Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1874-07-16

peon compel another set of bearers
to accompany 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 under
stand what said, silently squeezed
my hand-a gesture I accepted as an
assent. There was no time to be lost
wrapped blanket around him, and
set off upon my lonely errand by the
Pickering light of the moon.
At first was too much engrossed
at poor Waldron's piteous state to
think much of my surroundings;
and had gone over perhaps half the
distance that divided us from the last
stage we had left when l became
painfully aware that l was in a very
awkward predicment myself. 1t was
that part of the road where the
bamboos grew thiekly, and 1 was
passing great cluster of canes
whose feathery leaves obscured the
light, when / tripped over stone
and fell fat on the road. l was not
much hurt-only my knees bruised; !;
but in getting up again to brush the
dirt off my clothes 1 happened to
look back, and an indescribable SEN
sation of awe came over me at what l
saw in my tracks: There acaS IT,
ger .following me. At first l would
not believe it; l reasoned with my
self that such a circumstance was
impossible. Il am nervous, tired,
anxious, and have perhaps an attack
of fever coming on" l said to my
self, 'and that dark thing there in the
road that l fancy is a tiger crouch
ing is no tiger at all but only is a
shadow of stone. It's all nonsense.
Think of Waldron and step out" I
did so encouraging myself IS Fwalk-
ed as fast as / could without actually
running by such reflections as these,
although l felt a cold perspiration
and my knees knocked together, /
am not ashamed to say, with pure
fright. Remember l had no rifle,
gun or even pistol with me, and was
quite at the mercy of the tiger, if ii
ger it was. Perhaps for one hundred
yards or SO / restrained 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 large ii
ger, which crouched to the ground di-
rectly as | turned. / do not know
what another person would have
done under the circumstances; for
myself, l felt for the moment mad
with mingled rage and mingled ter
ror. To be followed thus was cruel
and irritating, and there must be
an end to it. This was the predomi
nant thought in my mind, though at
the same time cold with fear. /
cursed the tiger in my heart, as if it
was reasonable being opposing my
wishes, and in the wildness of des-
pair l threw up my arms suddenly
and shouted with all my strength. 1
knew it was neck Or nothing; but my
joy was greater than can express
when l saw the tiger rise and sink
into the jungle. He did this so 81
lently and smoothly that l had to
look hard at the place where he had
been to feel assured he was really
gone; but then overcome by emo
tions l sank down on the ground,
where Iremained moment or two,
wiping the cold sweat from my brow.
Happily, l had my cigar case and
lights in the pockets of my coat; and
to reassure myself little drew out
cigar, and with trembling fingers
succeeded in lighting it. In some
circumstances there is nothing like
tobacco to steady the nerves.
should like to propose" if it were
given me to do so, with cigar in my
mouth; and l should think that a
pipe must be a great aid to person
desirous of borrowing money from
friend. With the smoke my cOur-
age revived, and even had the te-
merity to throw a good-sized stone
into the bush where my enemy had
disappeared. ''He is gone for good"
l said to myself, "and joy go with
him." for there was no response to
tlris insult; and, the thought lending
me renewed vigor, I stepped out
briskly again. "The beast evidently
took me for a deer or something of
that sort, and bolted when he heard
the human 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 transfixed, as
if it were, gazing at the long, stealthy
form of the tiger as he passed across
a glade in the jungle, walking paral-
lei with me. He was much closer
than before7pot twenty PAGES dis
tant, l fancy; and the horrible
thought came icily upon me that he
was keeping me company until a ia
vorable opportunity offered for a
spring. Again 1 shouted aloud, and
again there was no response. l sum-
moned all the courage l could mus
ter, and walked on, keeping as near
to the other side of the path as the
jungle would permit, and peering
cautiously into the bushes as 1 adj
vanoed. Still no tiger. l had got
over another hundred yards Or so, all
my nerves strung to their utmost ten
sion, when again l beheld that same
dreadful form gliding across a moon
lit glade. This time l saw the ami
NAL so plainly that the marks on the
skin were plainly discernable, and
though 1 lost sight of him again in
a moment, this sickened me with a
frightful apprehension. 1t was evi-
dent the animal was stalking me, and
l paused to consider what was to be
done To return was as bad as to
stand still, and yet to go on looked
vorv 1nuoh like tamntinO fate No