"We were just entering the narrow gorge that leads to the fort on the hill, when, right on the pathway before me, I saw the prone figure of a child. Almost my elephant's feet were upon it before the sage brute himself stopped and trumpeted a warning to us in the howdah, for, the tiger's body occupying the place where the mahout was wont to ride, the latter was walking, and he, too, had not noticed the tiny bundle of bright yellow clothing lying on the road.
"Glancing down, I beheld a little girl with her forehead touching the dust. At my calling she arose, and spread her hands across her breast.
"'Listen, O chief, to my warning, listen, O my lord,' she called out in a shrill tone of supplication. Already had I observed that her face was one of great beauty, although that of just a little child, but six or seven years old.
"The other two elephants had halted behind mine, and some of the party had descended. But at the approach of these men the maid shrank away, and, keeping her eyes fixed in my direction, she continued to address me:
"'Listen to my words, O chief, and be saved from death.'
"In another moment I had sprung to the ground. As I advanced the child ran toward me, absolutely fearless. Taking her in my arms, I sat me down by the roadside. Close to my breast she nestled, and, with sobs and tears now, told me her story.
"A robber band was in the nullah—less than a mile further along—full a hundred strong, fierce men and murderers. For they had already slain the father and the mother of the little maid, humble woodcutters. I had known them well; they were poor, but of mine own people, and instantly in my heart I vowed that I would be avenged.
"The little girl, Brenda her name, as she told me in her childish way of confidence, had hidden in the brushwood all day, trembling and afraid. But at last she divined that the men had come to slay me, for as the afternoon advanced they disposed themselves among bushes and behind trees, also in the hut of her dead parents. And even now were the assassins in waiting for me, for the girl had seen our party ride forth in the early morning, and she knew that I had not yet returned.
"When, with wonderful intuition for a child so tender in years, the thought came to her mind that I was to be assailed, she stole down the gorge, moving cautiously through the undergrowth, and awaited at the spot we found her to give me warning.
"The child had described to me the leader of the gang, and I had immediately recognized Gunesh Tanti, accursed son of a pig, a robber from across the desert of Sindh, who had more than once ravaged peaceful villages of Rajputana. He would know that I had treasure in the fort, and of an instant I could read his wily plan. Moving through the country, he had doubtless heard a day or two before of this projected expedition of mine for the killing of the man-eating tiger. So he had designed to slay me on my homeward way, and, the deed accomplished, would rely on gaining access to the citadel by loading his ruffians into the howdahs of my elephants. Once over the drawbridge and within the portcullised gateway, his murderous scheme might have been easy, for my score of men-at-arms on duty would have been taken by surprise and so at a disadvantage.