he could now see them.
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 8: The tiger began to sniff, as if he scented them.
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 8: Then it yawned and snarled. The men sat fascinated. Presently
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 8: the great head turned towards them. The shopman pulled the
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 8: trigger of the gun he held. There was a deafening roar,
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 8: and the tiger disappeared from the hillock. Then all became still.
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 8: They knew by the roar of pain that he was hit.
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 8: Tigers are clever and often feigned death when wounded if
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 8: they dared not descend. They were not sure that he
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 8: was killed. At any moment he might attack their shrie comrades.
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 8: In enterprise and fear, they sat gripping each other in
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 8: the darkness, for the mood had now set. The villagers
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 8: had heard the shot, and at daybreak came to the spot.
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 8: They found the tiger lying dead at the foot of
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 8: the hillock. The heroes could barely descend from the malchan,
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 8: so stiff and aching were their bones. Together they received
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 8: the podogist of the village and shared the government reward,
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 8: which to them was quite a small fortune. End of
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 8: section fourteen.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 2: Section fifteen of Bengal Dacots and Tigers. This is a
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 2: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 2: Bengal d'corts and Tigers by Maharani of kut Behar Suniti
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 2: Divi Tiger stories a Burmese monster. Some years ago government
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 2: sent an engineer and party to explore and prospect in
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 2: the forests of Burma. None returned. Their disappearance was a mystery.
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 2: The authorities decided to send another party to ascertain the
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 2: fate of the first and continue the work. To induce volunteers.
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 2: A handsome salary was offered, and at length an Englishman
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 2: came forward. He asked for twice the number of native
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 2: attendants that the first man had had. Government granted his
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 2: request and provided him with every facility procurable, and he started.
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 2: He followed the course taken by his predecessor up a
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 2: large river. He traveled in a big boat and his
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 2: men in smaller ones. Here and there they came upon
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 2: traces of the former party. They pushed on. Suddenly all
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 2: indications of the missing ones ceased. He felt he had
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 2: better stop and investigate. Tents were landed and pitched, and
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 2: the men began to prepare their evening meal. As he
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 2: sat in his tent reading, he heard loud shouts and
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 2: some of his coolies rushed to him. They said that
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 2: as they were cooking, they saw a great black thing
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 2: hanging from a tree above them. When they made a noise,
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 2: it disappeared. It was long and thick and black. The
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 2: coolies were frightened out of their wits and refused to
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 2: remain in that place. Argument was of no use, so
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 2: the tents were taken down and the party moved on.
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 2: Another spot was selected, and here they stayed peacefully for
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 2: some days. Suddenly a man was missing, then another and another.
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 2: Each disappeared. When alone, the coolies were frightened and uneasy,
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 2: but this time the Saheb managed to control them. He
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 2: himself was anxious and puzzled. Next, a coolie who had
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 2: gone to the river to scour vessels after a meal, disappeared.
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 2: The plates and lodos were scattered about, just as if
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 2: he had been suddenly seized. The Englishman thought that a
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 2: crocodile must have taken him off. Soon after this incident,
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 2: the engineer was fishing in the river opposite to the camp,
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 2: and he noticed two coolies coming to the river. They
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 2: sat down at the god and began to scour their vessels.
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 2: The murmur of their voices reached him. Presently, the boatman
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 2: clutched his arm and pointed to the bank. He looked
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 2: one of the coolies was chasing a huge, hairy monster.
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 2: The other could not be seen. The engineer soon crossed
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 2: the river and joined the coolie still in the chase
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 2: after the strange creature. As usual, the sahib carried a
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 2: loaded revolver, and as he ran, he fired several shots
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 2: at the animal. They had no effect on it. The
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 2: beast ran on with heavy lumbering strides, covering the ground
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 2: with great rapidity, and only once glancing back over its
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 2: shoulders with a horrible grin. He could not overtake it,
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 2: and it disappeared into the thick jungle. Its hair was
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 2: so long that it completely covered the man had carried
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 2: in its powerful arms. It was some kind of a racketang.
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 2: The mystery was now cleared up, the engineer returned his
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 2: task was accomplished. Later he wrote an account of this
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 2: adventure and concluded with these words, Now when I see
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 2: a great harry spider, I tremble, and the remembrance of
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 2: that monstrous black form returns to me, and the hideous
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 2: grin that thrilled me. Never can I forget it? End
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 2: of section fifteen. Read by Robin Lee, Richmond, California, February
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 2: twenty seventh, twenty twenty three.
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 5: Section number sixteen of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This is
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 5: a librifox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 5: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 5: Bengal Ducoits and Tigers by Maharane of Couch Bihard Saneti
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 5: to v Tiger stories the Palky and the Tiger. In
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 5: a lonely village in the Hazaraba district, the peaceful dwellers
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 5: were one evening disturbed by shrill cries of distress. When
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 5: they gathered around the house from whence the cries came,
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 5: they discovered that a ghastly murder had been committed. The
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 5: headmen of the village immediately dispatched two messengers for the police.
