The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-07-06
Selett Storg.
MY FIRST TGER.

Our llttle IWO nlohVii' HN'J
commenced so badly And as shespeaks
Patsy Bolton glanees gleefully at slip Of
paper he is jealously holding
MY dear fellow leisurely reply, I
haven't the faintest idea to what you al
lude Perhaps, if you let me know the
contents of that letter. the fog might dis
appear. By-the-by, Patsy / continue,
'dprop6s of ideas, that is not bad one
nv self.comforting butler has got hold
Of He says that suit of warm clothing
ia absolutely necessary in these cold re-
pions, and that if don't provide him
with one'--- ,L,
'Oh = said my companion; listen to
this. dated from Droog Bungalow, Thurs
day, seven a. m.-Dear Belton-Put on a a
pair of wings, and fly to me at once II
possible, bring with you one or TWO
more men; and if don't bring you and
them in close proximity with tiger, my
name is not what I believe it to bell
Thomson.
NOW, what do you think Of thatP he
exclaims, looking up triumphantly, and
without giving me time to put my opin-
ion into words he springs from his chair,
and the next moment is gone Soon L
hear him pouring fourth numerous ques-
tions and various orders, all hurriedly
spoken, and consequently, to an Indian
servant intensely bewildering. Some
snatches of sentences and a few words,
such as gun, cartridges, leggings, food,
now cleared, &C., float through the
chinks of the door, and reach my hear
ing,
7 wonder how much Of all that has
gone in at one ear and not gone out at
the other is my thought, and | chuckle
over it. Under the soothing influence Of
nv cigar, and soft breath Of cool air
that Just gides into the room, tumble
into a pleasant meditative mood, and
think how delicious and enjoyable every.
thing is up here, after the miseries and
tortures we have gone through down be-
low.
Down below means the scorching
plains, which Belton and l have just left
for two months stay on the up here,
which means the beautiful, grand, and
once visited, never.to- be-forgotten Neil
cherry Hills, where hedges are made Of
heliotrope, and ones abode locally
termed bungalo,c) is netted by roses. At
length my musings veer round to more
immediate matters, and say half aloud;
The house is very quiet, so Patsy can't
be indoors. l suppose he has made
tracks for the tiger ground" 60,
Upon my word, Japes'-a voice known
to me breaks in here-you are positively
too bad. You know there is no time. to
be lost, and yet here you are, mutterlng
to Yourself in cloud of smoke, instead
ofgetting your guns ready, and your lazy
person ftly harnessed.' ~
II NAV mention here that Japes' is
not the name my parents chose Tor me-
1t is my iaharmonious nickname, the
origin of which the reader shall not be
troubled with
What! l exclaim, raising myself up,
and looking at him in surprise; you sure
iy don't want me with you? Bah re
lansing into my former comfortable atti-
tude-7the idea is too ridiculous. l
should only ruin all the sport Why,
man. do YOU know that / never in my
life shot anything bigger than pheas-
ant ?
well, he said, determinedly, if you
don't come, then | shall stop at home
also. And forthwith he proceeds to
place his gun in corner
Nonsense l mutter. -,
Il tell YOU l shan't go without you,
says Patsy, subsiding into an armchair,
and beginning to whistle.
But why says l, still holding out, do
you wish to have me, of all people, with
you, considering that shall ofa certain
ty spoil the fun some way or other, and
make fool of myself, more than once,
into the bargain" "
That is Just where you are wrong, re-
plies Patsy instead of spelling the fun,
you will add to it. Besides he adds
impatiently, L know perfectly well that
YOU really would like to come; and come
you must so there's an end of the mat
ter. And thus it is settled.
Belton has been gone about an hour,
when catch sight of him opening the
garden gate. He looks more radiant
than he was even before, for he has in
tow two more men, as eager for the COM
ing fray as himself, They find me quite
ready; so, without further delay. we
make start for that ground, where, for
the first time in my life, may in all
be brought face to face with
a tiger, ry - -,
No oower of describing, either with
the pen or the brush, could possibly be
great enough to enable any one to give
good or hst idea of the grand and i'm
posing scenery that greets us at every
step, and which our eyes feast on as we
progress onward. Forests, ravines, wa
terfalls, lie at our feet; and there is
grandeur all around AS the gusts of |
wind pass oyer the forests, the tree tops |
bend before their force, and l almost
fancy am looking in a miniature ocean |
with its successive undulating wavelets,
am completely overcome by the pic
turesoue; so, carried away by what see,
I stop and exclaim: Wait awhile. 1t is
not often one hits upon such scene as
this. Let us take it in.
Bosh is an unrOmantic reloinder; |
who ever thought of taking in bits of
scenery, when on the road to a tiger
covert
And when time is short and precious,
and not a jot of it to spare adds another
voice.
perceive the force of these remarks;
so, contenting myself with growing
something, l follow on. To hold my
tongue, but to keep my eyes wide open,
is nv mental reservation, and by so
doing l hope to be able to pass muster.
Having come to this understanding with
myself, jog on with less apprehension.
and therefore, as is natural, with consid-
erably more comfort. We reach the
planters ibid not say the invitation
was sent by planter?) snug-looking but
by no means palatial establishment, just
as the sun begins to show itself from out
a rather dismal, gloomy-looking sky.
The planter greets us all very cor
daily. 49,,
We have plenty of time in store, he
saws; and as thirst must be upon you all
after your long walk, come inside and