The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-09

| Dy that steady gaze, Swerved from the III
rect line of his approach, and sidled
toward the tattoo, who, parslyzed with
fear, seemed incapable of making the
least effort either for escape or resistance.
Arrived at the proper distance, Bur-
rhea sprang, knocked his victim fiat,
alighted upon his side, and with his teeth
inserted in the poor creatures neck,
greediiy drank its blood.
1T will only make k; Rurrhea the more
savage" said the king, gleefully 'uopi"s
his hands, and the eourtiers dutifully as
sented, exchanging glances of approba-
ton and pleasure before turning to enjoy
the further expected sport.
At length Burhea was satisfied, or else
no more blood was to be had, and taking
his claws out of the dead animal, and
shaking himSe as he did so, he began to
creep stealthily around the courtyard
like cat stealing a march upon a mouse.
He made no noise whatever, raising and
placing his huge paws as silently as a
rose leaf fiutters to the ground.
1t was not a scene to be forgotten The
king, with his courtiers, both European
and Indian, about him in the gayiy deco
rated gallery above, the eyes and figures
of the servantsdimly seen peering through
the railings of the veranda below, Bur-
rhea making his stealthy rounds, while in
the center of the courtyard stood the
man-eater, slowly turning, as the tiger
moved, so as always to keep hiseyes fixed
upon the glaring eyes of his opponent, his
foreleg still advanced and slightly bent
his name bristling, and his ears now erect
and defiant
The profound silence was interrupted
only by the grating sound of the iron
shod hoofs of the horse as he slowly
turned in exact concert with the move
ments of the tiger.
At last, and without the slightest visi-
BILE preparation, the tiger sprang, cutting
the air like flash of lightning, but the
horse was prepared.
1t had evidently been Burrhea's inten-
tion to seize the head and forequarters
but the man-eater was too quick tor him.
and, by sudden diving motion of his
head and shoulders, received his antago-
mist upon his muscular launches instead
The claws Of the tiger sank deep in the
flesh, while his hind feet made desperate
effort to secure holding upon the horses
shoulders but before this could be eff
fected, the man-eater lashed out with his
iron heels with resistless vigor that sent
Burrhea sprawling upon the ground with
a broken Jaw.
The King seeing this, frowned, and gave
orders to let the tiger out and turn in an
other Another came, but he seemed un-
willing to fight. All the efforts of the
keepers failed to rouse him. The king
was furious.
"Take away this fool of a tiger and
bring in a lionI' screamed he, bending
over the railing and menacing the tiger
with his fist.
The trembling attendants hastcned to
raise the doors of railing and cage, and
the tiger bounded in with infinitely more
alacrity than he had shown in coming
out.
There was brief pause, and then the
attendant at the door announced the
keeper of the lions, who begged an
audience of tie king
Bring him in!' ordered his majesty.
The lion master tremblingly advanced,
and prostrating himself, announced that
not one of the royal beasts under his
charge was in fighting trim, one of them
being sick, and the rest just finishing an
unusually large repast.
"By the beard of my father, but you
shall replace them yourself, wallah!'
growled the king, whose ill-humor had
reached its height.
A profound silence followed this COM
mand, which all who heard it understood
as a sentence of death against the unfor-
tunate man, whose only offense consisted
in having been too indulgent to the ami
mails under his charge.
But in Dude to hear was to obey, even
more blindly than in the East generally,
and the lion-keeper, with his face
banched &Ad his eyes rolling wildly,
salaamed to the ground and withdrew.
At the same instant slight noise was
heard in the women's gallery below, and
AS some of us bent over to ascertain the
cause, we saw one of the bamboo ratings
torn from its fastenings and light figure
fill the opening and leap lightly to the
ground. 1t was Numah, nautch girl,
whom the King had just bought from the
dishonest nautch wallah, with whom she
had agreed to dance for a certain time.
Her home, her lover, were now lost to
her forever, and she sought to save the
poor mans life at the cost of her own.
The King saw her as soon as any of us,
and an expression of terror crossed his
face, but Immediately gave way to fero.
cious satisfaction.
at was well done, Numah," shouted
= he. "Go and tell the admee-kanawallaf
your sorrows and your wrongs. He vii
console you"
The nautch girl turned and raised hel
eyes to the royal gallery.
l death will comfort me, O king" sale
she, salaaming low, with the supple grace
e inseparable from her every mov ment
: Then she walked firmly and fearlessly
e toward the man-eater, who watched in
tently her approach, and with out
stretched neck and tremulous nostril
, seemed to question her intentions.