Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen: The Merit of Captain Ord

During the second half of the day and night of June 5, the camp was quiet.We, who have been exhausted for a long time, have experienced so many thrilling scenes, so we really should have a good sleep. What unfolds before our eyes is no longer the fertile plain of Ude Kingdom.Wherever the steam house went along the way, the land was still fertile and productive, but the terrain had turned into an undulating and ravine area. This is the capital of Roylkander and Bareilly.The kingdom was situated on a square of land measuring one hundred and fifty-five englands on a side, well irrigated by the dense tributaries and tributaries of the tributaries of the Kogra River, and here and there were clusters of tall mango trees and dense The jungle process is the embodiment of freedom, which is moral activity. , and on the edge of the woods, farmers' crops are planted.

Here was the center of the insurrection after Derry was recaptured by the British; it was the bloody field where Mr. Collan Campbell once drenched; it was the place where the detachment led by Brigadier Walpole got off to a bad start; and it was here that Edward Morrow A friend of the Colonel, the Colonel of the 93rd Scots Regiment who had performed so well in both attacks on Lucknow on April 14th, was killed. Know that the terrain here is more favorable to our train than anywhere else.The broad road was almost at the same level, and the tributaries that ran between the two main northward rivers were easy to cross, so we had no trouble traveling this part of the way.A few hundred kilometers further north, we reach the hilly country between the plains and the mountains of Nepal.

But from now on, we must seriously consider the weather conditions of the rainy season. The monsoon, which had been blowing from northeast to southwest in the early months, has now reversed direction.The rainy season in the coastal zone is stronger and earlier in time than that in the interior of the peninsula.That's because the moisture-laden clouds drier as they move inland.Moreover, due to the obstruction by the tall mountains, the large cloud of water vapor blowing from the ocean surface had to slightly change the direction of its forward movement, forming a kind of atmospheric vortex.So on the Malabar coast, the monsoon begins in May; in the central and northern parts of the Indian peninsula, it will be delayed by a few weeks until June.

And it is June at this time, and it is inevitable that future trips will encounter such weather, but everything will be within our expectations. First I should mention our Gummi, who had the misfortune of being struck by lightning and shattering his shotgun, but he himself was mostly healed the next day.The paralysis of the left leg was only temporary, and it soon returned to normal.Although the lightning strike did not leave him any troubles, he seems to have been brooding about the light in the sky ever since. During the two days of June 6th and 7th, Captain Ord was very productive with the help of Fann and Black.He hunted a pair of antelopes which the local Indians called "blue bulls," but they were more properly called deer, for the animals looked more like deer than Apis. .And they should be called bead gray deer, and their coat color tends more to the color of the sky on the eve of a storm than to the color of the blue sky.But we cannot deny that among these handsome animals there are some with sharp, straight horns on their heads, long heads slightly bulging, and their fur is almost blue—a kind of is the color that is refused to be given to quadrupeds.Even the so-called blue foxes have exactly black fur, not blue.

But this was not the beast that Captain Ord had only dreamed of.However, although this kind of antelope has a gentle temperament, it is not without danger at all. After being injured, they will also pounce on the hunter who shoots at themselves.The captain fired the first shot, followed by another shot from Fox, and immediately the two beautiful antelopes stopped running, and they were killed in mid-air.But in the eyes of Fox, they are just two wild birds! Mr. Palazard had a completely different opinion.On this day, the delicious roast venison on the table made us all side with him. Early on the morning of June 8th we left our camp near a small village in Roylkand.We had driven forty kilometers from Leva the day before, arrived there after dark and spent the night.It can be seen that we are driving very slowly on the road covered by rain and mud.And at this time, all the rivers began to surge, and after wading a few rivers, our trip was several hours later than planned.However, we don't care if it's a day or two late.Since we were sure we would be in the mountains by the end of June, we planned to set up the steam room there for the entire summer.In this way, there is nothing to worry about.

