"Morning, hey boy." "thank you." "Look at my right hand very carefully, friend." "The caliber of this derringer is.38." "It's capable of putting a stain on the carpet hey boy could never remove." "Now, very slowly" "And very carefully take your hand out of that coat." "What do you want?" "Some identification on you, sir, if you please." "I do apologize, mr." "Hawkins." "It's a practiced reflex." "Let me apologize with a brandy." "Hey boy." "Thank you very much, but I never touch the grape, if it's all the same to you." "The last address my client had on you was in calcutta." "It was quite a job tracing you down." "Uh, good day, sir." "Well, just a minute." "Thank you, but I've had quite enough." "Please transmit my regards to our client." "Good day, sir." "Hey boy, what's wrong?" "Well, drink the brandy." "It's all right." "We'll call it medicinal, huh?" "That's the boy." "It's a bank draft for a thousand dollars." "Bank of argus, texas." ""come kill the tiger before it kills me."" "Signed john ellsworth, argus, texas." "Hey boy, what do you make of that?" "Tiger, mr." "Paladin?" "They are evil things." "Well, I've heard that texas has everything," "But I didn't know it included tigers." "Hey boy, you're gonna buy me a railroad ticket." "On your way." "Tiger not like other animal." "They have evil wisdom." "Inside them is devil." "Good morning, paladin." "Hey boy," "The devil can be found in many shapes." "Round-trip to argus, texas," "And tell the agency to have a good saddle horse waiting for me." "On your way." "No." "go away!" "Good-bye, sir." "Will you just take the bags off my saddle, please?" "Oh, I am sorry, sir." "Indeed, most genteelly sorry." "But I must insist that you Paladin." "Of course!" "Paladin!" "You will not believe this, but I am from the village of kulwadi." "Many years ago, you killed a tiger there." "It was I who recommended you to sahib ellsworth." "Kulwadi." "Is john magar still head man there?" "He is my father." "He has spoken of you many times." "The greatest of tiger hunters!" "Indeed, sir, I have sat and heard your name" "Blessed many times over my bread." "I thought you were one of the natives here." "Natives?" "Oh, yes, a quaint lot." "Very strange and, I'm afraid, dangerous." "Only when restless." "You should have been here a fortnight ago." "One of their festivals, a box dance?" "Box dance?" "For no reason at all, they begin to appear oh, a square dance." "From miles around, carrying fermented liquors." "I presume you work for john ellsworth." "Oh, yes, sir." "He engaged me in bombay." "Now, sir, in this dance, they pair off." "Males to one side;" "females to the other." "I should guess part of their mating custom." "Mr. Ellsworth sent me a note." "He seems to feel he's in grave danger." "Oh, yes, sir." "Sahib ellsworth is summoning up a tiger." "Now, sir, after they have paired off..." "He is summoning up a tiger?" "Would the son of john magar lie, sir?" "When the tiger appears," "You will shoot it before it kills the sahib." "Now, sir, the festival." "After the natives..." "The son of john magar would not lie." "Neither will he stop talking." "In your father's name, I may have to box your ears." "I will most quietly take you to my master." "And next my investigators traced you to china" "And then to europe." "Of course, there were other hunters I could have hired," "But the more difficult it was to find you," "The more determined I was that you were to be my man." "Tell me, mr." "Paladin, what made you accept?" "Was it the mystery, or was it the money?" "Tell me about your tiger, mr." "Ellsworth." "straight to the point." "Just as I imagined." "I'm indebted to my servant for having suggested such a..." "Colorful personality." "You were a great friend of pahndu's father, I believe, huh?" "In point, you've spent considerable time in india," "Arriving there April 4, 1857." "You know quite a lot about tiger hunting." "According to my investigators," "You made your first kill June the 20th," "A notorious man-eater near the village of jaunpur." "Your next," "Along the east slope of the sidhpura range." "No wonder you were so popular with the natives." "I made some friends." "And some enemies?" "At mysore?" "Tell me, mr." "Paladin." "Was she as beautiful as they say?" "Ah, I can see by your face that she was." "A great tragedy." "You could learn from my example." "When I see something I want..." "I buy it." "Lovely." "And in her own way, lahri is well-educated." "As you know so well, mr." "Paladin," "The