A Tiger's Skin, Page 2

'ad gone and left the front door standing wide open.

  "We took a careful look-out, and by-and-by first one started off and thenanother to see whether their wives and children 'ad been eaten or not.Not a soul 'ad been touched, but the wimmen and children was that scaredthere was no doing anything with 'em. None o' the children would go toschool, and they sat at 'ome all day with the front winder blocked upwith a mattress to keep the tiger out.

  "Nobody liked going to work, but it 'ad to be done and as Farmer Gillsaid that tigers went to sleep all day and only came out toward eveningwe was a bit comforted. Not a soul went up to the 'Cauliflower' thatevening for fear of coming 'ome in the dark, but as nothing 'appened thatnight we began to 'ope as the tiger 'ad travelled further on.

  "Bob Pretty laughed at the whole thing and said 'e didn't believe therewas a tiger; but nobody minded wot 'e said, Bob Pretty being, as I'veoften told people, the black sheep o' Claybury, wot with poaching and,wot was worse, 'is artfulness.

  "But the very next morning something 'appened that made Bob Pretty looksilly and wish 'e 'adn't talked quite so fast; for at five o'clockFrederick Scott, going down to feed 'is hins, found as the tiger 'ad beenthere afore 'im and 'ad eaten no less than seven of 'em. The side of thehin-'ouse was all broke in, there was a few feathers lying on the ground,and two little chicks smashed and dead beside 'em.

  "The way Frederick Scott went on about it you'd 'ardly believe. He saidthat Govinment 'ud 'ave to make it up to 'im, and instead o' going towork 'e put the two little chicks and the feathers into a pudding basinand walked to Cudford, four miles off, where they 'ad a policeman.

  "He saw the policeman, William White by name, standing at the back doorof the 'Fox and Hounds' public house, throwing a 'andful o' corn to thelandlord's fowls, and the first thing Mr. White ses was, 'it's off mybeat,' he ses.

  "'But you might do it in your spare time, Mr. White,' ses FrederickScott. It's very likely that the tiger'll come back to my hin 'ouse forthe rest of 'em, and he'd be very surprised if 'e popped 'is 'ead in andsee you there waiting for 'im.'

  "He'd 'ave reason to be,' ses Policeman White, staring at 'im.

  "'Think of the praise you'd get,' said Frederick Scott, coaxing like.

  "'Look 'ere,' ses Policeman White, 'if you don't take yourself and thatpudding basin off pretty quick, you'll come along o' me, d'ye see?You've been drinking and you're in a excited state.'

  "He gave Frederick Scott a push and follered 'im along the road, andevery time Frederick stopped to ask 'im wot 'e was doing of 'e gave 'imanother push to show 'im.

  "Frederick Scott told us all about it that evening, and some of thebravest of us went up to the 'Cauliflower' to talk over wot was to bedone, though we took care to get 'ome while it was quite light. Thatnight Peter Gubbins's two pigs went. They were two o' the likeliest pigsI ever seed, and all Peter Gubbins could do was to sit up in bedshivering and listening to their squeals as the tiger dragged 'em off.Pretty near all Claybury was round that sty next morning looking at thebroken fence. Some of them looked for the tiger's footmarks, but it wasdry weather and they couldn't see any. Nobody knew whose turn it wouldbe next, and the most sensible man there, Sam Jones, went straight off'ome and killed his pig afore 'e went to work.

  "Nobody knew what to do; Farmer Hall said as it was a soldier's job, and'e drove over to Wickham to tell the police so, but nothing came of it,and that night at ten minutes to twelve Bill Chambers's pig went. It wasone o' the biggest pigs ever raised in Claybury, but the tiger got it offas easy as possible. Bill 'ad the bravery to look out of the winder when'e 'eard the pig squeal, but there was such a awful snarling noise that'e daresn't move 'and or foot.

  "Dicky Weed's idea was for people with pigs and such-like to keep 'em inthe house of a night, but Peter Gubbins and Bill Chambers both pointedout that the tiger could break a back door with one blow of 'is paw, andthat if 'e got inside he might take something else instead o' pig. Andthey said that it was no worse for other people to lose pigs than wot itwas for them.

