FIGHTING OF THE GIANTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 17 (Supplement)

FIGHTING OF THE GIANTS

JOHN HINTON, forest manager I of the Siamese Timber ComI pany, lay Hack in a rattan chair if attitude denoting uttei exhaustion. He was troubled. 1' i 1 st, there was the presence not far off of a rogue wild elephant that had killed two of/his tame tuskers which had been grazing in the jungle. For four davs Hinton had fruitlessly tracked the brute, till, worn out, he had given up the hunt and come to the conclusion that the rogue was lying up somewhere, sullen, morose, formidable, awaiting the return of its strength and the madness that would agaih cause it to become a menace to every living thing in the jungle of northern Siam. . Then Poo Ten and Poo Taw, the mightiest timber elephants belonging to the company, were together in his camp once more, and the thought was distinctly. unpleasant. Now Poo Ten and Poo Taw hated each other. The trouble had started several years ago over a. foolish, coquettish little female that had been used as ond of Hinton's baggage animals., Hinton had promptly got rid of her to a Burmese dealer, but the poison had been* sown, and thereafter

r One of the coolies spoke. "The time is ripe," said he. "See, the lord Hinton and the headman, they sleep." All eyes turned to the distant tents. No, there was not a sign of light in either of them, and the time indeed was ripe. Ai Noi and Ai Keo rose from the circle. "We go," they said. Like black ghosts the two mahouts slunk out oil their errand. They chose circular routes to their elephants in order to avoid passing too near Hinton's tent, and, like Agag, they trod delicately. Meanwhile the remainder of the coolies, ehainmen and mahouts crept beneath their banana leaf shelters and waited in pleased anticipation. Two Bags of Silver Minutes passed, then an hour, and still the jungle slept. After a while they began to shift uneasily on their backs. Had the plan miscarried? Or—a horrible doubt assailed them —perhaps the mahouts had done the dirty on them aiyl decamped with all their money, leaving Poo Ten and Poo Taw still shackled. Brown faces creased with rage, and brown bodies wriggled with dismay. Just as dawn was flushing the eastern horizon, the little headman appeared before their lines. And a glance at him assured them that ho was a very angry little headman, for his closecropped hair was bristling and his eyes «hot fire.

SHORT STORY j (Copyright) :

Sy — , I * REGINALD ' CAMPBELL

"Sons of dogs," he thundered, "the lord Hinton commands you to his tent." He,collected all 50 of them, ushered them toward the white man's tent.

"So," said, the latter slowly, as he regarded the long line of faces before him, "so, instead of my camp followers being men, I find they are only monkeys after all."

the only method of keeping his best tuskers alive had been to employ them in different parts of his forest, miles away from each other. This the white man had done, until an enormous jam of teak logs in the river which ran opposite his main camp had necessitated the presence of his two best tuskers in addition to the remainder of his elephant force. There was no danger of their fighting during the night, for by his direction they had been securely shackled to teak trees on opposite sides of the camp.' And. yet—a sudden feeling of restlessness assailed the white man, and rising, he strode into the clearing that lay outside the hut. Fear of Trouble Before and below him the broad river Me Xain gleamed faintly in the failing light of the evening. In the centre of the stream, piled up tier upon tier, jostled the stack of teak logs. On the rim of the bank the Lao coolies, chainmen and mahouts crouched around their fires, their brown, half-naked bodies glistening in tho glare of the flames. On Hinton's appearance tho Lao coolies ceased their whispering, shot furtive glances at their master, and then crouched closer round "ho fires. Eventually, as complete darkness ihrouded the land, Hinton returned to his tent, and his brow was set.

"Lord," they murmured after a pause, "we are not monkeys." "Then why," Hinton put a hand behind him and flung two bags of silver on to tho ground, "why did each of you give much money to Ai Noi and Ai Keo, who are undoubtedly monkeys?" The serried ranks glanced uneasily at the bags.

