THE TIGER IN THE TUNNEL

THE TIGER IN THE TUNNEL

   The night is dark and silent. A young boy and his father are alone in a hut in the middle of the jungle. Soon the father leaves his son alone and goes out into the jungle. Where does he go and why ?

SECTION I

   Tembu, hte boy, opened his  eyes in the dark and wondered if his father was neady to leave the but on his nightly errand.

There was no moon that night, and the deathly stillness of the surrounding jungle was broken only occasionally by the shrill cry of a cicada. Sometimes from far off came the hollow hammering of a woodpecker, carried along on the faint breeze.
Or the grunt of a wild boar could be heard as he dug up a favourite root. But these sounds were rare, and the silence of hte forest always returned to swallow them up.
Baldeo, the watchman, was awake. He stretched himself slowly unwinding the heavy shawl that covered him. It was close on midnight and the chill air made him shiver. The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains merely slowed down before taking teh sharp curve before cutting.

Baldeo was responsible for singalling whether or not the tunnel was clear of obstruction, and his manual signal stood before the entrace. At night it was his duty to see that the lamp was burning, and that the overland mail passed through safely. "Shall I come too, Father?"asked Tembu sleepily, still lying in a huddle in a coner of the hut.

'No it is cold tonight. Do not get up.'

Tembu, who was twelve, did not always sleep with his father at the station, for he had also to help in the home, where his mother and small sister were usually alone. They lived a small tribal village on the outskirts of the forest, about three miles from the station. Their small rice fields did not provide them with more then a bare small living and Baldeo considered himself lucky to have got the job of Khalasi at this small wayside signal stop.

Still drowsy, Baldeo, groped for his lamp in darkness then fumbled about in search of matches. When he bad produced a light he left the hut, closed the door behind himand set off along the permanent way. Tembu had fallen asleep again.

SECTION II

   At midnight, Baldeo goes out of his jut, into the thick forest. The jungle is full of dangerous animals, but Baldeo has a job to do and it is important.

Baldeo wondered the lamp on the signal-post was sill alight.
Gathering his shawl closer about him, he stumbled on, sometimes along ith rails, somethimes along the ballast. He longed to get back to his warm corner in the hut.

The eeriness of the place was increased by the neighbouring hills which overhung the main line threateningly. On entering the cutting with its sheer rock walls towering high above the rails, Baldeo could not help thinking about the wild animals he might encounter. He had heard many tales of the famous tunnel tigher, a man eater, which was supposed to frequent this spot; he bardly believed these stories for since his arrival at this place a month ago, he had not seen or even heard a tiger.

There had, of course, been panthers, and only a few days ago the villagers had killed one with their spears and axes. Baldeo had occasionally heard the sawing of a panther calling to its mate, but they had not come near the tunnel or shed.

Bldeo walked confidently for being a a tribal himself, he was used to the jungle and its ways, Like his fore-fathers he carried a small axe; fragile to look to at but deadly when in use.

He prided himself in his skill in widlding it against wild animals. He had killed a young boar with it once and the family had feasted on the flesh for three days. The axehead o0f pure steel, thin but ringing rrue like a beell, had been made by his father over a charcoal fire. This axe was part of himself. And wherever he went, be it to the local market seven miles away, or to a tribal dance, the axe was always in  his hand. Occasionally an official who had come to the station had offered him good money for the weapon, but Baldeo had no intention of parting with itt.

The cutting curved sharply, and in the darkness the black entrace to the tunnel looked up menacingly. The signal-light was out, Baldeo set to work to haul the lamp down by its chain. If the oil had finished, he would have to return to the hut for more. The mil train was due in five minutes.

Once more he fumbled for his matches. Then suddenly he stod still and listened. The frightened cry of a barking deer folllowed by a crashing sound in the undergrowth, made Baldeo hurry. There was still a l little oil in the ;amp, and after an instant's hesitation he lit the lamp again and hoisted it into position. having done this, he walked quickly sown the tunnel, swinging his own lamp, so that the shadows leapt up and sown the soot-stained walls, and having made sure that the line was clear, he returned to the entrance and sat sown to wait for the mail train.

the train was late. Sitting huddled up, almost dozing., he soon forgot his surroundings and began to nod.

