Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1849-01-19

| the Officers.
"3y no means, gentlemens' cried the Count in
tone of bitter scotn, 'and irf proof of it, l repea
my pledge Listen ts me Sell, that the man VIII,
accepts the challenge fnay Anow to what he bind
himself To the health Of him. he continued
| "who shall seek out the t9gress alone on foot
through the reeds, and slaY 1t, amid its whelp:
with no other weapon thanSthis poignardT'
Universal silence cllowea these words, during
which the Count gazed in turn at all present. eve
! " eve was cast to the ground.
| @No one answers ~ he continued, with smile
/ mo one ventures TO accept my challenge Nc
one has the courage to do ltonor to my pledge p
Well then, | must unllertake it myself and if dc
not, YOU may call me knave, | now call you
i towards = With tlbse words, Benzeval drained
his glass, then set it calmly upon the table, and
! said, as he approached the Goor-
| aAdiets, until Tomorrow. gentlemen y and with
these wo rds he disappeared
As six o'clocl: ontthe s5llowing morning the
Count had completed. his Preparations for the fear
full hunt, when his cynpal.ions of the preceding
day entered his chamber e entreat him 10 give up
an undertaking, She result 81 which could not but
prove fatal to him but tht Count would not lis
ten TO them They acknowledged the improprie-
ty OF their conduct az the ble the day before and
owned that they had behased heedlessly and rude
w. The Count 9haniled ele gentlemen for their
excuses but refused To acctsot them He answered
abruptly, that his principles did not permit him to
shed the blood of his ellcEw men, and that he re-
tracted the epithet which Sc had applied 10 them,
but that nothngzcould in fuce him TO give up his
intended adventure At tae same time he invited
the gentlemen tomoGnt their horses assuring them
however. that If they re sIsed TO honor nina with
their company he would 90 alone IN search of the
tigress. This Geclasation was uttered IN SO firm a
tone, that one attempted to oppo his purpose.
but ali mounted thej< horses, in order according
to agreement, te join the 4ount at tie eastern gate
OF the city.
The party rode 10: silence towards the appointed
spot. Each one was PROS ided with a double-bar-
relied towling-p3ece,o or with carbine; the Count
alone without Z weapon. lie wa dressei
le young fois when ht takes IA n o mig ride
tie Eos lie Fogiogae. The Office S eel at e Oh
otlcr WITH ACCOMPLISHMENT i no could believe it
possible that ti.e Count would persevere in this
c,lmness TO the END.
When they reached thei edge of the swamp. the
officers made an3ther atteilpt to prevent him from
pushing the adventure agyher. IN the midst of
their exposttilafionss and is if to warn him. loud
roar was heard at 4 ds,a, pee of abo 1t hundred
PAGES; the terrified hors.s began to plunge ana
rear
You see, ge.stlenaen laid the Count eve are
observed; the animal kaows that we are here,
AMI upon quitting the East Indies, which | shall
probably never visis agal, do not wish to leave
un;avorables ope0ion Behind me-evon with q
tigress. Forward e..nen :"
With these words the Count struck the spurs
into his horse sides. in order to pass along the
edge OF the swamp; and seach the hill from the
summit OF WlElch they could see over the reeds
which hid the gigrGss ana her wheips
When they lad ieachsd the foot of the hill
second roar was a6ard but now so loud and near
that one of the logses started aside, and almost
threw his rider ficm the saddle, the others with
foarnng mouths, plated nostrils, fixed and slaring
eyes. treubesi lii avery limb. The entire party
= ind cav 1y+o <Ep
hands of The slaves; the Count was the first to
Gambler up the hil.
From It's summit he could follow the tracks OF
the wild beast through .le crushed reeds. Paths
about two eetsin Aidth, fwere broken amid the tall
stems, and as the Sofcss had said all Led toward
a common centre, wLeIs the reeds were trampled
down. leaving a spot of fiare earth. Another
from this direction dissipated all doubt and Ben
zeyal now knew where 60 find his enemy.
The Oldest of tls officers once more approached
the Count but the lattef d.vinng his inteation
toned him coldly:away with his hand He then
bu.toned his coat slnd requested one of his cousins
to lend him the ssk sa5a that was fastened abou.
his waist, in urde: 70 wrap it around his left arn
/ he then becEoHes the Malay TO reach him his
ro gnard and DIRECTED she latter to fasten it firmly
il his hands by means of wet cloth; he threw
his hat upon the Ground Smoothed his hair calmly
from his face ans. took the shortest way towards
! the reeds, amid syhiclI he disappeared for some
moments, while sis companions gazed upon each
other in dismay, 5as If they scarcely credited the
reality of the .sceSe which was passing.
Slowly and cautiously, the Count advanced up
on the path, witch was so plainly marked out
that it Impossible to either TO the right or
to the LEFT. Nh4n he had proceeded about h n
dred PAGES, lie heard fow growl, which informed
him that his .ee.oy / upon the watch, and that
/ il she had moi SEEN, size had at least scented him
he stopped for a:secOf and as soon as the noise
/ ceased, continues. on Is way. lie soon reaeIed
/ the bare spot, ihicl{was strcwn with bones &c
which remnants:of FISH were still ciinging. He
glanced around Che c.cle, and in cavity of fen
feet in denth; vs3lich vas over-arched, as it ve-e
with reeds. he flercefed the tigress, half erect
with open Jaws: ana her eyes fixed upon him
while her NhelI.s VIDE playing beneath her Ike
Young kitteEs
he Co,f atone csuld describe what passed. a
this momeIt Jn hisabosom; but his soul was al
ABYSS which losked - every emotion. The TIVE
antagonists gazfd uIpn each other steadiastly 10
awhile, but when lie Count remarked that th
animal fearing to etve her whelps did not attacl
hun, he resolved hin, self to be the assailant-
He approached - within few PAGES of heI
and as he saw at lass that She made moyemen
: to rise, he at odce rushed upon the animal Thos
who watched snd litened, heard at once Toa
and a cry; for i molnent they saw the reeds aglta
ted then peraAst sjlsnce followed. All was ovel
They waited for "a few seconds, to see if III
Count wopld appear again, but they waited /
: vain.
They were tow ashamed at having suffered hiT
/ to enter tke SWAMP alone, and resolved, as the
had not preveeted sim from throwing away hi
life. at least Is reco;er his body. They advance
e1gerlv into TIE swamp, and at last reached III
: bare spot where they found the two antagonist
living one l,pon the ther: the tigress dead ii
/ Count in a svgoon The two whelps, as yet 10
voung 10 devaur han. were licking his blood.
s The tigress had yeceived seven polgnard stroke
I, the Count bite which had crushed his left arr
i and a stroke fromt the animals paw which hs
4 lacerated his breast.
The officers borl away the body Of the ngre
Il, and the senseless Count man and beast were &C
Il,