A WERE-TIGEK. 273 



round him on all sides, but failed to discover whence 

 the voice came. 



" Where are you ? " he replied. 



" Here ! Here in the tiger-trap ! " 



The Malay came up and, peering into the darkness 

 of the trap, cried, " Who are you ? What is it ? " 



" It is I, Haji Brahim," was the answer. " I am in 

 the tiger-trap." 



The man peered yet closer, his somewhat dull wits 

 puzzled by the strangeness of the situation, and then 

 suddenly recognised the features of the captive. As 

 suddenly a light struck him. "It is Haji Brahim, 

 the Korinchi" he yelled in an access of terror. He 

 forgot the helpless position of the inmate of the trap : 

 he could only realise one fact, that the tiger, which for 

 so long had been the pest of Bentong, was a were- 

 tiger ; and without another word he turned and ran 

 down the track as though he ran for his life. 



The boom of the mosque -drum soon reverberated 

 through the village, and in answer to its summons 

 every able-bodied Malay thronged to the house of the 

 chief, Kaja Alang. The man who had given the 

 alarm told his story, and then, after due deliberation 

 and consultation, the men proceeded to the tiger-trap. 

 The raja led the way, and behind him crowded the 

 Malays, each armed with a spear, and with a belt full 

 of krises and daggers. As they left the cultivated 

 area and entered the forest they strung out into single 

 line upon the narrow track, again massing in thick 

 array behind the raja when they reached the trap. 

 Kaja Alang stepped up to the door and demanded of 

 the prisoner 



