August 21, 2025 • 23 mins
Dive into a captivating collection of ghostly tales where the spirits come not from the human realm, but from our beloved animal companions. Each chapter reveals spine-tingling stories of hauntings featuring dogs, cats, birds, jungle creatures, and more. Join Allyson Hester as she guides you through these eerie encounters that blend the supernatural with the animal kingdom.
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Chapter six of Animal Ghosts. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. This
reading by Alison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Animal Ghosts by
Elliot O'Donnell, Chapter six. Inhabitants of the jungle Elephants, lions, tigers,
(00:25):
et cetera. Elephants undoubtedly possess the faculty of scenting spirits
in a very marked degree. It is most difficult to
get an elephant to pass a spot where any phanfasm
is known to appear. The big beast at once comes
to a halt, trembles trumpets, and turning round, can only
be urged forward by the gentlest coaxing. Jungles are full
(00:48):
of the ghosts of slain men and animals, and afford
more variety in hauntings than any other localities. The spirits
of such cruel creatures as lions, tigers, leopards are very
much earthbound, and may be seen or heard night after night,
haunting the sights of their former depredations. The following case
(01:08):
of a tiger ghost was narrated to me years ago
by a gentleman whom I will style mister de Silva
p w D. I published his account in a popular
weekly journal as follows. The white tiger Tap tap tap,
Someone was coming behind me. I halted, and in the
(01:30):
brilliant moonlight saw a figure hobbling along, first one thin leg,
then the other, always with the same measured stride, accompanied
with the same tapping of the stick. 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,
(01:51):
Tap tap tap. The man was blind and a leper,
and so repulsively ugly that the niggers on the settlement
regarded him with superstitious awe. I had a horror of tigers,
but lepers even greater, And I loved my wife with
no ordinary love. So I hurried on, and he followed
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quickly after me. The night was brilliant, even more so
I thought than was ordinary, and the very brilliancy made
me fear for my shadow, the shadow of the trees,
Shadows for which I had no name, flickered across the road,
were lost to sight. To return again, and the jungle
was getting nearer. The open country on either side ceased
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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 felt. A night bird
whizzed past me, croaking out a dismal incantation from its
black throat. Something at which I did not care to look,
clattered from under a stone. I loosened with my foot
(02:58):
and sped into the shade, and I hastened on, tap
tap tap. Faster and faster and faster came the blind man.
I could smell the oil on his body, hear his breathing,
Whoever you are, Sahib stop. There was fear in his
voice as he wind out these words, a fear which
increased my own, but I pretended not to hear im
(03:21):
pressed on faster. The darkness grew high over my head.
At either side of the road waved the grass, rustling
to and fro and singing to sleep. The insects nestled
on its green stalks with its old time song of
the jungle. The grass ahead of me slowly parted, and
my heart beat quicker. The tapping behind me ceased. It
(03:44):
was only some small animal. What was it? A small hyaena? No,
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 jackal that was different from what I had
seen in any other jackal, but there was something, and
(04:07):
as I looked at it in awe, it vanished, melted
into thin air. The moment after, a second jackal appeared
just where the other one had been standing. But there
was nothing remarkable about this one, And on my bending
down pretending to look for a stone to throw at it,
it slunk back silently and stealthily. Whence it had come,
(04:29):
and I hurried on faster than ever, knowing a tiger
was near at hand. Tap tap tap. I blessed the
presence of the blind man. For God's sake, Sahib, Stop,
for the love of Allah, Sahib, stop. You know how
they talk, O'Donnell the jackals? Did you not see them?
I knew them by their smell, the smell of the living,
(04:52):
end of the dead. Walk with me, Sahib, for Allah's sake, Presently,
O'Donnell I heard a heavier rustling in the than the
wind makes, A rustling that kept pace with me, and
went along by my side, never halting, but faster and
faster and faster. A short distance ahead of me was
(05:13):
a patch of bright light where the cross roads met.
A few yards more and the jungle grass would end.
