Animal Ghosts

Lions, Ti

cult to get an elephant to pass a spot where any phantasm is known to appear. The big beast at once com

y other localities. The spirits of such cruel creatures as lions, tigers, leopards, are very much ear

ago by a gentleman whom I will style Mr. De Silva, P.W.D. I p

hite

tick. I had no wish for his company, though the road was lonely, and I feared the presence of tigers, so I hurried on, and the faster I went, the nearer he seemed to come. Tap! tap! tap! The man was blind and a leper, and so repul

return again, and the jungle was getting nearer. The open country on either side ceased, one by one tall blades of jungle grass shook their heads in the gentle breeze, and the silence of the darkness beyond began to make itself fe

aster came the blind man. I could smell

you are, s

hese words, a fear which increased my own; but

ved the grass, rustling to and fro, and singing to sleep the insect

A jackal, a lame jackal, and it looked at me from out of eyes that for some reason or other made me shiver. I did not know what there was about the jack

markable about this one, and on my bending down, pretending to look for a stone to throw at it, it slunk back s

blessed the presen

they talk, O'Donnell.) 'The jackals, did you see them? I knew them by their smel

han the wind makes; a rustling that kept pace with me and went a

bright light, where the cross-roads met. A

now the road so well as I. He had no wife, no child;

l paused and wip

side slowing down, and the tapping grew

h be on you for stopping. Sah

the ground within one inch of my foot; my heart almost ceased to beat; I gazed in fascination at the spot in the jungle opposite. The heavy rustling had stopped; only the gentle sighing of the wind went on. The two

darkness opposite me. I bowed my head, O'Donnell, a

ng out in the clear n

e you and yo

ng over the leper, searching for the most conv

, his teeth shone white and even; with the striped hor

claws glittered, and they seemed to afford it keen satisfaction-it was a tigress and vain-then it lowered its head, and the leper shrieked. I watched it pick him up as if he were one of its cubs; saw the blood tric

fortress, I fancied I heard the dead man's cry, fancied I heard his curse. No one was more devoted to a wife than I was to mine. Ours had been purely a love match, and it was against my wis

he said. 'I am so sorry for the poor lepe

rescue him, of course. But I fear it wouldn't have been o

love is selfish! It makes one forget oth

flat ground, sun-baked and barren, away towards the dark jungles and the still darker mountains towering above

of the native servan

ions of the country-the evil eye and the rest of th

ned pale un

hand, 'not of Nahra, the leper of Futtebah. Sahib, if you were cursed by him, beware. He was l

so-called juggling, had experienced also strange cases of telepathy, and knew

fe,' Cushai said, 'and the white l

ver, and as to my wife, I begged and entreated her not to move from

imes there came to us rumours of the man-eater-of another victim-but it never vi

ortunes, which the more timid might ha

the laying down of a rail, and E

n at work again were spread about us. Several niggers were carried off or badly bitten, and t

hat it must be

uld cry out, and a stampede amon

te tiger?' I

all other animals, go white even to their hair. I have not told them the story, sa

h the jungle grass, I plodded along with no other companion than my Winchester repeater-searching, always searching for the damned tiger. I found it, O'Donnell, came upon it just as it was in the midst of a meal-dining off a native-and I shot it twice before it recove

Cushai,' I said, laughing. '

sahib! Allah bless you f

id not speak empty words,' and as his eyes wandered to the dark hills again

ks of the niggers were bending double under the burde

chorus of shrieks filled the air, and legs scampered off in all directions. I was fif

atch of luminous white, noiselessly, stealthily-the mark of the bullet plainly visible on its big, flat forehead. Step by step it approached me, its paws no longer with the colouring of health, but dull and worn.

ding on the banks of the cutting; but it stole silently on its way with a something in its movements that left no doubt but that it was engaged in no casual venture. I remembered, O'Donnell, that my wife had promise

sence, to keep it from seeing her. Another bend in the road hid it from view. The same hideous fears gripped me hard and fast, as I strained every muscle in the mad pursuit. At last I ran round the curve, and saw before me the tableau I had dreaded. The tiger was crouching, ready to spring on the group of three-Eva, Eric and the ayah. They were paralysed with fear, and stood on the rails staring at it, unable to move or utter a sound. I well understood their feelings, and knew they were labouring in their minds as to whether the thing that confronted them was a creature of flesh and blood, or what it was. They could not take their eyes off it, and, as a consequence, did not see me. The white tiger now went through a series of actions, so lifelike that I could not but believe it was real, and that I had been deceived in thinking I had killed it. Its haunches quivered, it got ready to spring, and my rifle flew to my s

e feverishly. 'Thank God! It was only a g

ric, and so did -- '-then her eyes fell on the ayah, and she gave a great start.

ver-she was dead! Fr

m I thought I had seen of him, when the white tiger was sprin

c, and in my anxiety to save him from the brute, I pushed the ayah in front of him. And the thing sprang on he

verily believed, O'Donnell, fear had

e suddenly called m

'what's that mark on

cheek was a faint red scratch, just as might have been caus

ure. 'Sahib! Beware! Nahra was a clever man. He must have used the spiri

ic to a Dr. Nicholso

speaking-'Mr. De Silva, there's no use beating about the bush, and prolonging the agony unnecessarily

d to be isolated from everyone-even from tho

and his curse had to be fulfilled. You may rest assured, however, nothing further will befall you, for I saw Nahra in a visio

d no such thing, but, on the contrary, picked up in health in the most marvellous fashion; indeed, she only told me yesterday, she felt better than she had done for years. I've

ly sure they h

ls and Psych

nd this, for obvious reasons, is extremely difficult. But since I have found that such properties are possessed-in varying degre

cality; to observe to what extent it would be aware of the advent of the U

RT

ND THE