Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-06-11

was apparently worse, and could scarcely
| speak; and yet could do nothing for
him. Suddenly the thought flashed
across my mind that l might return to
the village we had left, and with the aid
of the head man and the bungalow peon
| compel another set of bearers to accom-.
| pany me. told Waldron of this at once,
and my poor friend, who was by this time
| so nervous and weak as scarcely to be
able to understand what l said, silently
squeezed my hand--a gesture l accepted
as an assent There was no time to be
| lost; l wrapped blanket around him,
and set off upon my lonely errand by the
tiickering light of the moon.
AT first | was too much engrossed at
| poor Waldron'S piteous state to think
much of my surroundings; and l had
gone over perhaps half the distance that
divided us from the last stage we had
leIt when | became painfully aware that
l was in very awkward predicament
myself. 1t was that part of the ROAD
VIII re the bamboos grew thickly, and |
was passing great cluster of canes
whose feathery leaves obsCured the light,
wnen | tripped over stone and fell flat
on the road. | was not much hurt-only
my knee bruised: but in getting up again
to brush the dirt off my clothes | hap.
pened to look back, and an indescribable
sensation OF awe came over me at what
saw in my tracks: There acds tiger fol-
2ousng me. At first l would not believe
it; | reasoned with myself that such a
circumstance was impossible. al am
nervous, tired, anxious, and have perhaps
an attack of fever coming on" said to
myself, land that dark thing there in the
road that l fancy ia a tiger crouching is
no tiger at all but only shadow or a
stone. It's all nonsense. Think of Wal
dron and step out" | did 50, encourag-
ing myself as | walked as fast as could
without actually running by such retlec-
tons as these, although l felt in cold
perspiration and my knees knocked to-
gether, | am not ashamed to say, with
pure fright Remember | had no rifle,
gun, or even pistol with me, and was
quite at the mercy of the tiger, if tiger it
was. Perhaps for 100 yards or so | re-
strained my curiosity to look round
again, but at last this overcame my sense
of prudence and | stopped short and
faced round. There could be no mistake
this time. Not thirty PAGES from me,
standing full in the moonlight, was
a large tiger, which crouched TO
the ground directly as | turned.
| do not know what another per
son would have done under the circum-
stances; for myself, | felt for the moment
mad with mingled rage and terror To
be followed thus was cruel and irritat-
ing, and there must be an end to it. This
was the predominant thought in my
mind, though was at the same time cold
with fear. | cursed the tiger in my heart,
as if he was a reasonable being opposing
my wishes, and in the wildress of despair
| threw up my arms Suddenly and shouted
with all my strength. knew it was neck
or nothing; but my joy was greater than
| can express when | saw the Tiger rise
and sink into the jungle. He did this SO
silently and smoothly that | had to look
hard at the place where he had been to
feel assured he was really gone; but
then, overcome by emotions, | sank down
on the ground, where | remained mo.
ment or two, wiping the cold sweat from
my brow. Happily, | had my cigar case
and lights in the pocket of my coat; and
to reassure myself little | drew out a
cigars and with trembling fingers sue
ceeded in lighting it. In some circum.
stances there is nothing like tobacco to
stea Iy the nerves | should like to "pro-
pose" If it were given me to do so, with
a cigar in my mouth; and should think
that pipe must be great aid to per
son DESTROYS of borrowing money from a
friend. With the smoke my courage re-
vived, and | even had the temerity to
throw good-sized stone into the bush
where my enemy had disappeared. He
is gone for good" | said TO myself, Z" land
Joy go with him." for there was no re-
Spouse to this insult; and, the thought
lending me renewed vigor, | stepped out
briskly again 1.-The beast evidently
took me for a deer or something Of that
sort, and bolted when he heard the hui
man voice divine. Halloo as live, there
he is again"
The cigar dropped from my mouth as
muttered these last words under my
BREATH and | stood transtixed, as it were,
gazing at the long, stealthy form OF the
tiger as he passed across glade IN the
jungle, walking parallel with me. He
was much closer than betore-not twenty
PAGES distant, fancy; and the horrible
thought came icily upon me that he was
keeping me company until a favorable
opportunity offered for a spring. Again
| shouted aloud, and again there was no
response. l summoned all the courage l
could muster, and walked on, keeping as
near to the other side of the path as the
Jungle permitted and peering cautiously
into the bushes as | advanced. Still no
tiger. | had got over another hundred
yards or so, all my nerves strung 20 Their
| utmost tension, when again | beheld that
same dreadful form gliding across a
moonlit glade. This time | saw the
| animal so plainly that the marks on his
skin were plainly discernible, and though
| lost sight of him again in moment
this sickened me with frightful appre-
! hension. 1t was evident the animal was
stalking me, and | paused to consider
what was to be done. To return was a.