I thought of this, O'Donnell. The beggar might not know
the road so well as I. He had no wife,
no child. He was a leper, only a leper. And
my teeth chattered. Here the colonel paused and wiped his forehead.
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I slackened my speed, the rustling by my side slowing down,
and the tapping grew faster. I was close to the
whitened road. Sahib, the blessing of Allah be on you
for stopping. Sahib. Let me walk by your side to
the end of my days. O'Donnell, I shall never forgive myself,
(05:56):
and yet I want you to understand it was for
my wife and child. I slunk into the shade. Two
steps more and the tapping would pass me. The stick
struck the ground within one inch of my foot. My
heart almost ceased to beat. I gazed in fascination at
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the spot in the jungle opposite the heavy rustling had stopped.
Only the gentle sighing of the wind went on. The
two steps were taken. The blind man paused on the
cross roads. He was ghastly in the moonlight. I shuddered.
His eyes peered inquiringly round on all sides. He was
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looking for me. He had lost his way. He feared
the tiger. Suddenly, something huge shot like an arrow from
the darkness opposite me. I bowed my head O'Donnell, and
muttered a prayer, for I thought my end had come.
A terrible scream rang out in the clear night air.
I was saved. Haulah, curse you and yours sahib. I
(07:03):
opened my eyes. An enormous tiger was bending over the leper,
searching for the most convenient spot in his body to
afford a tight grip. The man's sightless eyes were turned
towards the moon. His teeth shone white, and even with
the striped horror purring in his face, he thought of
(07:23):
vengeance on me. I dared not move. I could not
pass O'Donnell. I had no gun. The big brute found
a nice place to catch hold. It opened its mouth
so that I could see its glistening teeth. It looked
down at its paws, where the cruel claws glittered, and
they seemed to afford it keen satisfaction. It was a
(07:46):
tigris and vain. Then it lowered its head, and the
leper shrieked. I watched it pick him up as if
it were one of his cubs, saw the blood trickle
down his soft white throat into the dusty road, and
then it trotted gracefully away and was lost in the
darkness of the jungle. There was a deathlike silence after this.
(08:09):
I waited a few minutes, and then I got up.
I had only a short distance to go, and I
no longer feared the presence of man eaters. There was
not likely to be another hours afterwards, O'Donnell. When I
lay in my hammock as safe as a fortress, I
fancied I heard the dead man's cry. Fancied I heard
his voice. No one was more devoted to a wife
(08:32):
than I was to mine. Ours had been purely a
love match, and it was against my wish that she
had accompanied me to such an out of the way
place as Secony. I told her about my adventure suppressing
the leper's curse, and I was glad I did so,
as she was greatly distressed. Thank goodness you escaped, Charlie,
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she said, I am so sorry for the poor leper.
I suppose you couldn't have helped him. I might have
fetched my rifle, I replied, and tried to rescue him,
of course, but I fear it wouldn't have been of
much avail, as he would have been badly mauled by
Then my wife sighed, Ah well, she said, love is selfish,
(09:17):
it makes one forget others. Still, I wouldn't have it otherwise.
I wish this railway job here was over, I murmured,
sitting with my elbows on my knees and looking over
the flat ground, sun baked and barren, away towards the
dark jungles and the still darker mountains towering above them.
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And as I gazed, a shadow seemed to blur my vision,
and a voice to whisper in my ears. Beware of
my curse. I took Couchet, one of the native servants,
into confidence. Now, Couchet, I said, you know all the
superstitions of the country, the evil eye and the rest
(09:58):
of them. Tell me what in the dying curse of
a leperdu Khushai turned pale under his skin. Not of Nahrah,
he stuttered, swinging the knife with which he had been
cutting maize in his hand. Not of Norah, the leper
of Futeba Sahib. If you were cursed by him, beware,
(10:19):
he was learned in the black arts. He could heal
ulcers by repeating a prayer, he could bring on fever.
At this O'Donnell I turned cold. I had lived long
in India. I had seen their so called juggling, had
experienced also strange cases of telepathy, and knew quite sufficient
of their intimacy with the supernatural elements to be afraid.