On the eighth day, Captain Ord should really regret the missed shot! Both sides of the road on which our train travels are dense bamboo forests, and the villages in this area are always surrounded by bamboo forests, which look like they are located in flower baskets from a distance.But these are not jungles in the true sense of the word, which is what the real Hindoos mean by a rugged, barren place where there is almost nothing on it but clumps of gray shrubs.But the area we passed was a fertile rice field with fertile soil and intensive cultivation. The giant steel beast driven by Stoll moved quietly, wisps of beautiful steam were blown away by the wind and disappeared into the bamboo forest.

Suddenly, a wild beast jumped extremely swiftly and threw itself at the neck of the giant steel beast. "A leopard, a leopard!" cried the mechanic. At the cry, Captain Ord rushed to the front balcony, aimed his shotgun at his prey, and stood motionless. "A leopard!" he also called out. "Shoot!" I yelled at him. "No hurry!" Captain Ord replied, still just aiming his gun at the prey. This is a kind of leopard unique to India, which is smaller than tigers but equally fearsome.Not only is it very responsive and flexible, but its limbs are also very strong.

Colonel Moreau, Bonkers, and I were all standing on the balcony, watching the leopard, and waiting for the captain to shoot. It clearly misread our elephant.He couldn't wait to pounce on the head-to-mouth prey, thinking that he would eat a piece of fresh meat with his teeth and claws, but he didn't expect that what was waiting for him was an iron sheet that made the sharp teeth and claws useless.Annoyed, the leopard clutched Impersonation's long ears tightly.It may have to wait until it perceives us before letting go. Captain Ord kept aiming his gun at the leopard, just like a hunter who is quite confident in his marksmanship always waits for a good time and finds the best spot before shooting.

At this time, the leopard roared and stood up again.It may have been aware of the danger, but it did not appear to want to run away.Perhaps it is also waiting for the right moment, ready to pounce on the balcony. Sure enough, we soon saw it crawl towards the elephant's head, wrap its paws around the trunk that served as a chimney, and climb almost as far as the vent for the steam. "Shoot, Odd!" I urged him again. "Don't worry," the captain replied calmly. Then he turned towards me, but still staring intently at the leopard, which was now looking at us: "You never killed a leopard, did you, Mokray?" he asked me.

"there has never been." "Would you like to shoot one?" "Captain," I replied, "I don't want you to lose this wonderful shot..." "Bah! This shot is not what the hunter wanted to shoot! Go get a shotgun and help me aim at the spot on the leopard's shoulder! If you miss, I'll kill it in mid-air!" "Ok." Fox, who had come to us, handed me his double-barreled carbine. I picked it up, loaded it, aimed at the markings on the shoulder of the motionless leopard, and fired. Wounded, but lightly, the Beast leaped forward, over the turret on which the mechanic drove the train, and onto the roof of the first car of the Steam House.

