"Now as I had made up my mind to charge something that was in my path, and as the sight of Bagh in his evil temper drew my anger toward him, I drove full at his yellow throat. Just one rip of my tusks, and with a howl like a starved Jackal he cleared for the Jungle. He meant to eat that Man, you see."
"Now we are getting at the truth of the matter," cried Magh, gleefully. "When these Jungle thieves fall out, we get to know them fairly well."
"But tell us more of this hunting of your kind with the spears, O brother of the Big Tusks," pleaded Hathi. "It does seem an unjust thing."
"Well," continued the Seoni Boar, "as I have said, while in my Mother's keeping, she taught me much of the ways of the Boar Hunters. Many a run from the Spear Men I've been in. But while I was small, and had not tusks, of course I was allowed to go, even when they came full upon the top of us; but in a few years my tusks grew, and each run became harder and more difficult to get away from. Besides, early in the Cold Time, at the time the Men call Christmas, we Boars all went off by ourselves, and left the Sows and Squeakers in peace; and, while I think of it, I've no doubt it was at this time that Bagh killed so many of my people in the raji fields. Had there been a big Tusker or two there, Tiger would have been busy looking for Chital or Sambhur.
"Well, through being away from my Mother this way, and mixing with the other Boars, I got to be quite capable of taking care of myself; and, as I lived year after year, finally the Black Men, Ugh! also the White-faced ones, gave to me the name of the Seoni Boar. So, with the more knowledge I gained with my years of being, the more I required it, for the closer they hunted me.
"IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT BAGH KILLED SO MANY OF MY PEOPLE."
"Strange how it is that every Jungle Dweller's hand is against the Pig. I declare here, before all you Comrades, that more than once I have been lying dog-oh, close hid in the bowlchie, when a screech-voiced Peacock has commenced to cry, 'Aih-ou, aih-ou!' as plain as you like, 'Here he is, here he is!' and down on my heels would come the Spear Men on their rushing Ponies. But I soon learned to take to the Scrub-Jungle, knowing that the ponies would not follow me. But even there in the Jungle I've been hunted by the Black-kind; and then it was the same way, enemies afoot, and enemies overhead. Langur, a fool-cousin of Magh's there, many a time has betrayed my hiding-place to the hunt Man. 'Che-che-che, wow, wow!' over my head the silly thieves would chatter and well the Huntsmen would know that I had gone that way.
"Once when I was started out of the Seoni Bund, and was making with full speed through the dol khet, a meddlesome white Dog came chasing after me, snapping at my heels, and crying, 'Bah, ki-yi, bah, ki-yi!' Well I knew that as long as that noise kept up, I might as well be running out in the open in full view, so I checked my pace a little, and the Dog, with more pluck than good sense, laid me by the ear. With one rip of my tusk sideways, I cast him open from end to end. But such matters take some time, and check one when the run is close, and before I could take to cover again, a Pony was fair on top of me.