Back in the hut, the trembling of the ground told of the approach of the train, and a low, distant rumble woke the boy, who sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

'Father, it's time to light lamp,' he mumbled and then, realizing that his father had been gone some time, he lay down again, but he was wide awake now., waiting for the train to pass, waiting ofr his father's returning footsteps.

SECTION III

   Baldeo finds himself in a dangerous situation. How does he deal with it ?

A low grunt resounded from the top of the cutting. In a secound Baldeo was awak,. all his senses alert. Only a tiger could emit such a sound.

There was no shelter for Baldeo, but he grasped his axe firmly and tensed his body, trying to make out the direction from which the animal was approaching. For some time therer was only silence. Even the usual jungle noises seemed to have ceased altogether. Then a thump and the rattle of small stones announced that the tiger hed spruing into the rcutting.

Baldeo, listening as he had never listened before, wondered if it was making for the tunnel or the opposite direction the direction of the but, in which Tembu would be lying unprotected. He did not have to wondre ofr long. Before a minute had passed he made out the huge body of the tiger trotting steadily towards him. Its eyes shone a brilliant green in the light from the signal lamp. Flight was useless, for in the dark the tiger would he more sure-footed then Baldeo and would soon be upon him from behind. Baldeo stood with his back to the signal- post, motionless staring at the great brute moving rapidly towards him. The tiger used to the ways quick run and a snarl struck out with its right paw, expecting to how I over this puny man eho dared stand in the way.

Baldeo, however, was ready. With a marvellously agile leap he avoided the paw and brought his axe down on the animal's shoulder. the tiger gave a roar and attempted to close in. Again Baldeo frove his axe which caught the tiger on the shoulder, almost severing the leg. To make matters worse, the axe remained stuck in the bone, and Baldeo was left without a weapon.

The tiger, roaring with now sprang upon Baldeo, bringing him down and then tearing at his broken body. It was all over in a sharp hew minutes. Bladeo was conscious only of a searing pain down his back, and then there was blackness and the night closed in on him forever.

SECTION IV

    Bladeo, the bread winner of the family was dead. Who took on his responibilities and how did he tackle them.

The tiger drew off sat down licking his wounded leg. roaring every now and then with agony. He did not notice the faint rumble that shook the earth, followed by the distant puffing of an engine steadily climbing. The overland mail was approaching. Through the trees beyound the cutting as the train advanced, the glow or the furnace could be seen, and showers of sparks fell like Divali lights over the forest.
As the train entered the cutting, the engine whistled once, loud and piercingly. Th tiger raised his head, then slowly got to his feet. He found himself trapped like the man. Fight along the cutting was impossible. He entered the tunnel, running as fast as his wounded leg would carry him. And then, with a roar and a shower of sparks, the train entered the yawning tunnel. The noise in the confined space was deafening but, when the train came out into the upon, on ht other side, silence returned once more to the forest and the tunnel.

At the next station the driver slowed down and stopepd his train to water the engine. He got down to stretch his legs and decided to examine the head-lamps. He received the surprise of his life, for jsut above the cow-catcher lay the major portion of the tiger, cut in half by the engine.

There was consideravle exctement and conjecture at the station, but back at the body of his father. He sat there a long time, unafraid of the darkness, guarding the body from juckals and byenas, untill the first faint light of down broght with it then arrival of the relief - watchman.

Tembu and his sister and mother were plunged in grief for two days, but life had to go on, and a living had to be made, and all the responsibility now fell on Tembe. Three nights later, he was at the cutting, lighting the signal - lamp for the overland mail.

He sat down in the darkness to wait for the train, and song softly to himself. There was noting to be afraid of - his father had killed the tiger, the forest goods were pleased, adn besides, he had the axe with him, his father's axe, and he now knew to use it.