"And to think," said the white man jn a far-away voice, "to think that each of you gave these monkeys 20 ticals apiece. It was too much." At the words his hearers brightened. The lord Hinton did not know everything after all, and had proved himself to be in tho wrong at last. "Lord, we gave only four ticals each," they said righteously in chorus. "So you did give money to them?" questioned Hinton in mock surprise. They flushed and fidgeted uncomfortably. 'The lord .Hinton had been too wiso for them and they had been caught. "As tho lord wills," said one at last. "The lord knows everything." The Log Jam Hinton pointed to the money bags. "The money," he told them, "will I give to the* fine account of the great company. Thus the company wins, and you are the losers. And now," he waved an arm toward the jungle, "I will be kind. You are children, not monkeys, but try to be men instead. Get you to your elephants." The mob, a very humbled, penitent mob, streamed off to catch their charges and. lead them to the river, leaving the white man alone with his headman. /

For a while ho remained motionless in his chair, and then he quietly summoned the-little headman, whose tent lay next to his. The headman crept in by the back entrance and conversed in low whispers, 50 that none of the coolies on the river bank shoidd be aware of the visit. The cainp was hushed, and even the elephants in the surrounding forest had crown quieter. Around the fires the mahouts, ehainmen and coolies sat still closer together. In the middle of the largest circle squatted Ai Noi and Ai «60, the respective mahouts of Poo Ten fl nd Poo Taw, and a smile of mingled greed and satisfaction illuminated their dusky features as they felt the large a nd bulky bag of ticals that bulged from within their trousers. , They had done verv good business indeed! Had not every chainman, coolie and mahout contributed the sum four ticals to each of them in order that they, Xoi and Ai Keo, might instrumental i/i providing the members of the camp with the biggest thrill they had ever had in their lives —a ttle between giants? Ihe amounts had been collected in utter secrecy, and came to the colossal of 200 ticals, and with 100 ticals ® a ch, what mattered if they lost their jobs? Thus they had arranged that, a jt*r slipping the shackles off their elephants-, they would tice to a far dis,ant village, where tliev would start life a new with their gains. They pictured w *t they could do with 100 ticals, or Wraaps a little more, as a result of 81 ® bets between themselves. They could buy a wife, a small plot of pnddyM pigs, chickens, even a small Y eSt life was distinctly rosy. . .

Hiiiton turned arid, _ beckoning his eompnnion, re-entered his tent. Inside, were the forms of Ai Xoi and Ai Keo, neatly hound arid gagged. On the top of their heads were humps, showing tli.it 011 the previous night- their skulls had come into contact with some linn

Fate-is a queer jade—Sometimes she turns bad luck to her

and unyielding substance. In their eyes was a vacant look, as if tlicy were at a loss to account for certain happenings. They remembered, indeed, bending over the shackles to unloosen them, but they remembered very little else. They had, in fact, been caught bending.

For a while Hinton regarded them doubtfully. To charge thorn formally in the distant gendarmerie station would mean endless trouble and expense, and, moreover, he could not spare tho time to accompany them thither. He therefore finally caused the mahouts to be unbound, and after warning tlieni that should thev be found loitering round the camp lie would have them flogged to within an inch of their lives, he drove them, penniless and humbled, from'the clearing. This done, he ordered tho headman to procure two new mahouts from tho nearest village. That night after dinner, utter weariness enveloped him, but he nerved himself to keep awake till he had sent for his headman and given him directions that, for the nights Poo Ten and Poo Taw should still be near each other, two ehainmen wero to guard the shackles of each elephant, receiving extra pay for doing so. Desire for Revenge Later on, less than a mile away from the camp, tyro dark forms were squatting in the jungle. They were Ai Noi and Ai Keo, once mahouts of great elephants and the pride and envy of the surrounding district, but now men without a job and 110 more important than the lowliest pariah-dog. They had, however, one possession that still remained to them, a common desire for revengo on the lord Hinton, who had been the cause of their downfall. "So," said Ai Noi, "the lord Hinton thinks that because ho has sent chainmen to guard the shackles, the elephants will be safe." "But these are large ehainmen," complained the other. "Havo w© not seen ?" "Fool," retorted Ai Xoi. "Know you not of the yang-bark?" "Wooi," exclaimed Ai Keo. "That is good!" Thereafter the pair worked cunningly. First, they sought out in the darkness a yang tree, of which there were many in the vicinity. From this tree -they whittled off some of the bark, which they shredded finely. Next they fashioned, with the aid of their knives, small, roundly-made pipes out of the many bamboo stems that rioted all round them. This done, thev waited many hours, and then they slithered through tho forest in tho direction of the elephant guard. As they neared tho clearing the pair parted company, one, going to the left, one to the right. When each was within a few yards of his former charge, he tied a cloth over his month and blew from his pipe a well-night odourless smoke that hung, in lazy wreaths, a foot or so above the ground. ''The drug worked well, for as yet tho night was very still, and shortly the already sleepy guards rolled over sideways and sank into profound oblivion, whereupon Ai Noi slipped the shackles and, after rejoining Ai Keo, fled hastily into the night. At three o'clock a sound, as of the roaring of distant waters, stole into John Hinton's senses. He endeavoured to shako off the illusion, but it persisted, and eventually he struggled free from the sleep that clouded his brain. He sat upright in bed. As he did so a terrific flash of lightning whitened his tent, and a moment later the whole universe above him split into a thousand fragments of nerve-shattering, jagged-edged sound. Two minutes passed, then a new note was added to the riot olf sound. It was the trumpet of an elephant, followed by a screaming bellow that for a moment drowned the fury of tho tempest. Followed a crashing roar, as if some tree had been k nor lied down hi' gigantic, straining bodies. Hinton slipped quickly into his jungle-kit and strode out of the tent.

