13 Tiger Adventure Read Free Page B

they see guns.’
    Hal pulled his lasso down out of the tree. He had a problem. If he snared the sambar, the other two would be alarmed and would run away. He wanted to get all three.
    The animals solved the problem. Deer not only like humans, they like each other. The chital, being a little nervous, got as close to the sambar as possible and raised its head so that the two were cheek to cheek. Hal’s lasso came flying through the air and settled over both heads.
    ‘Wc should have brought the truck,’ Vic said.
    Hal replied, ‘We don’t need it. Keep very quiet. Let them get used to the rope.’
    It was very hard for Vic to stand still. He was very nervous. His heart was pounding away like a sledgehammer. He started to speak but Hal put his hand over Vic’s mouth. They stood so for fifteen minutes.
    But how about the mouse-deer? It was still tangled in the long grass. It struggled on until it came up beside its big friends.
    The boys stood as still as the trees around them.
    Then Hal began to pull very gently on the rope. At first the two deer resisted. But the pull was so gentle that it could not mean any harm,’ They took a step forward, then another, and another. Soon they were walking slowly along without any sign of fear.
    Roger picked up the mouse-deer and slipped it into a big pocket of his hunting jacket.
    ‘Good.’ said Hal. That little fellow is first prize. I’ll bet Dad can sell it for five hundred dollars. So far as I know, there isn’t a zoo anywhere that owns a mouse-deer. Any zoo that buys this will have crowds coming to see the smallest deer on the face of the earth.’
    Five hundred dollars! It rang like a bell in Vic’s head. What couldn’t he do with five hundred dollars?
    A bush ahead of them came alive. Part of the bush walked out. When had anyone ever seen a walking bush? But there it was, a bundle of twigs, ambling across the path.
    The strange sight brought a yelp out of Nervous Nellie. That was the name that Hal and Roger had secretly given Vic. The bundle of twigs was about two feet long.
    ‘Keep away from it and it won’t hurt you,’ Hal said.
    ‘What is it?’ Nervous Nellie stammered.
    ‘A porcupine.’
    The things that looked like twigs were the animal’s quills. They started at the back of the head and extended far back over the tail, ending in points as sharp as needles.
    Vic, fearing the teeth of this beast, stepped to one side and came around directly behind the needles.
    ‘Oh no, not there,’ Hal cried. That’s the really dangerous end of him.’
    ‘You’re kidding me,’ Vic said. ‘I’m safe here.’
    ‘You’re not safe. Get out of the way before it charges.’
    ‘Who ever heard of an animal charging backwards? He can’t charge unless he turns around, head first.’
    ‘You’ve a lot to learn about porcupines. I’m telling you, get around in front of it.’
    ‘You think you can fool me,’ Vic stormed. ‘I’m safe here and here I’ll stay.’
    Suddenly the porcupine rushed back with the speed of lightning and plunged its needles through Vic’s trousers and deep into his legs. He let out a yell that could have been heard a mile away.
    The porcupine, well satisfied, disappeared into the bushes, leaving half a dozen of its spines in Vic’s flesh.
    ‘So,’ said Hal, ‘now you see I wasn’t fooling.’
    Vic wailed, ‘Get these spikes out of me!’
    ‘lie down and I’ll try,’ said Hal. ‘But they are going to hurt a lot more coming out than when they went in.’
    ‘Why is that?’
    ‘Because every spine has a little hook at the end - like a fish hook. That will tear your flesh as it comes out. But we can’t leave them in. They’re not clean and the chances are they would give you gangrene, then a doctor might have to amputate both legs.’
    This horrifying prospect did not do much to comfort Nervous Nellie.
    ‘Both legs!’ he cried. ‘Why did I ever come to this, country? There’s nothing here but murder and germs.’
    ‘Don’t forget,’