Although Captain Ord is a very good hunter, he didn't have time to shoot it while it was leaping in the air... "It's our turn, Fox, it's our turn!" he yelled. The two rushed out of the balcony together and rushed into the turret. The ferocious beast that was pacing up and down on the roof suddenly jumped across the distance between the two carriages and pounced on another roof. And just when the captain was about to shoot, it jumped up again, pounced on the ground, then stood up suddenly, and ran into the jungle. "Stop! Stop!" Bonkers yelled at the mechanic, and Stoll turned off the steam and immediately stopped all the wheels with the air brakes. The captain and Fox followed and jumped to the ground, and ran quickly into the jungle to chase the leopard. A few minutes passed.We've been waiting a little impatiently.But still not a single shot was heard.The hunters returned empty-handed. "Disappeared! Fly away!" Captain Ord exclaimed loudly in frustration, "There is not even a trace of blood on the grass!" "It's all my fault!" I said to the captain apologetically. "If it were you, you would definitely be more accurate than me! You won't let it get away!" "Forget it! You hit it, actually," replied Odd, "but you missed it!" "My captain, anyway, that thing is neither my thirty-eighth nor your forty-first!" Fox said rather embarrassedly. "Forget it!" Odd also pretended to be relaxed, "A leopard is not a tiger after all! If it weren't for this, Mokley, I wouldn't let you shoot this shot!" "Go to dinner, my friends," said Colonel Moreau. "Lunch is ready. When we're done, you may—" "This should all be Fox's fault!" "Is it my fault?" The orderly was stunned by this unexpected sentence. "Perhaps so, Fox," the sergeant went on to explain to the crowd. "What's in the carbine you handed to Mr. Mockley!" Mark Real then showed everyone the second cartridge he had just unloaded from the gun I was using, and it really was just lead shot for partridge. "Fox!" cried Captain Ord. "What's up?" "Two days of confinement!" "Yes! Captain!" Fox went back to his room, determined not to come out until forty-eight hours later.For the mistakes he made, he was deeply ashamed and ashamed to see others. The next day, June 9th, Bonkers, at our request, agreed to a half day's rest, and Captain Ord, Gummy, and I followed the road, hunting game in the plains on either side.After raining all morning, the sky cleared towards noon and could remain clear for several hours. It is also worth mentioning that the one who brought me out this time was not Odd, who had always specialized in hunting brown-haired beasts, but a game hunter.Out of concern for the dinner table, he led Fann and Black leisurely along the edge of the rice field.Before setting off, Mr. Palazard had told him that the pantry had been eaten up and that he would have to figure out how to refill it. Captain Ord complied, and we set off with some simple shotguns.For two hours, our only gain was to startle a flock of phoenixes or scare away hares, but because of the distance, we had to give up hope even though the two hounds were eager to chase them. . Captain Odd's mood became very bad because of this, not to mention that in this open plain with neither jungle nor low bushes, but villages and farmland everywhere, it was impossible to meet any beast that could do anything to the leopard that had missed the day before. compensate.At this time, he was just a person who came out to look for food.All he could think about was how Mr. Palazard would receive him if he returned empty-handed. We hadn't fired a single shot until four o'clock in the afternoon.But it's not our fault.As I mentioned earlier, the wild birds would have flown out of range.It seems that Captain Ord is just a self-proclaimed hunting master. "My dear Mockley," the Captain said to me now, "this is very bad! When I left Calcutta I promised you some nice hunting, but I don't understand how it always happens. Inexplicably bad luck has prevented me from fulfilling my promise!" "My captain," I replied, "don't be disappointed. I'm really sorry for you...but we'll make up for it in the mountains of Nepal!" "Yes," Captain Ord agreed with me, "it's in the hills of the Himalayas, and the hunting conditions must be better than here. Mokley, you know, I bet the train we took, It is full of machinery and equipment, and the roar of steam, especially the giant elephant on the top must have scared those damn brown-haired beasts away. This steel giant scares them more than the real train on the train, and as long as That's certainly the case when he's in motion! Just hope we'll have better luck when he stops to rest. Wow! That leopard we met yesterday was crazy! But he must have been dying of starvation too The tin elephant that decided to jump on us deserved a high-caliber bullet and died like a zombie on the spot! Poor Fawkes! I'll never forget his stupidity!—What time is it?" "It's almost five o'clock!" "It's five o'clock and we haven't fired a single shot!" "But we still have two hours to go back to camp. Maybe during this time, everything will be different!  …" "Impossible! Our luck is too bad," cried Captain Ord. "You know, luck is half the battle!" "Perseverance, too," I replied. "Captain, promise me that you won't go back empty-handed until you've got your game! Will you?" "Great!" Ode agreed loudly, "I would rather die than break my promise!" "certainly." "Did you know, Mockley, that a field mouse or a hedgehog is better than nothing!" Captain Ord, Gummi, and I were all on the same page, and in our eyes, anything went.So with great obstinacy we resumed the hunt.But unfortunately even the most innocuous birds seemed to sense our hostility, and all of them ran away. In this way, we have been walking back and forth between the rice fields, sometimes on the left side of the road, sometimes on the right side, walking back from time to time so as not to get too far from the camp.But in vain.By 6:30 p.m., not a single bullet had been fired.We could have run and hunted with a pole in our hand.The result is definitely the same. I looked at Captain Ord and saw that he was walking on his own with his teeth clenched.A deep furrow stood between the two eyebrows on his forehead, secretly angry.Between my tightly pursed lips I murmured in vain some curse upon the wild fowl and game that could not even be seen on the plain.Apparently, he was about to take a shot at anything, a tree or a rock—a way of venting his anger.I saw that the weapon in his hand seemed to be really hot.Inadvertently, he hung the gun belt with his arm for a while, slung it over his shoulder for a while, and carried it on his shoulder for a while. Gummi was also watching him the same way I was. "If this goes on, the captain will be angry!" he said to me, shaking his head. "Yes," I answered, "I should have paid thirty shillings for a kind man to put one of the smallest house pigeons in front of him! That would calm him down!" But even thirty shillings, double that, or even triple that, would not get you the cheapest and most common of small game at this time.The countryside in front of me was empty, with neither village nor farmland. In fact, if it had been possible at that time, I would have told Gumi to try to buy a poultry, anything, even a bald hen, for whatever money it cost, and give it to the distraught captain Let him take revenge! But it was getting dark gradually.After about an hour it would be impossible for us to continue this futile expedition, for by then it would be too dark to see.Though we had promised never to go back to camp with empty hunting bags, it seemed that we would have to do so now, except to sleep in the open air on the plains.But how anxious Colonel Moreau and Bonkers would be if we didn't see us back!So they couldn't be made to worry about it, and besides, there was a danger of rain tonight. Captain Ord's eyes were wide open, like a bird, and his gaze quickly swept from left to right, right back to left, and took another ten steps away from the steam room. I was about to hurry up to chase him and persuade him to give up this battle with bad luck, when suddenly there was a sound of flapping wings from my right, and I took a closer look. It turned out to be a large white mass flying slowly over a bush. Without waiting for Captain Ord to turn around, I immediately raised the shotgun and fired two shots in succession. The UFO that I shot down landed on the edge of a rice field, struggling with its bulky body. Vann sprang to his feet, pounced on the wild fowl I had just shot, and brought it back to the captain. "At last!" exclaimed Ord. "Would Mr. Palazard be displeased to see this thing go straight into his cauldron? But the head must go first!" "But at least it's always edible, right?" I asked. "If there's nothing else to eat... of course!" replied the captain. "Mr. Mockley, how lucky you were not to be seen just now!" Gummy said to me. "Did I do something bad?" "Yes! You killed a peacock. Throughout India, peacocks are regarded as sacred birds, and anyone is forbidden to beat them." "To hell with those god birds and whoever thinks they are god birds!" cried Captain Ord, "since this one's been killed, we'll eat it... you could say it's sacrilege , but we'll eat it anyway!" In this country that believes in Brahmanism, the saying that the peacock is a divine bird in the animal kingdom has been widely spread as early as the time of Alexander's expedition.Hindus regard it as a symbol of Saravasti, the witch who is in charge of birth and marriage.Therefore, British law prohibits the killing of this bird. The large, biologically galliform bird that had brought Captain Ord's joy back to life was indeed a marvelous beauty.The dark green wings trimmed with gold shone with a metallic luster, and the thick and long tail with delicate eye spots trailed behind him like a beautiful feather fan. "Go back! Go back!" said the captain to Gumi and me. "Tomorrow, Mr. Palazard will cook us a dish out of this peacock, whatever those Indian Brahmins think! Peacocks are nothing but conceits It’s just a rooster, but