you want to get back at him? He just wanted to keep you out of jail.’
‘He’s a louse. I’ll treat him like a louse - step on him and smash him and his business. And I’ve figured out a way that we can make a lot of money.’
That sounded good to his two companions.
‘How would you do that?’ Harry asked.
‘Simple. Get him in trouble. Fix it so that he has an accident.’
‘You mean to kill him?’
‘Perhaps. But anyhow get him into the hospital. And his kid brother too. Put them there for a good long stretch.’
‘What good would that do?’
‘Keep them out of the way so we could sell their animals and put the money in our own pockets. Hunt reckons that on average his animals are worth a thousand dollars apiece, some less, some more. His dad wants sixteen animals. Hunt says he will get about four animals more than that, making twenty animals altogether. What is twenty times a thousand dollars?’
‘Well, it’s twenty thousand dollars,’ said Jim.
‘Right. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that divided among the three of us? We could sell the animals to zoos and make twenty thousand dollars.’
‘But he hasn’t got them all yet.’
‘No. Give him time to get them and then put him in the hospital. Of course if he dies we can’t help that. Nobody can blame us for that.’
Harry said, ‘Why don’t you go to work and help him get all his beasts as quickly as possible? After that we can get him and his brother busted up.’
But Vic was too lazy and bitter to go on working for Hal.
‘He’d only pay me fifty dollars an animal. What’s that compared with twenty thousand? We can start out by making a thousand dollars right now. When they are off doing some hunting we can open the cage where they keep that elephant they call Big Fella and bring him to our place and sell him for a thousand dollars to some zoo. How about that?’
‘What zoo?’
The headman was telling me there are a dozen zoos right here in India. And others next door in Burma and Singapore. Japan is the big money country now. They would probably pay not one thousand dollars but five thousand at the Tokyo Zoo. What do you say? Are you with me?’
His friends were a little uncertain but such money sounded good.
‘I’m with you,’ Jim said.
‘Me too;’ said Harry.
Chapter 12
Another ‘King of Beasts’
The tiger is the ‘King of Beasts’ - bigger, heavier, stronger than any other member of the cat family.
But the lion is also called the ‘King of Beasts’ and honoured for his enormous power.
The two kings are widely separated. There are lions in Africa but no tigers. There are tigers in India, but no lions.
Except in the Gir Forest. Once upon a time, there were three thousand lions in the Gir Forest. Hunters have killed most of them and when the boys came there were only a hundred and seventy left according to the count of the Forest Patrol.
Dad wanted a Gir lion - not to kill, but to place in a zoo where it would be protected from killers. People would come from near and far to see it.
But Hal and Roger had almost given up their search for a Gir lion. The lions were hiding deep in the forest where there was no road, no path, no trail.
Luckily, the boys discovered them. They peered at them through the bushes. They saw a family or ‘pride’ of twelve lions, grandpa, grandma, pa and ma, aunts and uncles, young ones full of mischief, and babies just born.
There was no fighting here. Lions like each other. Grandpa was going about, rubbing up against every member of the pride as if to say, ‘Good morning, my dear’ - only he said it with a sort of growling purr.
All except the babies had hunted food all night, and now everyone was well fed, happy together, and ready to sleep all day - then up and out at sunset to find more food.
‘What a lovely family!’ Hal whispered.
They’ll probably all be killed by the guns,’ Roger whispered.
‘At least we can save one of them,’ replied Hal.
‘Which
‘He’s a louse. I’ll treat him like a louse - step on him and smash him and his business. And I’ve figured out a way that we can make a lot of money.’
That sounded good to his two companions.
‘How would you do that?’ Harry asked.
‘Simple. Get him in trouble. Fix it so that he has an accident.’
‘You mean to kill him?’
‘Perhaps. But anyhow get him into the hospital. And his kid brother too. Put them there for a good long stretch.’
‘What good would that do?’
‘Keep them out of the way so we could sell their animals and put the money in our own pockets. Hunt reckons that on average his animals are worth a thousand dollars apiece, some less, some more. His dad wants sixteen animals. Hunt says he will get about four animals more than that, making twenty animals altogether. What is twenty times a thousand dollars?’
‘Well, it’s twenty thousand dollars,’ said Jim.
‘Right. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that divided among the three of us? We could sell the animals to zoos and make twenty thousand dollars.’
‘But he hasn’t got them all yet.’
‘No. Give him time to get them and then put him in the hospital. Of course if he dies we can’t help that. Nobody can blame us for that.’
Harry said, ‘Why don’t you go to work and help him get all his beasts as quickly as possible? After that we can get him and his brother busted up.’
But Vic was too lazy and bitter to go on working for Hal.
‘He’d only pay me fifty dollars an animal. What’s that compared with twenty thousand? We can start out by making a thousand dollars right now. When they are off doing some hunting we can open the cage where they keep that elephant they call Big Fella and bring him to our place and sell him for a thousand dollars to some zoo. How about that?’
‘What zoo?’
The headman was telling me there are a dozen zoos right here in India. And others next door in Burma and Singapore. Japan is the big money country now. They would probably pay not one thousand dollars but five thousand at the Tokyo Zoo. What do you say? Are you with me?’
His friends were a little uncertain but such money sounded good.
‘I’m with you,’ Jim said.
‘Me too;’ said Harry.
Chapter 12
Another ‘King of Beasts’
The tiger is the ‘King of Beasts’ - bigger, heavier, stronger than any other member of the cat family.
But the lion is also called the ‘King of Beasts’ and honoured for his enormous power.
The two kings are widely separated. There are lions in Africa but no tigers. There are tigers in India, but no lions.
Except in the Gir Forest. Once upon a time, there were three thousand lions in the Gir Forest. Hunters have killed most of them and when the boys came there were only a hundred and seventy left according to the count of the Forest Patrol.
Dad wanted a Gir lion - not to kill, but to place in a zoo where it would be protected from killers. People would come from near and far to see it.
But Hal and Roger had almost given up their search for a Gir lion. The lions were hiding deep in the forest where there was no road, no path, no trail.
Luckily, the boys discovered them. They peered at them through the bushes. They saw a family or ‘pride’ of twelve lions, grandpa, grandma, pa and ma, aunts and uncles, young ones full of mischief, and babies just born.
There was no fighting here. Lions like each other. Grandpa was going about, rubbing up against every member of the pride as if to say, ‘Good morning, my dear’ - only he said it with a sort of growling purr.
All except the babies had hunted food all night, and now everyone was well fed, happy together, and ready to sleep all day - then up and out at sunset to find more food.
‘What a lovely family!’ Hal whispered.
They’ll probably all be killed by the guns,’ Roger whispered.
‘At least we can save one of them,’ replied Hal.
‘Which
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