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Wonders of the Jungle

<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> <h2>The Buffalo and the Boy</h2> In a village there were many tame buffaloes, and among them thirty bull buffaloes. The little boys of the village took charge of them every day. The smartest boy among them was called Gulab. He was six years of age. Gulab knew quite well each of the thirty bull buffaloes, and was a friend of each. Sometimes he alone had charge of them, and took them out to graze and to wallow. That was because his father was the herdsman. The buffaloes loved Gulab, and they did exactly as he told them to do. When he was going to take them to the fields, he would just stamp his little bare foot and call out to them "Stand in rows!" And the huge animals would stand in rows, one line behind another. Then Gulab would come around to the side, and see if each line was straight. If the line was not quite straight, and a buffalo happened to be standing too much this way or that, Gulab would walk up to the buffalo and spank[91] him on the jaw. Then the buffalo would move into line, exactly as Gulab wanted him to do. Or, if a buffalo happened to be standing too far behind, Gulab would come around to the back and twist the buffalo's tail, and the buffalo would move up into line. Then, when the whole herd was in the right order, Gulab would come to the front of the herd, and walk up to the biggest bull. "Bend down your head, Baldo!" he would order. And Baldo, the biggest bull, in the middle of the front line, would bend down his head, and Gulab would climb up by one of the horns, scramble up Baldo's neck, and sit down on his back. "March!" Gulab would order—and the whole herd would march. Now, a few miles away there was a grand palace. In the palace was a little Prince, whose father was a Rajah—that is, a kind of king. The little Prince's birthday was coming, and his father ordered grand feasts for many days. The Rajah had six English friends, who were quite big men. The Englishmen were very fond of tiger hunting, so the Rajah wanted to order a tiger hunt for them. But it is not easy[92] to have a tiger hunt just when you want to have it. Why not? Because the tiger will not come out and be hunted just when you want him to. He would rather stay in his den. So for a few days no one heard of a tiger prowling about. Then suddenly a strange piece of news came from that village where Gulab lived. It happened in this way: One day Gulab took out the buffaloes to graze and to wallow. The buffaloes lay down in the shallow water for a while, and Gulab splashed about or tumbled in the mud near them. Then he got tired of doing that, and came out on the bank and played about there for a while. Suddenly he heard a strange sound. It was one of the buffaloes, who had stood up in the water and was giving a low, deep bellow. Two or three other buffaloes stood up also, and gave a low, deep bellow. Then all at once the whole lot of them began to come out of the water. Gulab stopped in his play to see what was wrong. But he could see nothing. "What's the matter, Baldo?" he asked. "What's wrong, Chando?" But the two biggest bulls scrambled up the bank, and came rushing toward the boy. All[93] the other bulls came also, and some went past him on the right side, and some went past him on the left side. Then suddenly Gulab knew what it all meant! A snarl—a growl—a roar, he heard. A flash of yellow leaped out of the jungle, and came toward him with a huge jump. It was a tiger! But already the buffaloes were making a ring around Gulab. Then he knew what had happened. The tiger had seen him from the jungle beyond, and had been trying to creep up to him quietly from thicket to thicket. But the buffaloes had smelled the tiger in time, and had run out of the pond to save Gulab. And now they had made a ring around him. Gulab stood in the ring and looked with large round eyes, for he was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He was only a little boy, and had never seen a tiger face to face. The tiger growled and snarled and roared. Then it came round and round the ring, trying to find a gap between the horns to get at the boy. But there was no gap between the horns. Then little by little the fear left Gulab's heart. Something inside him told him to be brave. He walked up to Baldo.[94] "Baldo, let me up!" Gulab said to him, standing behind the buffalo. And Baldo lowered his body behind, and bent his hind legs at the knees. Gulab took hold of Baldo's tail in both hands, and put his foot on Baldo's hind knee, which was now bent quite low. In that way Gulab climbed up to the buffalo's back, and sat on it, holding on to Baldo's shoulders. Then, being quite safe on the buffalo's back, Gulab glanced around and called to the buffaloes at the back of the ring, "Open out!" And the buffaloes opened out at the back of the ring, and made a crescent. Then they moved still farther around, and the crescent became one long line, facing the tiger. Gulab gave one glance to right and left, to see that all were ready. Then— "Charge, brothers, charge!" he cried to the buffaloes. Then his big brothers, the buffaloes, charged with thundering hoofs and fiery nostrils. The tiger gave a huge leap to the side to get away; but the buffaloes on that side opened out and headed off the tiger. On to the front again the tiger was forced to turn—and run for his life before the furious herd.[95] The buffaloes chased and chased that tiger, across field and jungle, over hedges and ditches, through brambles and bushes and thickets, till at last the tiger jumped across a ravine and ran away growling and howling and snarling, like a low thief who is chased out of a village at night. The ravine was a deep hollow in the ground, like a huge ditch; and it ran all the way across the ground; so the buffaloes could not get over it, as they cannot jump as far as a tiger. Then the buffaloes returned to the village, and Gulab gave the news about the tiger. Some of the village people ran to the palace, and said that the tiger might be still hiding somewhere on the other side of the ravine. So the six Englishmen went around to that side to hunt the tiger. They found him and wounded him four or five times. But it takes a lot more than that to kill a tiger. The tiger ran out, got past the hunters, and came back again across the ravine. Here he hid in a dense thicket, and would not come out and be hunted to please anybody. Now, when a tiger is hiding in a thicket and will not come out and be hunted, there is only one way to make him come out.