Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-06-11

! no tiger al all Out only d SHduOW OF a
stone. IT'S all nonsense. Think OF Wal
dron and step out" l did so, encourag-
| ing myself as | walked as fast as | could
without actually running by such refec-
| tions as these. although | felt in cold
perspiration and my knees Knocked to-
| gether. 7 am not ashamed to say, with
pure fright. Remember l had no rifle.
| Gun. or even a pistol with me, and was
quite at the mercy of the tiger, if tiger it
was Perhaps for 100 yards or so T re-
strained my curiosity to look round
agaIp. but at last this Overcame my sense
of prudence and l 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.
/ I 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
! he followed thus was cruel and irritat-
| inc. and there must be an end to it. This
was the predominant thought in nv
mind. though I was at the same time cold
| with fear. | cursed the tiger in NV heart.
| as if he was a reasonable being opposing
nv wishes, and in the wildness 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
! I 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 l remained a 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
| cigar,9 and with trembling fingers sue
ceeded in lighting it. In some circum-
! stances there is nothing like tobacco to
! steady the nerves. / should like to " pro
pose" If it were given me to do so, with
! a cigar in my mouth; and | should think
J that pipe must be great aid to a per
| son DESTROYS of borrowing money from a
! friend With the smoke my courage re-
vived and I even had the temerity to
| throw a goOd-siZed stone into the bush
where my enemy had disappeared. He
is gone for good" | said to myself, " and
Joy go with him." for there was no re-
Spouse to this insult; and, the thought
lending me renewed vigOr, [ stepped out
DIISkIV again. IuC DCdSG tNlOGuIlN
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 I 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 before-not twenty
PAGES distant, fancy; and the horrible
thought came icily upon me that he was
keeping me company until favorable
opportunity offered for spring. Again
| shouted aloud, and again there was no
response. | summoned all the courage |
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 to 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 a moment
hension 1t was evident the animal was
stalking me, and [ paused to consider
what was to be done. To return was as
bad as to stand still, and yet to go on
looked very like tempting fate. Nowhere
was there a tree ! could climb for safety.
The bamboos grew in thick clumps, with
so much underground about their stems
as to render it hopeless to try to penetrate
it without making much noise in the at
tempt, and | felt that such noise would be
in the highest degree dangerous under
the circumstances. l might run at
my best pace ahead, and for
moment I thought OF doing so;
but then, again, the tiger could
easily outstrip me, and would not running
encourage him to follow? There was
nothing for it but to walk on as I had
been doing; and accordingly, affecting a
courage | was far from feeling, | went on
my way. [ could hear nothing as |
walked but the sound ofmy own footsteps
and the faint rustling of the leaves in the
bamboos overhead; but this silence Of the
night only rendered the occasional
! gIimpses caught of my terrible enemy
the more appalling, as he skunk like
! shadow from bush to bush, but always on
line with me, and, as [ fancied, nearer
and nearer to the roadside. do not know
! how long this continued. | was IN that
state of mind to take no count of time, and
my only idea was to get off as fast as posi-
BILE to the village for assistance. 1t was just
then, and when [ Twas plodding along over
the rutS and stones in the path, that |
heard, or fancied | heard, the sound OF
bearers voices borne family toward me
on the night breeze. Hay oh! Hi oh!
Hay oh! Hi OH" seemed to be waited to
me from afar like a song of deliverance,
and | stopped for moment to be sure
that my ears had not deceived me. At the
time, indeed, l was very doubtful whether
l was awake or asleep, sane or insane. 1t
might all be horrible nightmare, and
my CHASTITY companion mere freak OF the
imagination. Ipinched my arm to make
certain | was not dreaming; but l need
not have put nv wakefulness to
this test, for there was the tiger,
and this time in front OF me.
He must have passed ahead while
stopped to listen; and he now lay
crouched in the very middle of the path,
about twenty PAGES in front of me. The
moon was shining very brightly at the
moment, not a cloud near it, and lcould
distinctly make out every limb OF the an
imal, even to his tail, which was moving
from side to side with a rapid whisking
| motion. Instinctively | stepped few
PAGES backward, fully expecting to see the
| tiger pOunce upon me in one or two OF
those great bounds peculiar to the anil
| NAL; but he did nothing OF the sort-he
only sneaked a little nearer, his belly
upon the ground, and so stealthily that l
/ could only tell that he had moved by his
u q &c. 20