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 5: These men started in the dawn and reached the police
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 5: outpost just before sunset. The inspector in charge was Bengali
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 5: named Bozie, who was a very intelligent officer and keen
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 5: on his work. As soon as he received the information
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 5: of the murder, he ordered one of his staff to
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 5: arrange for a push push carriage, which is partly drawn
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 5: and partly pushed by men and a set of bearers.
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 5: He quickly put together a few requisites for the journey
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 5: and was soon ready. The night was not far advanced
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 5: when Orderly returned with a push push and eight bearers,
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 5: and Bossy started off, attended by his cook and body servant.
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 5: The road lay through a forest. At times the path
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 5: was so narrow and rocky that the men could make
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 5: little progress, and at last they declared that the road
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 5: was impassable for a wheeled conveyance and that it was
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 5: necessary for the inspector to change into a palki. One
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 5: of them said that about two miles off the road
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 5: there was a village, and that in the village there
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 5: lived a rich Hindustani merchant who might land a palky.
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 5: Bosi was pleased at the suggestion, and told the push
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 5: push bears to take him to the village. They needed
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 5: no second bidding, and the inspector was soon being trundled
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 5: across the paddy fields that lay between the village and
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 5: the road. Arrived there, he hastened to the merchant's house
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 5: and asked to see him. A handsome up countryman came out,
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 5: and when he saw that his visitor was a gentleman,
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 5: he courteously asked him to enter and be seated. The
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 5: inspector soon explained his necessity for a palki, and the
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 5: rich man placed his at the disposal of the police officer.
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 5: But jannab Sir, he said, tigers are bad in this force,
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 5: and you have to pass through a part known to
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 5: be a favorite haunt of theirs. Have few any firearms,
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 5: only my revolver, said Bocy. But I must push on
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 5: and take my chance. And as the palki now stood
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 5: ready and the bearers declared themselves refreshed, he thanked his
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 5: host for his ready assistance, bade him farewell, and started
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 5: once again. The bearers were full of spirits after their
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 5: rest at the merchant's house, and for a mile or
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 5: two traveled at a rapid pace, but the narrow, winding
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 5: road impeded their progress, and as the night advanced, the
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 5: eries sounds of the forest must have got on their nerves.
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 5: At the commencement of the journey, they had beguiled the
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 5: march with stories of tigers and bears met in the forest.
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 5: But after some hours of travel they became silent and
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 5: beyond the usual direction of the forward men concerning the road,
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 5: and occasionally a shrill cry to scare away wild animals,
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 5: They made no remarks to each other within the palky,
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 5: Bozy lay fitfully dozing. The night was oppressive, and his
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 5: thoughts were on the murder and his chances of a
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 5: successful capture of the wrongdoer. The road had become wider
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 5: and level, and the men were going along at a
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 5: good pace when suddenly they dropped the palky to the
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 5: ground and fled in all directions. Bosey shouted, what is up?
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 5: Why have you run away? No answer agreeted his ears,
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 5: but a strange odor penetrat his nostrils, and he knew
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 5: there was a tiger in the jungle. He quickly pulled
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 5: the doors of the pulky, jamming them as securely as
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 5: he could at the end of his Rosailles quilt. Then
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 5: he tore the strong border off his doughty loincloth and
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 5: commenced to bind the handles of the doors together. He
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 5: had just finished firmly lashing together the handles on one
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 5: side when he heard an ominous growling. With frantic haste,
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 5: he bound the handles to the opposite doors together, praying
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 5: fervently that he might escape the jaws of the tiger.
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 5: The animal continued growling, Evidently the dark bulk of the
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 5: palky frightened him. Bozzy sat inside, huddled in a heap
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 5: and breathless. The tagger, reassured by the stillness of the
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 5: object before him, ceased growling, and presently the soft thud
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 5: of his feet and sniffing around them. Palki told the
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 5: trembling man within that Stripes was making an investigation. Now,
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 5: a mighty roar shook the jungle, and Bosi realized that
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 5: the tiger had leaped upon the roof of the palky
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 5: and was scratching furiously at it. Busy clutched the handles
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 5: of the door and held on to them with a
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 5: grip of despair. The tiger scratched and growled, and finally
• 1:41:24
  Speaker 5: bounded off the top and began a vigorous assault upon
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 5: the side. The Palky toppled over on its other side.
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 5: Poor Bozy congratulated himself that now one of the doors
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 5: rested upon Mother Earth, and he could give his whole
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 5: energy to defending the other. He gripped the handles with
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 5: renewed determination and waited. The tiger had sustained a shock
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 5: at seeing the unknown monster he was tackling roll over,
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 5: and for a time satisfied himself by growling savagely. But
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 5: as the monster lay still, Stripes tried the experiment of
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 5: a sharp blow with his paw. The Palky rested on
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 5: uneven ground, and the blow made it rock. The tiger
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 5: waited awhile, and when the rocking had subsided, administered another stroke.
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 5: The Palky rocked again. The situation now developed into a
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 5: game between the huge cat and the Palky. When he slept,
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 5: the Palky rocked, and when the Palky ceased vibrating, the
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 5: tiger slapped again inside the Palki. The inspector held on
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 5: to the handles of the door and prayed for deliverance.