(10:44):
You must keep the young Sahib safe, Khushai said, And
the white lady, I wish it hadn't been Nahah. 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
(11:07):
dry season passed, the wet came, and my work still
kept me in Siccony. At times there came to us
rumors of the man eater of another victim, but it
never visited our bungalow, where the bright rifle leaned against
the wall waiting for it. I certainly did meet with
slight misfortunes which the more timid might have put down
(11:30):
to the working of the curse. My little finger was
squashed in the laying down of a rail, and Eric
had several bouts of sickness. It was nearly a year
after the leper's death that alarming rumors of a man
eater having been at work again were spread about us.
Several niggers were carried off for badly bitten, and the
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wounded showed symptoms of the loathsome disease so well known
and feared by us all leprosy. I knew from that
it must be the same tiger. The tiger is near,
someone would cry out, and a stampede among the native
workmen would ensue. Why the white tiger, I asked Kushai, because, Sahib,
(12:13):
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, Naharah
is still living. Then, O'Donnell, When I thought of what
was at stake, and of all the hideous possibilities the
(12:36):
presence of this brute created, I took my rifle and
went out to search for it. In the evenings, when
the dark clouds from the mountains descended and the wind
hissed through 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
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just as it was in the midst of a meal
dining off a native, and I shot it twice before
it recovered from its astonishment at seeing me. The second
shot took effect, I can swear to that, for I
took particular note of the red splash of blood on
its forehead where the bullet entered, and I went right
up to it to make sure, as God is above us,
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no animal was more dead. The curse won't come now, Khushai,
I said, laughing, I've killed the white tiger. Killed the
white tiger. Sahib Ha La. Bless you for that, Khushai replied,
But don't laugh too soon. Nahra was a clever man,
(13:41):
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. I was superintending the line one afternoon.
The backs of the niggers were bending under the burden
of the great iron rods when I heard a terrible cry,
(14:05):
the white tiger. The white tiger rods fell with a crash.
Spades followed suit. A chorus of shrieks filled the air,
and legs scampered off in all directions. I was fifty
yards from my rifle, and a huge creature was slowly
approaching between it and me. I could hardly believe my eyes.
(14:26):
The white tiger, the tiger I knew I had killed here.
It was here before me, the same in every detail,
and yet in some strange, indefinable manner, not the same.
On it came a huge patch of luminous white, noiselessly, stealthily,
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the mark of the bullet plainly visible on its big
flat forehead. Step by step it approached me, its paws
no longer with the coloring of health, but dull and worn,
and as it came, the cold shadow of desolation seemed
to fall around it. Nothing stirred. There was no noise whatever,
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not even the sound of its feet crushing the loosened soil,
on on, nearer, nearer and nearer. Shunned by all, avoided
by its fellow creatures of the jungle, a blight to
all and everything, it drew in a line with me.
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Not once did its eyes meet mine, O'Donnell. Not once
did it glare at the natives who were hiding on
the banks of the cutting. But it stole silently on
its way, with 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 promised to come
with Eric to meet me along the cutting, as she
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was sure no tiger would be there. I ran as
fast as I could, and yet somehow my feet seemed
weighted down. Had cursed my folly for not forbidding my
wife to come. It was up hill till I got
to the bend, and it might have been a mountain,
it seemed so steep. I knew if the thing I
had seen met them a little farther on, they would
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be cornered, as the cutting narrowed very much, leaving not
more than twenty yards, and that was a generous estimate.
At last, after what seemed an eternity, I reached the
summit of the slope. The tiger was a mere speck
along the line. I rushed after it as fast as
I could go, stumbling, half falling, pulling myself together and
(16:34):
tearing on. And the faster I went, the quicker moved
the great white figure. A feeling of despair seized me.
All my fondness for my wife became intensified tenfold, and
was revealed to me then in its true nature. She
was the one great tie that made life dear to me.
