Page:Anandamath, The Abbey of Bliss - Chatterjee.djvu/147

Rh ed by a company of huntsmen. To tell the truth, Captain Thomas was fearless, and for boldness and strength he was an example even to Englishmen. The wood teemed with tigers, buffaloes, bears and other wild beasts. After some distance was passed the huntsmen refused to go further and said there was no way further on. Donniworth had once been encountered by such a tiger in the woods that he too was not inclined to go further. They were for turning back, but the Captain said : " You may return, but I won't." So he entered the depths of the forest alone. In fact there was no way into it. The horse could not proceed further, but the Captain left it, walked alone into the woods with a gun in hand and looked about for a tiger. He did not find any tiger, but who was there sitting under a huge tree covered over with flowery creepers ? It was a young devotee who lit up the woods with the charm of her person. It seemed as if the blooming flowers grew more fragrant by the touch of that heavenly body. The Captain was surprised, but his surprise was followed by wrath. He knew the native dialect fairly well, and, in his queer accents, asked in vernacular "Who are you ? " The devotee answered : " I am a devotee." " You are a rebel/' answered the captain, unable to express his sense in vernacular. " What is that ? " enquired the ascetic. " I will shoot you down," said the captain in his broken accents. " Do so," said the Sannyasi.