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 5: At last, the tiger wearied of the game, and purring loudly,
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 5: walked away. Molcy breathed more freely, but knew not if
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 5: the danger was past. There he lay gripping the handles
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 5: of the door and wishing for daylight. At last, the
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 5: dawn broke, and with the first rays of light, courage
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 5: returned to the bearers and servants, who were hiding in
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 5: the branches of the surrounding trees. They called to each other,
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 5: expressing anxiety as to their master's fate. Finally, as daylight
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 5: grew stronger, they encouraged each other to descend and approach
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 5: the palky. As they examined it with wonder. Some very
• 1:43:20
  Speaker 5: cutting remarks from within assured them of their master's existence, and,
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 5: with many apologies for the abrupt thay they had abandoned him,
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 5: they righted the palky and assisted him out. The journey
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 5: was soon resumed, and Bossi had the satisfaction of arresting
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 5: the murderer in spite of his ill timed adventure and
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 5: forced delay. End of section number sixteen read by Brianna Chiles.
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: Section seventeen of Bengoldakoid's Tigers. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Bengaldakoits
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 1: and Tigers by Maharani of Kuchbihar, Suniti Devi Tiger Stories
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: and a Sam Adventure. Some years ago, an English baron
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: came out to India to enjoy some tiger's shooting. He
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: received invitations to many native states and was having a
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: right royal time. In the course of his wanderings, he
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: came to a Sam. In those days, the jungles of
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: a Sam swarmed with tigers, but a man eater was
• 1:44:37
  Speaker 1: very rarely known there. Sir m was in a small
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 1: camp with just two or three other guns, and all
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: were hopeful of bagging a tiger, for the roaring of
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: the lords of the jungle could be heard almost every night.
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: The tents had been pitched on the bank of a
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: river and all round the camp and on the opposite
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 1: bank was a heavy jungle. Wild animals aboundoned in these jungles,
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: and the camp servants did not appreciate the sight. No
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 1: sooner had the scibs finished their dinner than the servants
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 1: disappeared into their tents and securing themselves within as strongly
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 1: as they could, devoutly hoped that the morning light would
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: find them still alive and unharmed. One evening, Sir M
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 1: retired to his own tent immediately after dinner. He was
• 1:45:23
  Speaker 1: very tired, but as he was not sleepy, he made
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: himself comfortable and settled down on a long sleeved chair
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: with a book. His tent was a small one, with
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: a camp cot, a couple of chairs, and a table.
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: On the table stood a reading lamp. Em was soon
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 1: absorbed in his book and did not notice how the
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 1: hours fled. The camp became quiet and still. It was
• 1:45:46
  Speaker 1: a dark, close night, and the door of his tent
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: stood open. For he was a lover of air. He
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: had read on for some time when his attention was
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: drawn to a movement of his tent wall. It seemed
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 1: to him as if some one or something was rubbing
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: along the side. He put down his book and got
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 1: on to his feet to see what it could be.
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: As he was about to step forward, the head of
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: a tiger loomed in the doorway, the eyes gleaming brightly.
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: Sir M stood motionless with surprise, and Stripes stepped into
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 1: the tent. He was a fine specimen of a royal
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: Bengal tiger, and M forgot everything in his admiration of
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: the noble animal. The table, with a lamp upon it,
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 1: stood between Sir M and the tiger, and each stood
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: on either side of it, gazing at each other. As
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: the silent seconds passed, Sir M realized that he was
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: in danger and bethought him of his rifle, which was
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: almost within reach of his hand, But he dared not move,
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 1: and so continued gazing steadfastly at his visitor. The tiger,
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: too stood surveying his viservey and then began to move
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: round the table. The lamp either attracted or annoyed him,
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: and he raised his bow to the table. The weight
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: of the huge bow tilted the table, The lamp toppled
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: and fell with a crash. The terrified tiger gave a
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 1: mighty roar, turned tail and fled. The camp was aroused,
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 1: everyone shouted and rushed out into the night, armed with
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: some weapon or other. Sir M related to his brother
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 1: Guns what had happened, and they all enjoyed a good
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 1: laugh and rather envied him for the fine sight he
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: had of such a superb specimen of the kings of
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: the jungle end of section seventeen.
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 9: Section eighteen of Bengal Dacoits and Tigers. This is a
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 9: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 9: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 9: Bengal Dacoits and Tigers by Mahara Ni kuch Behar Sunati
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 9: d V. A thrilling story. One evening in Assam, a
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 9: young Englishman was driving along a lonely jungle road. He
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 9: wished to visit a neighboring saheb, and though his servants
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 9: had warned him that tigers had been frequently seen on
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 9: that particular road, he had laughed at their fears and
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 9: told them that the only tiger to be feared was
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 9: a man eater, and that there were no man eating
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 9: tigers about that district, as usual in the Mofasil of India.