temple girls are trained in subtle and curious ways," "Which bothers pahndu considerably." "As you will note sooner or later," "Pahndu is very much in love with lahri." "Pahndu, tell us of your great love." "I am your servant." "I would never touch her." "We are both honorable people, sir." "A powerful emotion, young love, mr." "Paladin." "Fascinating to watch it grow" "Until it becomes unbearable." "Is it not, pahndu?" "Kill it!" "Kill it!" "That'll be all." "Leave us." "How dare you give orders to my servants!" "Come back here, pa- sit down." "Please." "Ellsworth, I don't like you." "I don't like the way you find your pleasures." "I don't like anything about you." "But I am interested." "I've heard of cases like yours." "Just what do you think my case is, mr." "Paladin?" "You imagine yourself the victim" "Of an old bengali legend." "A tiger curse." "What do you know of the bengali legend?" "It's not very complicated." "Man begins to think about tigers." "The harder he tries not to," "The more he sees the massive head and green eyes." "Tiger invades his dreams, turns them into nightmares." "Then the man begins to see tigers when he's awake." "The obsession grows stronger and stronger" "Until finally the very power of it summons up the beast," "Which, of course, kills and eats the man." "Do you believe in it?" "More important, do you?" "I've run halfway round the world trying to get away from it." "I finally settled in this..." "Miserable, forsaken place," "As far away from india as a man can get." "Either that curse is a fact, or I am insane." "Suppose you tell me which." "I always found the bengalis to be a very gentle people." "Why would they put a fatal curse on a man, assuming that they could?" "I was hunting in javal." "I stumbled across this spoor." "A big cat." "The biggest prince I'd ever seen." "Naturally, I had to have the trophy." "So I tracked it." "Finally managed to get in a shot." "I only wounded it." "You know how a tiger can fade away" "Once it gets into the bush." "And it can be very dangerous." "I lost it." "You're a liar." "If I didn't have this gout, I'd..." "Yes, I..." "I was afraid to follow it." "Well, he had to find some easy way to get his food" "While his leg was mending." "So he became a man-eater." "He killed a hundred or so natives." "I'm not the first person who turned a tiger into a man-eater!" "It's very strange, mr." "Ellsworth." "You seem to attract cats." "The next-to-final stage of the curse." "Isn't that what the legend says?" "The cats grow larger and more vicious" "Until finally the tiger comes." "I need help, mr." "Paladin." "Let's see if this convinces you." "Get some brandy." "All right." "Is it my imagination, mr." "Paladin?" "Answer that!" "No, I..." "Pour it on the wound." "Wash it out." "All right." "Maybe I am a coward." "I ran away from a tiger." "Perhaps I've done even worse things." "Maybe I am responsible for a few miserable natives dying." "But you go around judging people?" "Are you going to help me?" "I'm not sure." "I haven't got time to find another man with your experience." "My tiger is on its way." "I sense it." "Get the javali cards." "We'll find out just how wise mr." "Paladin really is." "Do you recognize those?" "Yes." "They're used in a game similar to our poker." "There are 41 cards in the deck," "Five bearing pictures of sacred cows," "Five monkeys, five pigs, five dogs, and so on." "The 41st card is a tiger." "There's one tiger in the deck." "You imply it's only my imagination?" "You saw the cards shuffled." "You cut them." "I simply took one off the top." "Now I'd like you to see why you're really here." "Best watchdog in the world." "There's something moving around out there." "That's all right." "It's a coyote, and it's your move." "You disappoint me." "Checkmate." "There are, of course, certain unexplained mysteries," "Certain things in life for which we have no logical explanation." "Such as the power of a thousand dollars?" "A thousand dollars, ellsworth, would scarcely pay me" "For the pain of enduring your company." "I'd have to have at least another thousand to protect you" "From a tiger, paid in advance, whether or not I succeed." "I can buy and sell people like you, mr." "Gunman." "Oh?" "Paladin," "One thousand dollars..." "Even." "There's your second thousand." "Tell me, when you draw the card," "Does the girl lahri always shuffle them?" "You think I haven't considered that?" "You shuffle them yourself this time." "They're shuffled." "Elephant." "Wait