At the exit the headman rose up before him, "Lord," shouted the little man, "I fear for Poo Ton and Poo Taw." ''Take me to where they were shackled," the white man shouted. A moment later, guided by the vivid flashes of lightning, they had arrived at the tree where the first-named animal had been secured. The shackles wore there, hut no elephant, and by them two dusky forms slumbered profoundly, in spite of the storm. Hinton Hashed his torch on to the men, and shook them roughly. They opened their eyes, which were glassy, and looked at the white, round orb of light with dazed expressions. "Lord," said the little headman, "it is the smoke of the yang-bark, I have seen it before." "So liavo I," said Hinton grimly. "Now take these men back to shelter." Together they dragged the semi-con-scious chainmcn back to tho coolie lines, after which they visited the tree where Poo Taw had been shackled, and the same procedure was gone through. Having seen all four chainmen safely under shelter, Hinton dismissed the headman and returned to his tent, which luckily had defied the strength of the storm and was still standing intact. There Hinton, torn ivith scratches, soaked with rain, senses almost buffeted out of him by the wind, sank into a chair and prepared to wait for the dawn.

There was nothing else to do. Find the fighters in the dark? Strain through tho shouting thunder toward them? Separate them ? As well might a gnat endeavour to separate two contending armies in tho Great War! Hinton leant forward in tho chair, arms across knees, and listened intently. The fight seemed to be rolling away toward his right, somewhere in the direction of the river, though owing to the uproar of tho rain and wind to bo sure of anything was difficult. Scene of Battle As tho first pale streaks of day filtered through the towering stems of the teak forest, John Hinton and his headman set out on their quest. In the centre of the clearing lay the body of one elephant, and with bated breath they approached it. Pent, riven, torn and smashed as it was, it yet appeared of almost uncanny size. They peered at the body, then drew dazed hands across their brows, for here was the carcase of neither Poo Ten nor Poo Taw, but of some strange elephant that was larger and mightier than any tame one they had seen. Without saying a word, they crept on and followed a slight trail that led away from the trees at the further end of the clearing. Shortly the river opened into view, and they stood upon the bank. Beneath them, knee-deep in the water, stood Poa Ten and Poo Taw, side by side. Their friendship sealed by the blood they had spent in fighting and vanquishing their common enemy, they were squirting water in luscious streams over their wounds, and their great bodies rolled ever so slightly in an ecstasy of enjoyment. "Lord." said tho little headman, after a long silence, "I seo all." "Kxplain," said Hinton gravely. "That dead elephant was rogue elephant. I think these last few days he lie up in thick bamboo clump near the camp, where you not find nilli. That why Poo Ten and Poo Taw sometimes become restless, sometimes becomes quiet and listen. They know he bad elephant and that perhaps one more day, perhaps two more day, the madness come to him again. They know ho come and attack tame elephants and kill them beeause they hobbled and no can fight'. Perhaps he kill even you, lord. Then, last night, when they free, they go seek him out. Maybe he come and meet them half-way. Then they fight, they kill him, They glad now, so fight no more each other." "H'm," said Hinton dreamily. "Lucky those scoundrels loosened the shackles after all. Jt's a queer world."