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 9: He was going out to dine and sleep, and his
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 9: bearer had put up his clothes and his suit case
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 9: was stowed into the dogcart. The road was a good
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 9: one and considerably wide, for it was the main thoroughfare
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 9: in the district, and along it tea, jute and all
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 9: other agricultural products were transported to the river for export
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 9: to other districts of India and also to Europe. Nevertheless,
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 9: it was bordered on either side by dense jungle, and
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 9: there were few villages in its vicinity. After sunset, it
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 9: was a road little frequented by villagers, and it had
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 9: the reputation of being tiger haunted. There was no moon,
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 9: and as Bee had not started much before sunset, darkness
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 9: soon overtook him on the road. As he had no
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 9: siicse with him, he got down to light the trap
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 9: lamps and jumped in and drove on again, very cheerily.
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 9: He was not far from where he must turn off
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 9: the main road to the narrow one leading to his
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 9: friend's estate when the pony suddenly took fright at something
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 9: and bolted. At first, b tried to pull the animal up,
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 9: but its erect ears and wild snorting showed him that
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 9: there was cause for alarm. He looked over his shoulder
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 9: and in the dim starlight, discerned the bulk of some
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 9: animal in pursuit of them. An eerie feeling came over him,
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 9: and he wondered what was going to happen. He sat
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 9: tight in his seat and let the pony race on.
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 9: The chase continued, and the pony began to show signs
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 9: of collapse. It was evidently being overcome by fear, and
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 9: in spite of all bees urging, could not keep up
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 9: the pace, and the pursuing animal gained upon them. B
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 9: had just determined to leap from the cart when the
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 9: pony tripped and fell, and B was shot out of
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 9: the cart. He fell into the long grass on the
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 9: side of the road, and had barely collected himself when
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 9: a dark form sprang upon the pony. The poor animal
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 9: neighed with fear, but kicked and fought its foe. B
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 9: rolled down the side of the road and began to
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 9: crawl away through the jungle as fast as he could.
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 9: Long grass and thorny brambles grew on either side of
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 9: the road, and as it was the dry season, every
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 9: movement of his made a crackling and rustling, and often
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 9: he fancied he'd heard an animal in pursuit of him,
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 9: or he would imagine he was about to meet one
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 9: coming through the jungle towards him. He pressed on as
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 9: fast as he could, sometimes crawling and sometimes walking, and
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 9: at last he saw the glimmer of lights and came
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 9: to some huts. He shouted to the inmates, who came
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 9: to his assistance. When they discovered us Ahab been such
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 9: a plight, they were full of concern, helped him to
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 9: their huts, gave him hot milk to drink, and washed
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 9: his wounds. His clothes were torn and his hands and
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 9: knees bleeding from his flight through the thorny jungle. The
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 9: sympathizing villagers emptied a hut for him to rest in,
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 9: and when morning came, escorted him to the scene of
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 9: his mishap. The mangled remains of his poor pony told
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 9: him that the wild animal had been a very famished tiger.
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 9: B returned to his own bungalow a wiser man, and
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 9: told his servants that had he taken their advice, he
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 9: would not have suffered such an adventure or the loss
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 9: of his pony. He rewarded the villagers for their kindness
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 9: and hospitality, and for a long time his escape was
• 1:52:24
  Speaker 9: the talk of the district. End of section eighteen, read
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 9: by Anita Hibberd February twenty second, twenty twenty three.
• 1:52:41
  Speaker 1: Section nineteen of Bingoldakoits and Tigers. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: information out of volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Bengoldacoits
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: and Tigers by Maharani of Kucibihar, Suniti Davi Taiger Stories.
• 1:53:00
  Speaker 1: A Kachar tiger in the province of Assam lies a
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: fertile and picturesque valley called Kachar shut in on the north,
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: south and east by lofty hills. This valley remained hidden
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: for centuries and was never conquered by any of the
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: Mohammedan rulers of India. Here a race of Aboriginal kings
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: held sway, and it was the East India Company who
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: first became masters of this hilly corner of Bengal. In
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: eighteen thirty, the last of the old Khachari kings died
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: without air and Company Bahadur took possession of the little
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: kingdom in eighteen fifty five. The discovery of the tea
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: plant growing wild in the jungles opened out a new industry,
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: and soon the low lying hills, knolls and undulating plains
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: of the little valley became gradually clear of jungle and
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 1: covered itself with row after row of carefully kept and
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: trim tea bushes. Today, acres upon acres of tea are
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: grown in Kuchar, and the inland steamers, which ply all
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 1: through the rainy season up and down the wide rolling
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: stream of the river Borach, bring down for export millions
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 1: of pounds of tea for the cheering cup. Katjar is
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 1: rich in forests, and tigers and other wild animals are
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: there in plenty. During the monsoon, the jungle animals retreat
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: to the higher levels of the forest clad hills, but
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: when the rains abate, they begin to gradually descend. And
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: when the great wars of fenlands dry up at the
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: approach of the cold season, numerous tigers take up their
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: winter haunts in the patches of jungle which grow here
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: and there, in the marshlands and in the forests which
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 1: often surround or separate the tea gardens. It was cold
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: wather time about forty years ago, and four planters sat
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: talking after dinner in the manager's bungalow on a tea
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: garden in Katchar. We will call them M, B, C
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 1: and H. The bungalow, like many bungalows and tea districts,
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: stood on a high hill, the steep sides of which
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 1: had been terraced and planted with tea. On adjacent but
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: lower hills stood the factory and coolie lines. Everything was
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: quiet and lay wrapped in a heavy fog. In the verandah.