(16:54):
Even my love for Eric paled away before the blinding
affection I bore her. I tore madly on, shouting at
the same time, anything to make the white tiger aware
of my presence, 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
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every muscle in the mad pursuit. At last I ran
around 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 Aya. They
were paralyzed with fear and stood on the rails, staring
at it, unable to move or utter a sound. I
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well understood their feelings and knew they were laboring 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
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could not but believe it was real, and that I
had been deceived into thinking I had killed it. Its
haunches quivered, it got ready to spring, and my rifle
flew to my shoulder. I saw it, mark Eric, and
read the increased agony in my wife's eyes. The critical
moment came another second, and the thing, be it material
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or supernatural, would jump. I must fire at all costs.
If mortal, I must kill it. If ghostly, the noise
of my rifle might dematerialize it. And as God is
my judge, O'Donnell. At that moment, I had not the
least idea, which of it was tiger or phantom? It sprang,
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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
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a chorus of shrieks. I rushed forward. The Ayah lay
on the ground, face downward and motionless. My wife had
hold of Eric, who was shaking all over of the tiger.
There were no signs it had completely vanished. Thank god,
I exclaimed, kissing my wife feverishly. Thank god it was
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only a ghost. But it was very alarming. Wasn't it alarming?
My wife gasped, It was awful. I quite thought it
was real. So did Eric. 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 dear not,
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is she all right? I turned the aya over. She
was dead. Bright had killed her. I then told my
wife of the curse of Nahara, and of the phantom
I thought I had seen of him when the white
tiger was springing. When I had finished, my wife hid
her face in my shoulder. Charlie, she said, I did
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something awful. I saw what I then took to be
the real white tiger single out Eric, and in my
anxiety to save him from the brute, I pushed the
eye in front of him, and the thing sprang on
her instead. It was nothing short of murder. And yet, well,
there were extenuating circumstances, weren't there? Of course there were,
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I said, for I verily believed O'Donnell. Fear had for
the time being turned her brain. On our way home,
she suddenly called my attention to Eric, Charlie. She cried,
what's that mark on his cheek? He's hurt. I looked,
and my heart turned sick with me. On the boy's
(20:53):
cheek was a faint red scratch, just as might have
been caused by a slight, very slight contact with some
animal's claw. Saib Khushah whispered to me when he saw
it and heard of our adventure. Sahib, beware not or
I was a clever man. He must have used the
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spirit of the White tiga as his tool. Let the
medicine man examine the ska. I did so. I took
Eric to a doctor, Nicholson, who lived close by. He
looked at the wound curiously for a few moments, and
then said to me he was renowned for his plain speaking,
mister de Silva, there's no use in beating round the
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bush and prolonging the agony unnecessarily for you and your wife.
The boy's got leprosy. God alone knows how, and at
the most he may live six weeks. The shock, of course,
was terrible. Eric had to be isolated from everyone, even
those who loved him best, and died within a month.
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Sahib I knew, Khushai said to me the day of
the funeral. I knew who some disaster would befall you.
Nahra was a wonderful man, and his curse had to
be fulfilled. You may rest assured, however, nothing further will
befollow you, For I saw Nahra in a vision this morning,
and he told me both his and his white tiger
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spirit were now on friendly terms, and he 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 by a merciful providence. However, she did no such thing,
but on the contrary, picked up in health the most
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marvelous fashion. Indeed, she only told me yesterday she felt
better than she had done for years. I've told you
the story o' donell, and it is true in every detail.
Because it goes a long way to substantiate your theory
that animals as well as human beings have a future life.
I'm absolutely sure they have, I replied, Jungle animals and
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psychic faculties. It is, of course impossible to say whether
animals of the jungle possess psychic faculties without putting them
to the test, and this, for obvious reasons, is extremely difficult.