  "The odd thing about it was that all this time nobody 'ad ever seen thetiger except the tramp and people sent their children back to school aginand felt safe going about in the daytime till little Charlie Gubbins camerunning 'ome crying and saying that 'e'd seen it. Next morning a lotmore children see it and was afraid to go to school, and people began towonder wot 'ud happen when all the pigs and poultry was eaten.

  "Then Henery Walker see it. We was sitting inside 'ere with scythes, andpitchforks, and such-like things handy, when we see 'im come in without'is hat. His eyes were staring and 'is hair was all rumpled. He calledfor a pot o' ale and drank it nearly off, and then 'e sat gasping and'olding the mug between 'is legs and shaking 'is 'ead at the floor tilleverybody 'ad left off talking to look at 'im.

  "'Wot's the matter, Henery?' ses one of 'em.

  "'Don't ask me,' ses Henery Walker, with a shiver.

  "'You don't mean to say as 'ow you've seen the tiger?" ses BillChambers.

  "Henery Walker didn't answer 'im. He got up and walked back'ards andfor'ards, still with that frightened look in 'is eyes, and once or twice'e give such a terrible start that 'e frightened us 'arf out of our wits.Then Bill Chambers took and forced 'im into a chair and give 'im two o'gin and patted 'im on the back, and at last Henery Walker got 'is sensesback agin and told us 'ow the tiger 'ad chased 'im all round and roundthe trees in Plashett's Wood until 'e managed to climb up a tree andescape it. He said the tiger 'ad kept 'im there for over an hour, andthen suddenly turned round and bolted off up the road to Wickham.

  "It was a merciful escape, and everybody said so except Sam Jones, and 'easked so many questions that at last Henery Walker asked 'im outright if'e disbelieved 'is word.

  "'It's all right, Sam,' ses Bob Pretty, as 'ad come in just after HeneryWalker. 'I see 'im with the tiger after 'im.'

  "'Wot?' ses Henery, staring at him.

  "'I see it all, Henery,' ses Bob Pretty, 'and I see your pluck. It wasall you could do to make up your mind to run from it. I believe if you'd'ad a fork in your 'and you'd 'ave made a fight for it."

  "Everybody said 'Bravo!'; but Henery Walker didn't seem to like it atall. He sat still, looking at Bob Pretty, and at last 'e ses, 'Where wasyou?' 'e s,es.

  "'Up another tree, Henery, where you couldn't see me,' ses Bob Pretty,smiling at 'im.

  "Henery Walker, wot was drinking some beer, choked a bit, and then 'e putthe mug down and went straight off 'ome without saying a word to anybody.I knew 'e didn't like Bob Pretty, but I couldn't see why 'e should becross about 'is speaking up for 'im as 'e had done, but Bob said as itwas 'is modesty, and 'e thought more of 'im for it.

  "After that things got worse than ever; the wimmen and children stayedindoors and kept the doors shut, and the men never knew when they wentout to work whether they'd come 'ome agin. They used to kiss theirchildren afore they went out of a morning, and their wives too, some of'em; even men who'd been married for years did. And several more of 'emsee the tiger while they was at work, and came running 'ome to tell aboutit.

  "The tiger 'ad been making free with Claybury pigs and such-like forpretty near a week, and nothing 'ad been done to try and catch it, andwot made Claybury men madder than anything else was folks at Wickhamsaying it was all a mistake, and the tiger 'adn't escaped at all. Evenparson, who'd been away for a holiday, said so, and Henery Walker told'is wife that if she ever set foot inside the church agin 'ed ask 'is oldmother to come and live with 'em.

  "It was all very well for parson to talk, but the very night he come backHenery Walker's pig went, and at the same time George Kettle lost five orsix ducks.

  "He was a quiet man, was George, but when 'is temper was up 'e didn'tcare for anything. Afore he came to Claybury 'e 'ad been in the Militia,and that evening at the 'Cauliflower' 'e turned up with a gun over 'isshoulder and made a speech, and asked who was game to go with