There, they feasted on tasty curry and rice, followed by fruits and cakes. Chandra, meanwhile, kept up a running chatter with his uncle and other villagers, mixing English with Hindi and the local native dialect. From the tone of the talk, Biff and Kamuka gathered that something quite serious was afoot. Chandra finally supplied the details.
"You will meet Barma Shah very soon," Chandra told Biff, "because my uncle tells me that the head shikari at Keewal has asked the village people to help trap a tiger tomorrow night."
"Aren't tigers usually hunted in the daytime?"
"Not this kind," declared Chandra. "This tiger is a cattle stealer, and lately he has prowled near the village, killing people after dark. That is why there was so much excitement when we arrived close to nightfall."
As they left the community house, Biff heard the incessant barking of the dogs on the fringe of the town. Watchmen with big spears were on patrol. Many lanterns were aglow, showing that the village was tense and alert. Wisps of grayish smoke coiled from the chimneys and wavered, like fading ghosts, against the vast blackness of the starlit sky.
But when they entered the snug hut which Chandra smilingly termed their daulat-khana, or "palace," Biff felt that the outside world was far away. His bed was a simple charpoy—tapes strung to its frame instead of springs or mattress—but Biff was so tired that nothing could have been more comfortable. The calls of the patrolling watchmen, the distant barking of the dogs, simply lulled him off to solid sleep.
It was nearly noon when Biff awoke. He and Kamuka followed Chandra around the village, where they saw weavers, shoemakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths at work. Chandra explained that they were paid off in crops raised by the farmers who made up most of the community. But today, the carpenters and metal workers were combining their efforts in constructing huge wooden frames that were set with heavy bars of iron.
"Why, that looks like a big portable cage!" Biff exclaimed.
Chandra's uncle, the patwari, was standing by. He smiled and responded,
"It is exactly that. Tonight, we use it to trap the killer tiger."
"You mean he may walk right into it?"