13 Tiger Adventure by Willard Price Page A

monkey waiting probably for nothing to happen. Hunting was not all it was cracked up to be.
    At midnight a tired old moon rose to look in on his foolishness. Its weak light revealed a clearing as quiet as a morgue.
    Roger dozed - then was wakened by the excitement of birds. Looking into the clearing he saw a massive shadow approaching the truck.
    Swiftly and painfully he got his gun into position. ‘Thanks to moonlight he could dimly see the tiger leap into the truck and begin to eat. Roger turned on his torch and fired the sleep-gun. His aim was good. It was not a difficult shot because the animal was so large that you could hardly fail to hit it. The tiger roared. All the creatures in the forest screamed. The great beast stood for a moment, then his legs gave away under him and he slumped to the floor of the truck.
    He struggled again to a standing position and looked about to find his enemy. Suppose the medicine in the dart had just numbed him and he would not fall asleep? The tiger was no longer interested in the kill. Roger was the kill now. He had been the hunter, now he was the hunted. That was not Roger’s idea of adventure at all. A hunter should make things happen, not sit dumbly in a tree and wait for something to happen to him.
    It was terrible - that waiting. The pipal tree where Roger had built his machan seemed to tremble although there was no breeze. The local people used to say that this constant movement of pipal leaves was due to evil spirits that inhabit the tree. A more scientific explanation is that the pipal leaf has a long twisted stem like that of the aspen, and quivers in the slightest breath. But Roger thought that the tree was shaking because he was.
    Roger used his torch again. Now the tiger was lying down and there was no doubt about it, the gun had put him to sleep.
    Roger had found a way to get the big heavy beast into the truck and he had done it without raising a finger. In fact, the dead chital had done it for him. Because the remains of the chital had been put into the truck the tiger had leaped in of his own accord and was now sound asleep and ready to take a ride to the camp.
    Roger came down, leaving the platform for the leopard. Dawn was breaking as he drove home with his valuable cargo.
    Hal had just returned to the cabin after his long night vigil. Roger backed up the truck to the open door of a cage. It was just in time. The tiger was waking up. He stood, still very sleepy and’ unsteady, but when the two boys got behind him and pushed, he did manage to move. He wobbled off the truck and into the cage. The cage door was closed.
    ‘Wonderful!’ Hal said. ‘How in the world did you get him up off the ground into the truck? You’re a strong boy, but not that strong. How did you do it?’
    Roger smiled. ‘It’s a secret. But I’ll tell you since you’re my brother. You just use a little magic. You say, ‘Abracadabra, abracadabra,’ and the tiger is on the truck.’

Chapter 15
Roger Goes to Jail
    Dad wanted a tiger,’ said Roger. ‘We got two for him. So we don’t need any more tigers.’
    Hal did not agree. He said, ‘Every zoo that amounts to anything wants a tiger. And they will pay a lot to get the world’s greatest cat. Dad can sell all the tigers we can find. But we want other things too. How about just riding out to see what can be found?’
    ‘Will you go with me?’
    ‘Afraid not. Vic almost died last night. The others aren’t much better. I’ll have to stick around.’
    Roger said bitterly, Too bad you have to waste time on them. They’re not worth it.’
    ‘You don’t mean that,’ Hal said. ‘Even if they were dogs you wouldn’t want them to die.’
    ‘But they aren’t dogs,’ Roger protested. They aren’t as good as dogs.’
    Hal knew how Roger felt. The boy had been up all night. No wonder he was a bit cross.
    Big brother went to take care of his patients - who would never thank him for his trouble. Roger got into the truck and drove off,