But since I have found that such properties are possessed
in varying degree by all animals I have tested, it
seems only too probable that bears and tigers, and all
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beasts of prey are similarly endowed. It would be interesting
to experiment with a beast of prey in a haunted
locality to observe to what extent it would be aware
of the advent of the unknown and to note its
behavior in the actual presence of the phenomena end of
Chapter six
Chapter six of Animal Ghosts. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. This
reading by Alison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Animal Ghosts by
Elliot O'Donnell, Chapter six. Inhabitants of the jungle Elephants, lions, tigers,
(00:25):
et cetera. Elephants undoubtedly possess the faculty of scenting spirits
in a very marked degree. It is most difficult to
get an elephant to pass a spot where any phanfasm
is known to appear. The big beast at once comes
to a halt, trembles trumpets, and turning round, can only
be urged forward by the gentlest coaxing. Jungles are full
(00:48):
of the ghosts of slain men and animals, and afford
more variety in hauntings than any other localities. The spirits
of such cruel creatures as lions, tigers, leopards are very
much earthbound, and may be seen or heard night after night,
haunting the sights of their former depredations. The following case
(01:08):
of a tiger ghost was narrated to me years ago
by a gentleman whom I will style mister de Silva
p w D. I published his account in a popular
weekly journal as follows. The white tiger Tap tap tap,
Someone was coming behind me. I halted, and in the
(01:30):
brilliant moonlight saw a figure hobbling along, first one thin leg,
then the other, always with the same measured stride, accompanied
with the same tapping of the stick. 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,
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Tap tap tap. The man was blind and a leper,
and so repulsively ugly that the niggers on the settlement
regarded him with superstitious awe. I had a horror of tigers,
but lepers even greater, And I loved my wife with
no ordinary love. So I hurried on, and he followed
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quickly after me. The night was brilliant, even more so
I thought than was ordinary, and the very brilliancy made
me fear for my shadow, the shadow of the trees,
Shadows for which I had no name, flickered across the road,
were lost to sight. To return again, and the jungle
was getting nearer. The open country on either side ceased
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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 felt. A night bird
whizzed past me, croaking out a dismal incantation from its
black throat. Something at which I did not care to look,
clattered from under a stone. I loosened with my foot
(02:58):
and sped into the shade, and I hastened on, tap
tap tap. Faster and faster and faster came the blind man.
I could smell the oil on his body, hear his breathing,
Whoever you are, Sahib stop. There was fear in his
voice as he wind out these words, a fear which
increased my own, but I pretended not to hear im
(03:21):
pressed on faster. The darkness grew high over my head.
At either side of the road waved the grass, rustling
to and fro and singing to sleep. The insects nestled
on its green stalks with its old time song of
the jungle. The grass ahead of me slowly parted, and
my heart beat quicker. The tapping behind me ceased. It
(03:44):
was only some small animal. What was it? A small hyaena? No,
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 jackal that was different from what I had
seen in any other jackal, but there was something, and
(04:07):
as I looked at it in awe, it vanished, melted
into thin air. The moment after, a second jackal appeared
just where the other one had been standing. But there
was nothing remarkable about this one, And on my bending
down pretending to look for a stone to throw at it,
it slunk back silently and stealthily. Whence it had come,
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and I hurried on faster than ever, knowing a tiger
was near at hand. Tap tap tap. I blessed the
presence of the blind man. For God's sake, Sahib, Stop,
for the love of Allah, Sahib, stop. You know how
they talk, O'Donnell the jackals? Did you not see them?
I knew them by their smell, the smell of the living,
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end of the dead. Walk with me, Sahib, for Allah's sake, Presently,
O'Donnell I heard a heavier rustling in the than the
wind makes, A rustling that kept pace with me, and
went along by my side, never halting, but faster and
faster and faster. A short distance ahead of me was
(05:13):
a patch of bright light where the cross roads met.
A few yards more and the jungle grass would end.
I thought of this, O'Donnell. The beggar might not know
the road so well as I. He had no wife,
no child. He was a leper, only a leper. And
my teeth chattered. Here the colonel paused and wiped his forehead.