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: Near the steps sat the Bungaloo Jokidar or watchman. The
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 1: charity of the tea company had provided him and his
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: fellow coolies with blankets, and he wore his in the
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 1: usual Pachim Northwest Province's style. One end of the blanket
• 1:55:26
  Speaker 1: is pleated and tied closely with a piece of string
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 1: a short part above the cord, forming a tuft. The
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 1: wearer pulls the pleated end of the blanket over his head,
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: the tuft resting on his crown. The sides of the
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: blanket are drawn round the body, and thus the blanket
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: is made to form both a hood and a cloak,
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 1: in which the wearer hugs himself against the inclemency of
• 1:55:48
  Speaker 1: the weather. The chokidar sat on his mat, huddled up
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: in his blanket, droning one of the time honored pugeons
• 1:55:55
  Speaker 1: or hymns of India. Presently he disappeared and next sing
• 1:56:00
  Speaker 1: yells rent the mist laden atmosphere. The four Sahibs were
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: in the veranda in a trice, and soon discovered the
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: Chokidar returning to the Verandah, visibly shaken and without his blanket.
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: What is the matter and who shouted? Asked the manager Sahib.
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 1: The Jokidar replied in a quavering voice. A tiger sprang
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: on me and caught the knot of my blanket. Here,
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: interrupted the four englishmen, incredulously. Yes, Huzur for your honor.
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: As I sat here against this post, the tiger came,
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: seized the knot of my blanket and began to pull
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: like lightning. I made my plan. I grasped with a strong,
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: tight hold the sides of the blanket, and holding myself
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 1: together like a ball, I let lord tiger pull. He
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: dragged me to the edge of the tilah Or hill.
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 1: There I suddenly let go the blanket and shouted with
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: all my might. The tiger fell over down the hill
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: and is gone. Sure enough, there were the footmarks of
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: the tiger, the mark of the drag, and the signs
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: of where stripes had slipped over and down the terrace.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: The tiger had been harrying the coolies for some time,
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: and a rumor had got about that he was a
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 1: man eater. It was pretty certain that he would come
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: again the next night, so the planters determined to sit
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: up and shoot him. On the following night. After dinner, M, B,
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 1: C and H took their positions on the verandah. Each
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: had his loaded gun, and all waited patiently for the tiger.
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 1: Time passed, it was weary work, and they dozed. M's
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 1: dog had wandered off to the kitchen as usual after dinner.
• 1:57:44
  Speaker 1: After some time, it returned hurriedly and ran up the
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 1: steps of the verandah, barking in a frightened manner. The
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: dog's barking woke the four men. B sat first near
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 1: the steps, and H not far from him, in a
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: dining room chair the door. All ran into the dining
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: room and hid himself under the table. And everything again
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: became quiet, and the men waited. Suddenly, a hoarse cry
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: paralyzed three of them. He is on me shoot. The
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: tiger had come up on to the verandah, and, springing
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: at B caught him by the arm. Then, releasing the arm,
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: he made a spring at his victim's throat. B was
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: instantly on his feet, and as the tiger essayed his throat,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: he ran his clenched fist into the animal's mouth. The
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: tiger shook the man's fist out of its mouth and
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 1: made another attempt to reach his throat. B repeated his maneuver.
• 1:58:37
  Speaker 1: This happened three or four times. In the meantime, the
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: other three men dared not shoot for fear of missing
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: the ferocious catt and killing their comrade. H had the
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: presence of mind to swiftly fix his bayonet, and, rushing
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 1: towards the tiger, he thrust it into the animal's side,
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: firing as he did so. The tiger fell backwards off
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 1: the verandahly wounded, but to the amazement of the Saibes,
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: struggled up and made another attempt to get at B.
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: He was, however, too badly wounded and fell back dead.
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: Bee's hand and arm were terribly mulled, and after medical treatment,
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: he had to go home on long leave. End of section.
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 10: Nineteen Section twenty of Bengal Da Koits and Tigers. This
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 10: is a Librivax recording. All Librivax recordings are in the
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 10: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 10: librivax dot org read by Stam Bengal. Dacoits and Tigers
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 10: by Maharani of kuch Behar Suniti de Vi Tiger Stories
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 10: A Maharaja's Adventures. A Maharaja of Bengal, who became a
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 10: noted sportsman, shot his first tiger when he was quite
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 10: a small boy. When about twelve years of age, he
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 10: went out on a chute one cold weather on his estate.
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 10: He was accompanied by some of his relatives and they
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 10: encamped in one of the forest bungalows. This bungalow was
• 2:00:10
  Speaker 10: just an ordinary assam house built on a chong, or
• 2:00:14
  Speaker 10: raised platform. It consisted of a large center room with
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 10: a bedroom on either side, and a deep veranda in
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 10: the front, where the servants slept at night under large trees.