a minute." "Two of them are stuck together." "That's strange." "I never heard of one penetrating this far into a town." "That sounded like a mountain lion." "You've never heard of tigers in texas either," "But one is coming." "You tell me it is not even the size of a small tiger." "Even in animals, this is an inferior continent." "What's in there?" "Smokehouse." "Smokehouse?" "We have always had a smokehouse." "We have never, until now, had tigers." "Mountain lions." "Oh, yes." "Mountain lions and house cats." "There are cats wherever there are men." "Haven't you noticed how cats force themselves on people" "Who are afraid of them?" "What about the cards?" "Perhaps, when the tiger comes, he will eat us all." "Life is a strange thing." "To be eaten by a tiger in a foreign land." "Of course I already know how this feels." "My heart has grown teeth and eats at my own body." "Pahndu, just how much do you dislike mr." "Ellsworth?" "How much, sir?" "A man who takes his pleasures as he does?" "To see lahri and me together as souls on fire?" "He encourages us to show our respect for the other." "He delights in building in us love," "Which he makes impossible." "Tell me, sahib paladin, how much could a man hate him?" "Perhaps enough to force him into an act of desperation." "You forget I am the son of john magar." "In your father's name, I apologize." "Perhaps you would care to apologize" "With a pound of tobacco." "My purse is very empty." "I never could stand the sight of a man in pain." "There must be a tobacconist in town." "Well, look who's here!" "Ellsworth's injun." "Some injun." "Come on, boy." "Tell us again that tribe you're from." "Someone mind holding this for me?" "I would be happy to assist." "Biggest circus ever to hit this state." "Be here tomorrow." "Fat ladies, freaks, wild animal acts." "Some tiger, huh, boy?" "Sahib paladin!" "Have your boy take that to our office." "They'll give him a pass for helping me." "Better go get your boy before he gets to the circus." "They're liable to keep him there!" "Oh!" "Oh, sahib!" "Tell ellsworth I want to see him." "Not possible, sahib." "Please?" "Paladin!" "I have already warned ellsworth." "He has ridden to the next town." "He instructs you to kill the t - pahndu." "Pahndu!" "Now, think carefully." "Was the name of the town seely?" "Concord?" "Hempstead?" "Was it humboldt?" "Ah, yes." "That is the name." "The town of humboldt." "The circus is due to lay over in humboldt tonight." "You'd better saddle my horse." "May I?" "Better turn back, mister." "Been an accident up ahead." "What happened?" "Circus wagon turned over." "Some wild animals got loose." "Could be dangerous." "And you two stopped everybody who came along this path" "Except a fat man." "How did you know that?" "We tried to flag him down, but he wouldn't stop to hear..." "No!" "Kitty, kitty, kitty." "Come on, baby." "That's it, johnny." "Come to papa." "Come on, baby." "Come on." "That's a baby." "Open that door!" "It's opened." "Close it!" "Is she all right?" "Is she all right?" "We saved her life." "You stupid, flea-bitten cat." "You'd starve to death out here." "Joe." "You lookin' for somethin'?" "Watch where you point that thing." "We got a valuable animal in here." "At least 20 years old," "Exhausted, frightened, his teeth falling out..." "About as dangerous as somebody's grandfather." "You got no call to down-talk johnny to his face." "That cat's got feelings, too, rube." "Of course you're right." "Johnny, I beg your pardon." "I got no call to down-talk you." "No, sir." "I got no..." "Ellsworth!" "Ellsworth, you out there?" "Ellsworth!" "Ellsworth!" "We better see what's up." "a man blinded by fear." "To run straight off a 200-foot drop like that." "I'll have my boys take care of the body." "Will you have 'em take him to argus?" "Happens to be right where we're headed." "Yes, I know." "I'll go on ahead." "I wanna buy some boat tickets to india." "India?" "That's right." "Couple of friends of mine, they'll be newly married," "And I'd like to wish them bon voyage." "One man dies, another gets married." "Man never knows, does he?" "On the contrary," "Sometimes a man knows his next appointment too well." "¶ "have gun, will travel" reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ a knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ his fast gun-for-hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ a soldier of fortune is the man called ¶" "¶ paladin ¶" "¶ paladin, paladin where do you roam ¶"