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I slackened my speed, the rustling by my side slowing down,
and the tapping grew faster. I was close to the
whitened road. Sahib, the blessing of Allah be on you
for stopping. Sahib. Let me walk by your side to
the end of my days. O'Donnell, I shall never forgive myself,
(05:56):
and yet I want you to understand it was for
my wife and child. I slunk into the shade. Two
steps more and the tapping would pass me. The stick
struck the ground within one inch of my foot. My
heart almost ceased to beat. I gazed in fascination at
(06:17):
the spot in the jungle opposite the heavy rustling had stopped.
Only the gentle sighing of the wind went on. The
two steps were taken. The blind man paused on the
cross roads. He was ghastly in the moonlight. I shuddered.
His eyes peered inquiringly round on all sides. He was
(06:38):
looking for me. He had lost his way. He feared
the tiger. Suddenly, something huge shot like an arrow from
the darkness opposite me. I bowed my head O'Donnell, and
muttered a prayer, for I thought my end had come.
A terrible scream rang out in the clear night air.
I was saved. Haulah, curse you and yours sahib. I
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opened my eyes. An enormous tiger was bending over the leper,
searching for the most convenient spot in his body to
afford a tight grip. The man's sightless eyes were turned
towards the moon. His teeth shone white, and even with
the striped horror purring in his face, he thought of
(07:23):
vengeance on me. I dared not move. I could not
pass O'Donnell. I had no gun. The big brute found
a nice place to catch hold. It opened its mouth
so that I could see its glistening teeth. It looked
down at its paws, where the cruel claws glittered, and
they seemed to afford it keen satisfaction. It was a
(07:46):
tigris and vain. Then it lowered its head, and the
leper shrieked. I watched it pick him up as if
it were one of his cubs, saw the blood trickle
down his soft white throat into the dusty road, and
then it trotted gracefully away and was lost in the
darkness of the jungle. There was a deathlike silence after this.
(08:09):
I waited a few minutes, and then I got up.
I had only a short distance to go, and I
no longer feared the presence of man eaters. There was
not likely to be another hours afterwards, O'Donnell. When I
lay in my hammock as safe as a fortress, I
fancied I heard the dead man's cry. Fancied I heard
his voice. No one was more devoted to a wife
(08:32):
than I was to mine. Ours had been purely a
love match, and it was against my wish that she
had accompanied me to such an out of the way
place as Secony. I told her about my adventure suppressing
the leper's curse, and I was glad I did so,
as she was greatly distressed. Thank goodness you escaped, Charlie,
(08:53):
she said, I am so sorry for the poor leper.
I suppose you couldn't have helped him. I might have
fetched my rifle, I replied, and tried to rescue him,
of course, but I fear it wouldn't have been of
much avail, as he would have been badly mauled by
Then my wife sighed, Ah well, she said, love is selfish,
(09:17):
it makes one forget others. Still, I wouldn't have it otherwise.
I wish this railway job here was over, I murmured,
sitting with my elbows on my knees and looking over
the flat ground, sun baked and barren, away towards the
dark jungles and the still darker mountains towering above them.
(09:37):
And as I gazed, a shadow seemed to blur my vision,
and a voice to whisper in my ears. Beware of
my curse. I took Couchet, one of the native servants,
into confidence. Now, Couchet, I said, you know all the
superstitions of the country, the evil eye and the rest
(09:58):
of them. Tell me what in the dying curse of
a leperdu Khushai turned pale under his skin. Not of Nahrah,
he stuttered, swinging the knife with which he had been
cutting maize in his hand. Not of Norah, the leper
of Futeba Sahib. If you were cursed by him, beware,
(10:19):
he was learned in the black arts. He could heal
ulcers by repeating a prayer, he could bring on fever.
At this O'Donnell I turned cold. I had lived long
in India. I had seen their so called juggling, had
experienced also strange cases of telepathy, and knew quite sufficient
of their intimacy with the supernatural elements to be afraid.