[96] What is that way? Can you tell? Why, of course, the bull buffaloes! So the herdsman brought up the thirty bull buffaloes, and drew them up in a long line in front of the thicket. And on the other side of the thicket the six Englishmen got up into trees, and pointed their guns at the thicket. Then the herdsman ordered the buffaloes to charge, and they charged right through the thicket, trampling it down and cutting it up into lanes; so the tiger had to run out on the other side. But on that side the six Englishmen were waiting for him; and they all fired at the tiger at once, and all hit him. They used a kind of bullet that broke up into a hundred pieces right inside the tiger. But the tiger still kicked and kicked, and would not agree to be dead at once, as any other animal would. People say that a cat has nine lives; then a tiger must have ninety-nine lives. So this tiger jumped about, torn up as he was, and glared at the Englishmen in the trees, trying to get at them, while they were loading their guns for another shot. But the buffaloes went on charging, and caught up with the tiger. They rushed upon him, and now the torn-up tiger could not get[97] away. So the buffaloes trampled upon him, and then the tiger agreed to lie still and be dead, really and truly. The six Englishmen began to climb down from the trees, as they thought the excitement was all over. But the herdsman called out to them at once: "Please go up again—quick! Don't let my buffaloes see you!" For I must tell you now that buffaloes do not like strangers. They may be very fond of their own friends in the village; but if they should see a stranger, they would charge him just as quickly as they would charge a tiger. And the Englishmen would look quite strange to the buffaloes. So the Englishmen remembered that, and stayed up in the trees till the buffaloes were taken away. The buffaloes were taken to the pond; and as the herdsman would not bother to stay with them there, he left the buffaloes in the pond to do as they pleased till evening. The six Englishmen had their lunch there, when they got down from the trees. They gave their guns to their servants, to carry away to the palace. Afterwards the Englishmen[98] walked about, smoking their cigars, as they did not want to return to the palace so soon. But four or five hours passed, and still they had not come back to the palace. It was nearly evening, and still they had not come. And in the village Gulab said to his Papa, who was the herdsman, "Papa, I shall bring the buffaloes home now." He went to the pond. But the buffaloes were not there! He shouted, whistled, and gave all the buffalo calls he knew. But no answer! He looked about, and searched everywhere, but he could not see the buffaloes. What had become of them? Then he happened to look far to the side, toward a lot of tall trees. Something was happening under the trees! He could see a lot of things moving there, but he was too far away to see what they were. He ran toward the trees. Yes, they were the buffaloes! But why were they there? And why were they behaving like that? For he saw that they were pawing the ground angrily, and tossing their heads and rattling their horns. And what was very strange, the buffaloes were not looking at anything on the[99] ground in front of them. They were looking up, at the trees! Then Gulab glanced up into the trees, and saw at once why the buffaloes were behaving like that. But he did not waste a minute. He ran to the buffaloes, shouting: "Down, Baldo! Down, Chando!" But the two biggest bulls and all the others glared at the trees and snorted in fury. "Down!" Gulab shrieked. "Down, or I shall spank you!" He rushed to Baldo, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed to Chando, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed from buffalo to buffalo, and spanked each one on the jaw. Then the huge animals that had charged the raging tiger, and that were now fierce themselves, obeyed the little boy. They blinked, then one by one lowered their heads. Gulab climbed up by Baldo's horns, and seated himself on his back. "Now turn around, all!" he ordered. And the buffaloes slowly turned away from the trees. Gulab looked back over his shoulder, and said to the six Englishmen who were up in the trees: "You may come down now. My buf[100]faloes won't hurt you a bit, because if they try to I will spank them!" Then the little boy took away the buffaloes, and the six big Englishmen came down from the trees quite safely. And now, do you understand what had happened? I shall tell you. The Englishmen had forgotten what the herdsman had told them—about keeping away from the buffaloes. The Englishmen had walked about, and had finally come near the pond where the buffaloes were. Then the buffaloes had come out and charged them. The Englishmen had run and run, and had just managed to reach the trees. But the buffaloes had come there after them! So the big Englishmen had to stay up in the trees, and wait for some little village boy to come and take away the furious buffaloes. I have told you this story, my dear (and it is a true story) just to show you what kind of an animal the buffalo is—at least, this sort of buffalo. Even when he is furious, he will do anything for the little boy whom he loves. But as it is a true story, I must tell you one more thing that happened—and I am sure you will be delighted to hear about it. The six Englishmen went to the palace, and laughed[101] and laughed, and told all about it to the little Prince whose birthday it was. Then the Rajah, who was the little Prince's father, said that Baldo and Chando should not be made to plow any more, or do another bit of work in their lives. Why? Because Baldo and Chando had first helped to save Gulab from the tiger at the pond, and then afterwards they had helped to hunt the tiger. So after that, Baldo and Chando were allowed to walk about the village as they pleased, and nibble at anybody's hay or grass, and splash in anybody's pond, and wallow in anybody's ditch, rut, or mire. And what was little Gulab's reward for saving the six Englishmen? Well, the little Prince, whose birthday it was, came and took Gulab by the hand, and brought him to the grand palace, and gave him lots and lots to eat—cakes and ice cream and candy—so that Gulab went home that night very full and very happy. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> [102] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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