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"'The curse won't come now, Cushai, I said, laughing. 'I've killed the white tiger. "'Killed the white tiger, sahib! Allah bless you for that! Cushai replied. "'But don't laugh too soon. Nahra was a clever man, wonderfully clever; he did not speak empty words, and as his eyes wandered to the dark hills again I fancied a shadow darted along the sky, and the curse came back to my ears.
On the boy's cheek was a faint red scratch, just as might have been caused by a slight, very slight contact with some animal's claw. "'Sahib! Cushai whispered to me, when he saw it and heard of our adventure. 'Sahib! Beware! Nahra was a clever man. He must have used the spirit of the white tiger as his tool. Let the medicine man examine the scar. "I did so. I took Eric to a Dr.
"'The tiger is near, someone would cry out, and a stampede among the native workmen would ensue. "'Why the white tiger? I asked Cushai. "'Because, sahib, he replied, 'the leprosy has made it so! Tigers, like men, and all other animals, go white even to their hair. I have not told them the story, sahib; they only know it must have caught the leprosy. To them Nahra is still living.
It sprang my brain reeled my fingers grew numb, and as my wife suddenly bounded forward, the shadowy form of Nahra seemed to rise from the ground and mock me. With a supreme effort I jerked my finger back and fired. Bang! The sound of the explosion acted like a safety-valve to the pent-up feelings of all, and there was a chorus of shrieks.
You may rest assured, however, nothing further will befall you, for I saw Nahra in a vision this morning, and he told me both his and the white tiger's spirit were now on friendly terms, and would trouble you no more. "My wife and I left the place at once, and for a long time I lived in a hell of suspense lest she should develop the infernal disease.
I quite thought it was real! so did Eric, and so did then her eyes fell on the ayah, and she gave a great start. 'Charlie! she cried, 'for mercy's sake look at her! I dare not! Is she all right? "I turned the ayah over she was dead! Fright had killed her! "I then told my wife of the curse of Nahra, and of the phantom I thought I had seen of him, when the white tiger was springing.
Eric had to be isolated from everyone even from those who loved him best and died within a month. "'Sahib, I knew! Cushai said to me the day of the funeral, 'I knew some disaster would befall you. Nahra was a wonderful man, and his curse had to be fulfilled.
"'Now, Cushai, I said, 'you know all the superstitions of the country the evil eye and the rest of them. Tell me, what can the dying curse of a leper do? "Cushai turned pale under his skin. "'Not of Nahra! he stuttered, swinging the knife with which he had been cutting maize in his hand, 'not of Nahra, the leper of Futtebah. Sahib, if you were cursed by him, beware.
"'You must keep the young sahib safe, Cushai said, 'and the white lady. I wish it hadn't been Nahra. "I took his advice. My boy, Eric, was more closely supervised than ever, and as to my wife, I begged and entreated her not to move from the house until the tiger was dead, and I searched for it everywhere. "The dry season passed, the wet came, and my work still kept me in Seconee.
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