(10:44):
You must keep the young Sahib safe, Khushai said, And
the white lady, I wish it hadn't been Nahah. 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
(11:07):
dry season passed, the wet came, and my work still
kept me in Siccony. At times there came to us
rumors of the man eater of another victim, but it
never visited our bungalow, where the bright rifle leaned against
the wall waiting for it. I certainly did meet with
slight misfortunes which the more timid might have put down
(11:30):
to the working of the curse. My little finger was
squashed in the laying down of a rail, and Eric
had several bouts of sickness. It was nearly a year
after the leper's death that alarming rumors of a man
eater having been at work again were spread about us.
Several niggers were carried off for badly bitten, and the
(11:50):
wounded showed symptoms of the loathsome disease so well known
and feared by us all leprosy. I knew from that
it must be the same tiger. The tiger is near,
someone would cry out, and a stampede among the native
workmen would ensue. Why the white tiger, I asked Kushai, because, Sahib,
(12:13):
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, Naharah
is still living. Then, O'Donnell, When I thought of what
was at stake, and of all the hideous possibilities the
(12:36):
presence of this brute created, I took my rifle and
went out to search for it. In the evenings, when
the dark clouds from the mountains descended and the wind
hissed through 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
(12:59):
just as it was in the midst of a meal
dining off a native, and I shot it twice before
it recovered from its astonishment at seeing me. The second
shot took effect, I can swear to that, for I
took particular note of the red splash of blood on
its forehead where the bullet entered, and I went right
up to it to make sure, as God is above us,
(13:21):
no animal was more dead. The curse won't come now, Khushai,
I said, laughing, I've killed the white tiger. Killed the
white tiger. Sahib Ha La. Bless you for that, Khushai replied,
But don't laugh too soon. Nahra was a clever man,
(13:41):
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. I was superintending the line one afternoon.
The backs of the niggers were bending under the burden
of the great iron rods when I heard a terrible cry,
(14:05):
the white tiger. The white tiger rods fell with a crash.
Spades followed suit. A chorus of shrieks filled the air,
and legs scampered off in all directions. I was fifty
yards from my rifle, and a huge creature was slowly
approaching between it and me. I could hardly believe my eyes.
(14:26):
The white tiger, the tiger I knew I had killed here.
It was here before me, the same in every detail,
and yet in some strange, indefinable manner, not the same.
On it came a huge patch of luminous white, noiselessly, stealthily,
(14:47):
the mark of the bullet plainly visible on its big
flat forehead. Step by step it approached me, its paws
no longer with the coloring of health, but dull and worn,
and as it came, the cold shadow of desolation seemed
to fall around it. Nothing stirred. There was no noise whatever,
(15:08):
not even the sound of its feet crushing the loosened soil,
on on, nearer, nearer and nearer. Shunned by all, avoided
by its fellow creatures of the jungle, a blight to
all and everything, it drew in a line with me.
(15:28):
Not once did its eyes meet mine, O'Donnell. Not once
did it glare at the natives who were hiding on
the banks of the cutting. But it stole silently on
its way, with 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 promised to come
with Eric to meet me along the cutting, as she
(15:51):
was sure no tiger would be there. I ran as
fast as I could, and yet somehow my feet seemed
weighted down. Had cursed my folly for not forbidding my
wife to come. It was up hill till I got
to the bend, and it might have been a mountain,
it seemed so steep. I knew if the thing I
had seen met them a little farther on, they would
(16:12):
be cornered, as the cutting narrowed very much, leaving not
more than twenty yards, and that was a generous estimate.
At last, after what seemed an eternity, I reached the
summit of the slope. The tiger was a mere speck
along the line. I rushed after it as fast as
I could go, stumbling, half falling, pulling myself together and
(16:34):
tearing on. And the faster I went, the quicker moved
the great white figure. A feeling of despair seized me.
All my fondness for my wife became intensified tenfold, and
was revealed to me then in its true nature. She
was the one great tie that made life dear to me.