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 10: Some little distance away. The elephants were chained, and not
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 10: far off were stables for the horses. The Maharajah shared
• 2:00:32
  Speaker 10: his room with a friend, a lad about two years
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 10: older than himself. One night between ten and eleven o'clock,
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 10: when all were in bed and asleep after a tiring
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 10: day and an early dinner, the near roaring of a
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 10: tiger awakened the camp. In a twinkling. The servants had
• 2:00:48
  Speaker 10: transferred themselves and their bedding from the veranda into the
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 10: center room and securely bolted the door. Roar after rors
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 10: sounded through the night with the young Maharajah slept the
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 10: healthful and deep sleep of tire childhood, and the mighty
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 10: voice of a lord of the jungle did not disturb him.
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 10: His friend was awakened by the majestic sound and lay
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 10: trembling with fear envying his blissfully unconscious companion, until the
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 10: nearness of the tiger broke down. His self control and
• 2:01:16
  Speaker 10: vigorously shaking his bedfellow, he shouted in his ear, Tiger, Tiger.
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 10: The young Maharajah awoke, yawned, stretched and listened. The roaring
• 2:01:26
  Speaker 10: had ceased, but under the bungalow they could hear the
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 10: purring of a tiger as it rubbed itself against a post.
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 10: The younger and fearless boy laughed with glee and assured
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 10: his friend that there was no danger of the tiger
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 10: getting into the bungalow, and that on the morrow they
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 10: would be easily able to track and shoot it. Soon,
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 10: the sounds of purring and rubbing gave place to others,
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 10: and the occupants of the Bungalow, realized that more than
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 10: one tiger played beneath them. Next day, in the jungle
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 10: near the forest Bungalow, the party shot a couple of tigers,
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 10: a tigris and her cubs. In later years, the Maharajah
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 10: became famous for his shoots, and many and varied were
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 10: his adventures and experiences. One year, he was in a
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 10: camp with a large party, and they were out one
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 10: afternoon after Buffalo's A fine bull was driven out of
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 10: a patch of thick jungle and faced the guns with
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 10: defiance in his eyes. He was a grand target in
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 10: the Maharaja's finger ached to pull his trigger, but courtesy
• 2:02:24
  Speaker 10: forbade him, and he generously, as always left the fine
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 10: prize for his guests. But one after another each missed
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 10: his shot, and the noble bull charged past into thicker jungle.
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 10: As the line of guns attempted to follow, one of
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 10: them spied a leopard up on a tree, looking thoroughly scared.
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 10: This animal had evidently been disturbed by the commotion in
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 10: the forest, and had been so terrified that it had
• 2:02:47
  Speaker 10: climbed into a tree for shelter, and there on a
• 2:02:50
  Speaker 10: branch poor Spots fell an easy prey to the sportsman.
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 10: One of the strangest adventures that the Maharajah had was
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 10: when returning to camp one evening, he was in formed
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 10: that one of his largest and best elephants, Kennedy, had
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 10: got stuck in quicksand in many parts of Assam there
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 10: are quicksands and quagmires, this particular one chanced to be
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 10: in Annala Stream. The elephant had refused to cross the
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 10: partially dried up stream. Instinct had warned him through the
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 10: tip of his trunk that danger lurked there, but his
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 10: mahout driver, anxious to get into camp after a hard
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 10: day and knowing that across the stream was a short cut,
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 10: had forced him. They had advanced but a yard or
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 10: two when the huge animal began to sink, and the
• 2:03:33
  Speaker 10: more he struggled and strove to extricate himself, the deeper
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 10: he sank. The Maharajah hastened to the spot as soon
• 2:03:40
  Speaker 10: as he heard of the catastrophe. For Kennedy was a
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 10: fine and valuable elephant, and a steady one for Shakhar shooting.
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 10: At the sound of his master's voice, poor Kennedy looked
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 10: towards the bank and the Maharajah saw that great tears
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 10: of anguish were rolling down the poor beast's face as
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 10: he bellowed in an agony of fear. The Maharajah directed
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 10: the men who had gathered around the scene to fell
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 10: some saplings, which were conveyed to the nallah by some
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 10: smaller elephant and pushed into the quagmire towards Kennedy. The
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 10: poor entrapped animals seemed to understand that efforts were being
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 10: made to rescue him, and he obeyed his driver's now
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 10: soothing voice and held himself still. At last, the combined
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 10: labors of men and brother elephants provided a safe footing
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 10: of submerged saplings and branches, and Kennedy pulled himself out
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 10: of the treacherous sand and was escorted back to the
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 10: camp with great rejoicings. Not long after this, Kennedy distinguished
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 10: himself in another way, but this time evoked the displeasure
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 10: and not the pity, of his good master. An engineer
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 10: named Ashton had charge of the Fielcana elephant stables and
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 10: had once severely punished Kennedy after the manner of his
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 10: kind the elephant for the memory of the outrage in
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 10: his heart and waited the opportunity to be revenged. One morning,
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 10: the ca camp was a stirf for a shoot. The
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 10: guests stood ready outside their tents, and the elephants were
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 10: waiting to carry them into the forest. Suddenly, Kennedy charged
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 10: at Ashton, who stood a little apart from the group,
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 10: and flinging him to the ground, began to roll him
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 10: under his feet. The Maharajah, with wonderful presence of mind,
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 10: he immediately ordered Debrage, a larger and more powerful elephant
• 2:05:23
  Speaker 10: than Kennedy and his rival in the Fielcana, to the rescue.
