THE WHITE TIGER. 139 



recovers. If large water blisters form round the 

 wound within half-an-hour, the man will recover. 

 If no blisters come, he will die. 



" What has all this to do with dangerous animals ? 

 the Sahib asks. Well, hear me. I was once in 

 great danger. Twenty men were in fear of their 

 lives for a week because of one animal. It was 

 in Gangpore, seven years ago. The Sahib knows 

 the motee-joad (twin pearls). Yes, the Sahib has 

 seen it ; he shot one on the river a fortnight ago 



the large brown-breasted wild duck, that is 

 called by us the motee-joad because when once 

 these birds pair their affection for one another is 

 so strong that it has passed into a proverb with 

 us " As faithful as the motee-joad." What affec- 

 tion can be greater ? When the Huzoor shot the 

 wild duck, its mate would not leave the spot for 

 hours although all its companions had taken to 

 flight, and the Huzoor could have shot it also but 

 that his heart is soft. At night these birds do 

 not roost together, but rest on opposite sides of the 

 river, and all night long you will hear their qua ! 

 qua ! as they call to each other. The Sahib is 

 impatient, but I am coming to my story of the 

 white tiger. Yes, white tiger. Your servant does 

 not lie. Why should I lie to the Sahib ? These 

 eyes have seen it, and others have seen it but 

 they are not here now. White tiger, not panther ; 



does not your servant know the difference be- 

 tween a tiger and a leopard when he has lived 

 all his life in the forest ? Yes, there are white 

 tigers in Gangpore, and I have killed one. It was 



