The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-01-21
A Tiger and an Elephant.

that Barnum himself wouldn't dare travel
around with him unless he had double
extra-strong cage. He lived in an Indian
jungle, and even the lion, though they
call him the king of the beasts, WASH t
quite sure he was boss of the woods when
this tiger was around for he was quar-
relsome fellow, and great fighter. He
had a paw as big as the top of your
school-boy cap and his fore leg was so
strong that he could kill a man with one
blow on his head
"On whose head?"
"Why, the mans, of course"
The leopards were awfully afraid of
him, and changed their spots very lively
when he was prowling around.
who was prowling around?"
The tiger, of course; don't you get
excited, WILL but just wait and see how
the story comes out.
Well, one moonlight night this old IT,
ger went trotting out of the woods to-
ward lake that was near by, thinking
he could catch deer that had gone down
to drink. The wolves skunk away before
him, and the little white-tailed rabbits
scudded and scampered like mice before
the cat. For the tiger is only big cat,
you know, and the rabbits are his mice,
and the wolves his rats.
Pretty soon he came down to the edge
of the water, and crouched along looking
for deer for his supper, for he hadn t
had anything to eat but one young Indian
for two days And he was dreadfully
cross-about as you'd be if you'd had
only one sandwich to eatin all day. But
the deer had smelt him, and legged it
away, carrying their bushy tails straight
up behind them like flags. AS he crawl
ed along he saw some immense big ami
NAL standing in the edge of the lake,
drinking. 1t was an elephant, but as
he'd never met one before he didn't know
what it was. But he wasn't the sort of
a tiger to stand around waiting for an
introduction before he spoke, and so he
dashed his side with his tail and growled ::
"Me-ye-o-wl R-r-ow-ow-t-str'
The old elephant looked up kind OF
surprised, as much as to say:
L guess somebody's cat has got lost. -
And then the tiger growled and spit
again. savager than before. This rifed
the elephant up a little, and he stuck his
trunk down to the bottom, filled it full
of muddy water, and taking good aim
| spurted it right into the tigers savage
eyes and wide-open mouth.
You never head such howl as he set
up. 1t Just split crack in the air for
half mile. The old elephant had no
idea that so much noise could come out of
one cat, and so he walked slowly up to
the shore to see about it.
1, IL
ter of a second before he wished he
hadn't come. For that tiger Just lit on
to his back and went to clawing and bit
ing like mad The elephant tried to
shake him off, but you might as we'll
try to shake a burr out of your hair. A
tiger don't shake off worth a cent. So
the elephant started on lively run for
the woods, as they generally do when
anything is on their back-scooted un-
der the low limb Of big tree, and that
brushed the tiger off.
Then he turned and faced the tiger,
and put his two long tusks straight out,
and kept his sharp little eye on a keen
looking, for he was mad by this time.
And as the tigers long curly tail kept
flashing his striped sides, the elephant s
funny little tail, with its bunch Of bushy
hair on the end, kept switching too, faster
than colts in fly time.
Pretty soon the tiger crushed down
and made spring; but the elephant
caught him on his tusks, and tossed him
about ten feet into the air, and when he
came down caught him again with a
sharp jab, and threw him on the ground.
And then he walloped that tiger with
his trunk, and punched him with his
tusk and "stomped" on him with his
big feet till he was glad to get up and
run away, with his tail between his legs.
And the tiger thought to himself that
if he ever picked quarrel with any 9TH
er stranger it wouldn't be with an ami
NAL as big as load of hay, with an In
dian rubber hide, and two great teeth a
yard long, and tails at both ends, one Of
EN- made on purpose to thrash folks
with
And the elephant went back to the
water to wash his wounds, vowing thai
he never did like cats, anyway-Go5den
Rule