The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-05-02

and stood for a moment or two on
the steps, enjoying the delicious
freshness Of the morning. Whilst
standing thus, the thought came into
my head that it would be rs well to
take q peep into my painting-room,
md sec that everything was right
there. On leaving off work the pre-
vious evening, had left open the
door leading into the verandah, in
order that tho room might be purified
by morning from the smell of some
turpentine which / had accidentally
spilled. This door i lad afterwards
forgotten to shut before going to bed;
and the idea now struck me that it
would be as we'll to see that no stray
cat OF dog had been playing any
pranks among my brushes and colors
during the night. The door leading
from the verandah into the painting
room was at an opposite angle of the
house from that ut which I was now
standing, so descended the steps
leisurely, and walked across the grass
plot towards it. AS I stepped ultlcr
the verandah, l say with some sur
prise that the door in front of mc
was shut. 1t was q swing-door, that
shut of it's own accord, unless fas-
tened back, and, on leaving it over
night, | had proppcd it open with Il
char; but tho chair was now gone
and the door closed. Wondering a
little by what means this had come
about, l pushed open the door, and
went i'll. AS / entered the room,
mechanically let 60 the door, which
swung to, and shut me in; and the
same instant L felt, rather by intui
tlon than by the action OF any more
positive sense. that l was shut uD
with something that had no business
there-with something terrible.
had but one brief instant to look
round; the next, my wandering gaze
liked itself upon two great bhzin~
eyes staring balefully out at Inc from
q dusky corner of the room; but in
that one second of time, my mind
took III tho fallen chair, the Great
cheval glass in the centre Of theroom.
my easel III one corner, Il broken dol,
OF MINIS on the floor; While other
familiar objects further away in the
hlS room still showed iniistinctly
through the dim gray light creeping
through the thick panes Of the old
window; then the eyes took nc. and
III that first awful shock with which
the sight OF them thrilled me, | think
that | could hardly have turned my
mead away even to save my life.
They giared at me unwinl1ingly from
the seml-obscurity of the corner with
q sort OF concentrated fcrocity in
their glare which chilled my very
| heart blood. To what strange mon
stcr crouching there, but halfsccn in
that dlm corner, did those fiery orbs
belong? Not long was L left in doubt.
With snarl, low, deep and fcro-
clous-with an arching and bristline
OF It's immense back-with its mouth
grlnnlng m,,rdcr-with one crouch
ing step backward, as if to give itself
more leverage for spring-and with
ono mighty rush, Ms tiger was upon
me. 1 fell as though smitten by a
thunderbolt, blcod-red light danced
ior an instant before my eyes, and
then came a darkness Us of death.
NJ senses came back but slowly. T
awoke by degrees to consciousness
OF HE, but of Il life utterly discovered
from that of my former self. .
Where had 1 been, and what had
happened to me? All, the tiger. l
remembered everything now. But
even this reality, bad as ii was, seemed
hardly as terrible as the doom wllicl,
threatened me in my dream, il u
dream 1t could be called. That dtll,
dead weight upon my chest, which,
even IN my half conscious state, had
seemed pondcrous enough to gradu-
ally crush the breath out of me, was
nothing more or less than the i'm
mcnsc paw Of the animal, in whose
power | now was, and the shifting of
1t mad broken my vision Just ut the
point where endurance ends. and
madness or death supcwcncs. In
that 1lrst moment of scmi.conscious-
ness, after ropening my eyes, ] croancl
slightly and tried to turn over: but
scarcely had l stirred limb, when
the tiger, which was crouching on the
floor close by my shoulder, put forth
his paw again, as though afraid /
were going to escape him, and
brought it down on the upper part of
my right arm. At the same moment,
his claws shot from their heaths like
so many hidden poignards, and penc-
tratcd through the thick cloth of nv
shooting-coat deep into my flesh. A
shrek of anguish involllntarily cs-
caDe1 NV line 4o ,yL;o,, +l> 49,.