Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1870-12-14

a0vanc5d. III was tne HFSt liiuc L e'cT
hunted tiger, aud from the mom,nt
started, / felt strange excitement, more
painful than exliilerntng.
In an hours time We reached the
guIy--the deep bed of a dry stream a
place where at some seasons rushed
torrent of water. The place was not so
dry but in some parts Of il grew wild
luxuriance of vegetation, gorgeous
blossomipg Of deep colored flowers, aud
the air was sickening and heavy with tue
perfume Of them. AS We came close to
the ruins, | thought the ha.f dozen ma
tives with me gave some signs of a dis
position 10 shirk out Of too near an mp
prosch to the supposed lair of the beast.
did not know much about those fellows
then, but have learned to think since,
that on the whole they are about as
brave as the average OF human beings
Il bad reached the thickest part Of
the sbrubbery, and saw ahead the CLEAN
of an open spnce--a part of the empty
bed of the stream. With my gun cooked
I carefully pushed aside the leaves, feel
ing as if some dreadful sight was to meet
INV eye. And true enough! in open
space, but under the shade of u broad
leafed tree. sat huge tiger-sst upon
bis launches like q cat--panting, but ap
parcnty enjoying his rest and his aulicl
pated feast. Lying in front of him, so
near that his paws touched her, was the
motionless insensihe body of girl six
teen or seventeen. her long. black hair
streaming on the ground, her face up
turned aud colorless. | could not tell
whether she WAS dead or not. In the
move; | forgot that had u gun. The
tiger looked down nj her. touched her
little with his paw just MS bad hun
dred times seen cat do with a mouse.
His motion dspeiled my immobi';ty, |
raised my gun, look careful aim. and
fired.
The beast looked up wildly, bounded
forward over the girl, then fell down and
lay still, the blood oozing from his breast
| da,hed through the branches and
rushed toward the girl, hearing the ma
tives push along som" way behind. One
of them must have been in advance Of
the rest, before had reached the girls
side | hear! shfil cry of warning and
borrow from behind, and at the same
instant saw the tiger struggle TO his
feet sgain; caught the green mud vel
low glitter Of his eyes. the snowy sheen
of his fang. All that saw in tho in
s,ant--ihc next no lad sprung upon me.
felt, in the seconl Of tho greatest phys
zeal horror | can imagine, his teeth
crushing through INV flesh--then | felt
him Ieaping away with me; then nerci
fully the blackness of Inconsistencies
came to me-.
Captain Roland paused for moment,
his fnce white. tho hand that held his
forgotten cheroot trembling little. He
he had spoken in the low. quiet tones
that impress 40 deeply. and by the qui.
etness of that camp fire. with the distant
bowls of fierce brutes in the air. with
that solemn sky overhead, we all felt
the horrors of the story he had tol /.
When awakened the blazing sun
bad long since passed the meridian !;
long rays of yellow light came in mar
row bars between the holes of the trees
of a grove u few ,iods away. | WAS
lying Gu 40 open plain, 10 a place | did
not know, though | could not believe it
To be far from the gully, But l could
not feel, much less think, at first. By
degrees sense Of pain began to grow
upon me. was bruised nil over my
body; achcd everywhere. Only my
Jeff arm was Tree from paiu, and | looked
down in wonder at it, glad that some
thing bad escaped. cannot tell you
the sensation that came over me rs |
saw, not NV arm. but mass Of flesh.
and the linen of my sleeve-a mangIed
object without shape Just obove my
elbow my arm regained its form; it WAS
not apparently Injured there, There
was no sensation in il; it WAS for the
time being incapable of suffering At
the first moment | did not remember
the cause; then | looked about for the
tiger, for it must have been he who had
brought mo here. found him; he was
lying close to my head utterly motion
less; | could see his eyes. and | knew
by them that he WINS dead; it was my
shot that had killed him at last, though
he lived to taste partial revenge.
Il began to suffer acutely. And be
sides all my real pains, | thought of the
dreadful death that awaited me. could
not live long in that situation, perhaps
not even if | found aud cared for; but
that did not expect. | was Young and
hopeful. had friends that | loved in
thst far off and pleasant England. MY
heart bled as thought of them. anil |
tried to Danish such ideas from my mind,
bu, coull not Again and again they
would return, and lived over all my
happy DAYS at the old manor house
which is my home. At last, when the
sun had finally gone down, aud full,
red moon had swung Itself up the hor
rizon, staring wildly at me, sort of stu
por came over me, and ! fell into hsa
w sleep. which was more stupidity than
sleep Thus l spent the night, alternate.
ly waking and falling into trance.
thought il likely that | should fall prey
TO some wandering beast, but | was moi
troubled BY the ihought. But heaven
bad decreed that they should find some