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 10: Debraj's mahout ordered him to charge at Kennedy and urged
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 10: forward with voice and prong. Debrage did so with a
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 10: good will. When Kennedy saw his ancient enemy charging at him,
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 10: he forgot his grudge against Ashton, and, considering that he
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 10: who fights and runs away lives to fight another day,
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 10: he bolted with his trunk in the air. Ashton was
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 10: picked up from the dust, very much shaken by his
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 10: rolling and fright, but to the astonishment of everyone, in
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 10: no way injured. During one of his shooting expeditions, the
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 10: Maharajah and his companions decided one night that they would
• 2:06:04
  Speaker 10: go out on foot at the very break of dawn
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 10: and see the animal world in the jungle, and they
• 2:06:09
  Speaker 10: were well rewarded for their adventurous spirit. In a glade
• 2:06:12
  Speaker 10: of the forest, they had a magnificent sight of a
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 10: large herd of bison peacefully grazing in the dewy grass.
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 10: They could hear tigers and bears passing back through the
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 10: jungles to their dens in the deeper forest, and as
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 10: the men stood there admiring the grand heads of the bison,
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 10: a monstrous tiger passed along quite close to one of
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 10: the party, the Maharajah's brother in law. On the bank
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 10: of a river, they came upon a nest of young pythons.
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 10: The guests thought it was a curious mound, but the
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 10: Maharajah recognized the reared heads of the young snakes and
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 10: told his friends what the heap was. When they came closer,
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 10: they could see that the long, slimy bodies were all
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 10: twisted together, and with an uncanny feeling, the sportsmen watched
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 10: these serpents uncoil themselves from each other and glide away
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 10: and disappear through the grass. Once, after long and fruitless
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 10: day in the jungles, the Maharaja decided he would try
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 10: his luck stocking some deer that he spied on the
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 10: opposite side of a narrow strip of jungle. He accordingly
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 10: left his elephant and began to creep through the long, dry,
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 10: bramble choked grass with his rifle in his hand. As
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 10: he pushed his way through the thick jungle, he fancied
• 2:07:21
  Speaker 10: he heard an animal breathing, and then something crackled. Intent
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 10: on the deer before him, he concluded that he had
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 10: broken a twig or a branch with the end of
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 10: his rifle, and pushed on. As he emerged from the
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 10: thicket on the opposite side from where he had entered,
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 10: he came face to face with a group of shepherds.
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 10: They stared at him in amazement, and then, recognizing him
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 10: as their Maharaja, fell at his feet in rapturous joy.
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 10: Accustomed as he was to demonstrations from his people, their
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 10: abandons struck him as something unusual, and he was about
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 10: to question them when they exclaimed, Huzoor Dharma Batar, your honor,
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 10: royal master, how did when you come in safety through
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 10: that jungle? He smiled at their wonderment and was about
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 10: to chide them gently when they continued, an immense tiger
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 10: has just slain one of our cows and dragged it
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 10: into that very jungle from which your honor has emerged.
• 2:08:14
  Speaker 10: The Maharajah now understood that the sound he had heard
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 10: as he pushed his way through the jungle was the
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 10: tiger enjoying a feed of his kill, and he felt
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 10: thankful that he had not stumbled directly upon it. Like
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 10: the keen sportsman he was, he signaled his elephant, and
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 10: mounting it, secured the feasting tiger with an easy shot.
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 10: One cold season, the Viceroy was enjoying a shoot on
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 10: the Maharaja's estates one evening, as they were dressing for dinner,
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 10: there came through the stillness of the RESTful air, the
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 10: twitter of a tiger. Do many of my readers know
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 10: what the twitter of a tiger is? It is a
• 2:08:50
  Speaker 10: sound the monarch of the jungle makes, and it is
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 10: just like the twitter of a bird. In fact, some
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 10: declare it is only the twitter of a bird. Well,
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 10: on this particular evening, the tiger must have been passing
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 10: quite close to the camp, for his twitter was clear
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 10: and unmistakable. The Maharajah, with his usual courtesy, immediately bethought
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 10: himself of his guests and invited their excellencies to come
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 10: out into the open and listen to the novel sound.
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 10: They did, and very pleased and proud they were when
• 2:09:22
  Speaker 10: they heard the tiger's twitter clearly and distinctly through the
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 10: gathering shade and stillness of the darkening night. The shooting
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 10: camps were invariably pitched on the bank of a river
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 10: or stream. One evening, two of the servants crossed the
• 2:09:36
  Speaker 10: shell stream in front of the camp to enjoy some fishing.
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 10: They found a suitable place behind a mound, and here
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 10: they sat quietly watching their lines. The afternoon hours passed swiftly,
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 10: and the sun was nearing the horizon when their attention
• 2:09:50
  Speaker 10: was simultaneously drawn to a sound above their heads. Looking
• 2:09:53
  Speaker 10: up to their horror, they saw an immense tiger just
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 10: above them. One of them shivered with terror and clutching
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 10: his companion, said in a hoarse whisper, our hour has come.