as long as this one spreads its beautiful feathers, it will really add a lot of color to our dinner table!” "Are you satisfied now, Captain?" "Satisfaction...satisfaction with you, my dear Moclay, but not at all with myself! My bad luck is not over, but it must be! Go back!" So we started walking in the direction of the camp, which we were now about three miles away.Along the winding road, we shuttled through the dense bamboo forest. Captain Ord and I walked side by side, and Gumi followed two or three steps behind, carrying our prey.Although the sun was still hanging in the sky, it was covered by thick clouds, so we had to grope forward in the half-light. Suddenly we heard a loud roar from the bushes to the right.The sound was so terrifying that I couldn't help standing where I was, not daring to move. Captain Ord took my hand. "A tiger!" he said. Then there was another curse. "Damn India!" he cried, "our guns are loaded with partridge buckshot!" It's true, Odd, Gumi, and I don't have a single live round in our guns! Besides, we didn't have time to change the bullets at all.Ten seconds after that roar, the tiger leaped out of the bushes, and in one bound was only about twenty paces away from us on the road. It is the kind of tiger called "man-eating beast" by Indians. It is powerful and ferocious. Hundreds of people and animals fall victim to it every year. The situation was horrific. I stared at the tiger, but I must admit that I could only swallow it with my eyes, but the hand holding the shotgun couldn't stop shaking.It was nine or ten feet long, with black and white stripes on its golden fur. It also stares at us.The cat's eyes shone brightly in the dark.The tail frantically sweeps back and forth across the ground.It crouched in a ball, motionless, and assumed a posture of jumping forward. Ord remained calm, aiming his gun at the beast, muttering in a weird way: "Buck! Shoot a tiger with buckshot! If I don't shoot him in the eye with the muzzle of a gun, we'll—" The captain could not finish his sentence.Because at this time, the tiger began to walk towards us slowly step by step, it did not jump forward. Gumi crouched behind and watched it approach us, but his shotgun was only loaded with buckshot.As for my gun, not a single buckshot remained. I want to remove a bullet from the magazine. "Don't move!" The captain said to me in a low voice, "Otherwise, the tiger will jump up. Don't let it jump!" The three of them remained motionless. The tiger still walked forward slowly.The head that was dangling just now stopped shaking.He didn't take his eyes off it, but seemed to be looking down.The half-open mouth was pressed against the ground, as if sniffing the smell in the soil. After a while, there were only ten steps between the beast and the captain. And Odd stood there firmly, frozen like a statue, staring at the ferocious beast with all his attention.In this imminent life and death struggle, none of us may make it out alive, but he can't change his face or his heart! At this time, I thought the tiger would definitely jump up. But then it went five steps further.It took all my strength to keep myself from shouting at Captain Ord: "Shoot! Shoot!" No!The captain had said--and this was evidently the only way of saving us--that he would knock out the tiger's eyes; The tiger took three steps forward, then stood up and was about to pounce on... Suddenly a violent explosion was heard, followed by another. The second sound exploded on the tiger's body. It roared in pain, jumped three or four times, and then fell motionless in a pool of blood. "Miracle!" cried Captain Ord. "My shotgun is full of bullets! Blow-shot! Ah! This time, thank you, Fox, thank you!" "There is such a thing!" I couldn't help shouting. "Look!" Captain Ord lowered his weapon and removed a bullet from the left barrel. It really is a live ammunition. The mystery is finally solved. It turned out that Captain Ord had a double-barreled carbine and a double-barreled shotgun, both of the same caliber.Fox, on the other hand, mistakenly loaded the carbine with buckshot and the shotgun with explosive rounds at the same time.If this mistake saved the life of the leopard the day before, it made all three of us out of the tiger's mouth this day! "Really," Captain Ord said with emotion, "I have never felt so close to death!" Half an hour later, we were back at the camp.Ord immediately called Fox to him and told him what had happened. "My captain," replied the orderly after he had finished, "that means I should not be sentenced to two days' confinement, but four days, because I made a total of two mistakes!" "I think so too," said Captain Ord, "but since your mistake made my forty-first one come true, I would also like to give you this gold coin..." "I'd like to take it," said Fox, taking the coin and pocketing it. Such was the adventure between Captain Ord and his forty-first tiger. On the night of June 12, our train stopped near a small town. The next day, we continued to drive to the mountains of Nepal, 150 kilometers away.