(16:54):
Even my love for Eric paled away before the blinding
affection I bore her. I tore madly on, shouting at
the same time, anything to make the white tiger aware
of my presence, 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
(17:16):
every muscle in the mad pursuit. At last I ran
around 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 Aya. They
were paralyzed with fear and stood on the rails, staring
at it, unable to move or utter a sound. I
(17:39):
well understood their feelings and knew they were laboring 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
(18:00):
could not but believe it was real, and that I
had been deceived into thinking I had killed it. Its
haunches quivered, it got ready to spring, and my rifle
flew to my shoulder. I saw it, mark Eric, and
read the increased agony in my wife's eyes. The critical
moment came another second, and the thing, be it material
(18:21):
or supernatural, would jump. I must fire at all costs.
If mortal, I must kill it. If ghostly, the noise
of my rifle might dematerialize it. And as God is
my judge, O'Donnell. At that moment, I had not the
least idea, which of it was tiger or phantom? It sprang,
(18:42):
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
(19:03):
a chorus of shrieks. I rushed forward. The Ayah lay
on the ground, face downward and motionless. My wife had
hold of Eric, who was shaking all over of the tiger.
There were no signs it had completely vanished. Thank god,
I exclaimed, kissing my wife feverishly. Thank god it was
(19:24):
only a ghost. But it was very alarming. Wasn't it alarming?
My wife gasped, It was awful. I quite thought it
was real. So did Eric. 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 dear not,
(19:47):
is she all right? I turned the aya over. She
was dead. Bright had killed her. I then told my
wife of the curse of Nahara, and of the phantom
I thought I had seen of him when the white
tiger was springing. When I had finished, my wife hid
her face in my shoulder. Charlie, she said, I did
(20:08):
something awful. I saw what I then took to be
the real white tiger single out Eric, and in my
anxiety to save him from the brute, I pushed the
eye in front of him, and the thing sprang on
her instead. It was nothing short of murder. And yet, well,
there were extenuating circumstances, weren't there? Of course there were,
(20:32):
I said, for I verily believed O'Donnell. Fear had for
the time being turned her brain. On our way home,
she suddenly called my attention to Eric, Charlie. She cried,
what's that mark on his cheek? He's hurt. I looked,
and my heart turned sick with me. On the boy's
(20:53):
cheek was a faint red scratch, just as might have
been caused by a slight, very slight contact with some
animal's claw. Saib Khushah whispered to me when he saw
it and heard of our adventure. Sahib, beware not or
I was a clever man. He must have used the
(21:13):
spirit of the White tiga as his tool. Let the
medicine man examine the ska. I did so. I took
Eric to a doctor, Nicholson, who lived close by. He
looked at the wound curiously for a few moments, and
then said to me he was renowned for his plain speaking,
mister de Silva, there's no use in beating round the
(21:34):
bush and prolonging the agony unnecessarily for you and your wife.
The boy's got leprosy. God alone knows how, and at
the most he may live six weeks. The shock, of course,
was terrible. Eric had to be isolated from everyone, even
those who loved him best, and died within a month.
(21:55):
Sahib I knew, Khushai said to me the day of
the funeral. I knew who some disaster would befall you.
Nahra was a wonderful man, and his curse had to
be fulfilled. You may rest assured, however, nothing further will
befollow you, For I saw Nahra in a vision this morning,
and he told me both his and his white tiger
(22:16):
spirit were now on friendly terms, and he 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 by a merciful providence. However, she did no such thing,
but on the contrary, picked up in health the most
(22:37):
marvelous fashion. Indeed, she only told me yesterday she felt
better than she had done for years. I've told you
the story o' donell, and it is true in every detail.
Because it goes a long way to substantiate your theory
that animals as well as human beings have a future life.
I'm absolutely sure they have, I replied, Jungle animals and
(23:03):
psychic faculties. It is, of course impossible to say whether
animals of the jungle possess psychic faculties without putting them
to the test, and this, for obvious reasons, is extremely difficult.
But since I have found that such properties are possessed
in varying degree by all animals I have tested, it
seems only too probable that bears and tigers, and all
(23:26):
beasts of prey are similarly endowed. It would be interesting
to experiment with a beast of prey in a haunted
locality to observe to what extent it would be aware
of the advent of the unknown and to note its
behavior in the actual presence of the phenomena end of
Chapter six
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