THE BOY BIGGLES

by Captain W. E. Johns

NB - IN THIS BOOK BIGGLES IS REFERRED TO AS “JAMES” BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY SUMMARIES; I HAVE REFERRED TO HIM AS BIGGLES.

I A TEST OF NERVE (Pages 11 - 26)

“The year was 1912. The bungalow of the Assistant Commissioner of the United Provinces of India sweltered under the sultry heat of the approaching monsoon”. In an office inside the bungalow, two men are talking. “One, a tired-looking man of late middle age, immaculate in white, was the Assistant Commissioner himself: Bigglesworth sahib of the Indian Civil Service. The other was perhaps a little younger, carelessly dressed in jungle shirt, jodhpurs and high mosquito boots. Present also was a boy with serious, thoughtful eyes. He listened attentively but took no part in the conversation. The senior of the two men was his father; the other, Captain John Lovell of the Indian Army”. Lovell is a shikari, that is, a hunter. “To the boy, James Bigglesworth, who until now knew him only by reputation, this mighty hunter was a hero to worship”. Lovell is asked about his health by Biggles’ father but Lovell brushes off the question and says the doctor has given him some pills. Biggles’ father explains to Lovell there have been some problems with a tiger in Cungit village about five miles away. The tiger has taken seven women and two children. The villagers are superstitious. They say this is no normal man-eater but one that carries an evil demon on its back to warn it of danger. The headman of the village is Hamid Lal and he has previously been awarded a medal for bravery saving someone’s life in a tiger attack. Hamid Lal has been asked to build a machan, that is a high platform in a tree for a hunter. Lovell says he will go and see if he can kill the tiger. Biggles asks if he can go with him. His father says “Certainly not. You’re too young for this sort of thing. Besides, you’d be in the way”. Lovell asks “How old are you, James?” and Biggles says that he is twelve. Lovell says that he will see that Biggles comes to no harm and so Biggles’ father reluctantly agrees to him going. Lovell and Biggles walk to the village and Lovell says to Biggles that he can call him Skipper rather than ‘sir’. They go to the house of the headman, Hamid Lal, who tells them that the tiger seized a woman the previous evening and Lal then takes them to the machan, a simple platform, about twelve feet up, in a tree in a clearing in the jungle. “On the fringe of the jungle a nasty mess of blood and rags showed where the tiger’s last victim had been killed and devoured”. Lovell uses a goat as bait, tethered to a post under the machan. Lovell and Biggles sit on the platform and wait as darkness closes in. Cloud covers the moon, so the area is soon in utter darkness. It starts to rain. Lovell says nothing. When Biggles looks at him, he realises that Lovell has slumped into a most uncomfortable position. Biggles asks him what the matter is. “It’s – another – heart – attack” says Lovell fighting for breath. He needs his pills but he has left them in his haversack at the house of Hamid Lal. “Now he knew what he had to do James did not hesitate”. Biggles climbs down the tree into the darkness even though there is a huge risk that the man-eating tiger is present. Biggles has a torch but the light fades to a glimmer, its battery apparently exhausted. Biggles gets to the house and gets the pills but then has to make the terrifying journey back. No one will go with him. For the return journey he takes a burning torch. The goat is still there, staring fixedly at something on the edge of the jungle. Biggles throws the torch at the spot and climbs back up the machan. Lovell is given his pills and begins to recover. “Did you see the tiger?” he asks. “No, but he was there. I shooed him off by throwing a torch at him”. The skipper made a queer noise in his throat. “So you shooed off a man-eater, eh!” A little later, in a voice that was fast gathering strength, he went on. “Let me tell you something, James. If you live to be a hundred you’ll never do a braver thing that what you did tonight – and I know what I’m talking about. I don’t regard myself as a coward, but I wouldn’t have gone down those steps for all the treasures of India. Not even with a rifle”. “What else would you expect me to do?” protested James. “Now let me tell you something. If I’m ever more frightened than I was this night I doubt if I’d live to tell the tale. I was petrified. When your torch packed up on me I really thought I’d die”. “That’s the real test of courage, James,” said the Skipper seriously. “It’s easy for a man who doesn’t know the meaning of fear to be brave. It’s the man who is afraid, but faces up to it, who deserves a royal salute. Such men are gold. Pure gold”. The story ends, with the comment “And it may be said here that the tiger never again troubled the village of Cungit. Hamid Lal may have been right when he explained, simply; “His demon warned him to go away, for here death awaited him”.