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 10: The other whispered back, keep perfectly still and quiet, breathless.
• 2:10:10
  Speaker 10: The two watched the huge tiger descend the bank and
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 10: pass majestically to the edge of the water, where he
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 10: stopped to quench his thirst. It seemed to the two
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 10: trembling men that it took the lord of the jungle
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 10: fully half an hour to drink his fill. Then, as
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 10: slowly and impressively, the tiger turned from the stream and
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 10: ascended the bank. When he reached the top, he stood
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 10: there gazing before him, either as if admiring the scenery
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 10: or contemplating a meal off one of the men. The
• 2:10:39
  Speaker 10: pair scarcely dared to breathe, and wild schemes of taking
• 2:10:43
  Speaker 10: to their heels to gain the center of the stream
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 10: and swim down the river shot through their brains. At last,
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 10: the tiger slowly turned away from the river and disappeared
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 10: into the forest. Then, after some time, the frightened servants
• 2:10:57
  Speaker 10: hurried across the stream back to camp and told the
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 10: Maharaja of their terrible experience. The footprints of the animal
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 10: corroborated their story and their abservation that they had seen
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 10: a very, very big tiger. During one of the shoots,
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 10: the Shikaris native sportsmen brought news that a rhino had
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 10: been seen in a certain jungle. The guests were much
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 10: excited and a beat was organized for the next day.
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 10: The morning dawned and all set out and were soon
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 10: posted to their various positions. The front stop guns were
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 10: on the bank of a river. The Maharajah was in
• 2:11:32
  Speaker 10: the beating line when about half way through the piece
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 10: of jungle, he noticed that one of his brother guns
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 10: looked disappointed. He accordingly asked what's up. The guests answered
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 10: that he thought that a large animal had broken back. However,
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 10: nothing was discovered, and as it was midday, a halt
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 10: for lunch was considered desirable. A spot was soon selected
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 10: and the signal given, and the lines broke up. Just
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 10: as the foremost elephants were about to kneel to permit
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 10: their ride to dismount, there arose from the stop elephants
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 10: a cry of tiger. In the jungle, quite close to
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 10: one of the stop guns, a tiger was enjoying a
• 2:12:09
  Speaker 10: feed of a wild pig, and as the elephant turned
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 10: to join the others, he almost trod on the tiger.
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 10: In a moment, the line was re organized, but the
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 10: surprised tiger, finding itself surrounded by foes, turned tail and
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 10: ran down the bank of the river. The stream was
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 10: nearly dry, and the bed was very shingly, and as
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 10: the startled tiger picked its way gingerly across the pebbles
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 10: and pools of water, it looked like a stranded cat.
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 10: It had not progressed very far when a well directed
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 10: shot laid it low. And with this unexpected prize, the
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 10: party sat down to lunch in excellent spirits. As rhino
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 10: generally fight shy of elephants, they did not think there
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 10: was much use continuing the beat after lunch, so they
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 10: decided that they should make tracks for home and have
• 2:12:57
  Speaker 10: general shooting. General shooting means that there is no beating line.
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 10: A long straight line of march is formed and each
• 2:13:04
  Speaker 10: gun elephant is in between the pad or beating elephants.
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 10: The Maharaja was almost the last gun in the line,
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 10: nearly all were out of the jungle when his keen
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 10: and practiced eye noticed a small pad elephant jib at
• 2:13:17
  Speaker 10: something as they passed through a piece of jungle. Did
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 10: your elephant refuse to come through? He questioned the mahout
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 10: of the small elephant. Yes, Maharaja, he smelt something in
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 10: the jungle. The man replied, beat this piece of jungle.
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 10: The Maharaja quickly ordered the pad elephants with him. They
• 2:13:34
  Speaker 10: beat it and drove forth a rhino, which fell dead
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 10: to the Maharaja's gun. Before his Highness had time to
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 10: take up his other rifle, a second galloped out of
• 2:13:43
  Speaker 10: the jungle and charged straight at the Maharaja's elephant. The
• 2:13:47
  Speaker 10: elephant spun round to avoid the furious onslaught, and in
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 10: the meantime the Maharaja managed to raise his gun and
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 10: getting in his shot, in spite of the gyrations of
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 10: the elephant, laid out I Know number two in grand style,
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 10: to the applause of his companions. Coming back to camp
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 10: in the dusk one evening, the Maharaja, who had wonderful eyesight,
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 10: thought he saw tiger lying still in an open field.
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 10: He raised his gun and whispered to his mahout as
• 2:14:17
  Speaker 10: they came nearer the tiger. For tiger, it was raised
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 10: itself to its feet and prepared to spring at the elephant.
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 10: Too late, Snap went the Maharasha's trigger, and the royal
• 2:14:27
  Speaker 10: beast lay dead. These are but a few of the
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 10: shooting adventures of a sportsman Maharaja who has gone on
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 10: the long journey from life to the greater life beyond.
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 10: But whose memory lives in the annals of Bengal as
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 10: a keen and successful shot end of section twenty end
• 2:14:45
  Speaker 10: of Bengel d Koits and Tigers by Maharani of cooch
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 10: Behar Suniti de v