Daily globe., 1880-05-09

anu sung tne ISrOclOuS UtdSb lIlJO ueyreS
Of frenzy without inficting any serious in
jury. In moment | realized the man s
peril, and the fatal mistake he had made;
but all too late. My heavy rifle was to my
shoulder, but the tiger was quicker in his
movements than I.
"A cry of agony rang through the air,
and the beast sprang upon his enemy before
| could deliver my fire. My finger pressed
the trigger with nervous movement, but |
dared not fire, for the man and tiger were so
entangled in their writings, that was
fearful of missing my mark.
"Springing forward, was soon in close
proximity to the growing animal. The
tiger, with his eyes on fire, his mouth all
bloody and covered with atoms of quivering
flesh, his tail switching rapidly to and fro,
abandoned the motionless body of the unfor-
tunate Selim, and prepared to spring upon
me.
''It was my first experience with an Afri-
can tiger, although had hunted them often
in the jungles of India but l had heard the
shouts of my friends approaching on run.
and the fact braced my nerves, filing me
with confidence. Both of my shots followed
one another in rapid succession. I had
aimed at the brute's heart, and, dropping
the rifle, I drew my revolver as last resort.
The tiger launched himself into the air, his
paws extended and teeth cleaning in the
dim twilight; but Jumped aside in time to
avoid the charge, and the dying brute rolled
at my feet, tearing up the grass and dirt
with last, expiring effort.
"My three companions appeared upon the
scene at that moment, and the tableau would
have formed wild, mournful, but striking
subject for an artist.
"in the centre of the group was the large,
tawny carcass of the tiger; further on the
mangled corpse of poor Selim, stretched on
the green-sward, dyed with his life-blood,
with the dark shadows of the trees and un-
derbrush for background. We buried
him beside the clear, running stream, and
the tragic event was soon forgotten, at least
by the Frenchmen. A negro's life is not
considered Of much Importance here on the
coast.
sat supper the laughter and fippant
jokes of my comrades grated rather harshly
on my ears. had not forgotten the horri-
BILE event so lately enacted. In fact, my ab-
sence Of mind nearly cost me my life, and
had a narrow escape from sharing tie fate
of the black.
'We had taken our respective stations,
rifle in hand, waiting for our game to steal
forth from their hiding-places. Night is
the fayorite time for beasts of prey to prowl
over the desert in search of food or water,
and our patience was not severely taxed, l
can assure you.
81 had chosen small clump of bushes, a
short distance from the spring, where had
clear, unbroken view of the desert. Twas
startled by the great change that had taken
place in the appearance of the weather.
The moon had risen far above the horizon,
enyeloped in light yellowish mist. The
stars were completely hidden from view by
gauzy vail of the same hue, and dark
cloud of threatening appearance was rapidly
rising along the whole extent of the eastern
horizon. The air had suddenly become hot
and oppressive; fine, subtle dust that ap-
peared to fly in the atmosphere annoyed me
exceedingly. It was very evident to my
mind that I'VE were to have storm or hurri-
cane that frequently sweeps ever the vast
desert with such terrific force and fatal VIC.
lence.
''i was on the point of seeking my friends,
in order to confer with them, and had, in
fact, advanced several yards from my cover,
when, without moments warning or pre-.
paration, found myself confronted by an
enormous tiger.
''Like thunderbolt he had leaped from
the bushes, and the shadow cast by his large
body extended far out into the desert. The
brute was crouching for spring, his head
rested between pair of formidable paws,
and his eyes glowed like Goals of fire in the
pale yellow light of the moon.
''Of course l was startled, as most any
man would have been in like position, but
the instinct of selfpreseryation more than
the force of reasoning caused me to bring
my rifle to my shoulder. 1 pulled both
of the triggers in rapid succession, but with
sharp click the hammers fell on bare nip,
pies.
with a sense of sickening horror il
flashed through my brain thai [ had ne
elected to reload my rife after shooting the
brute that had been the cause of Selim's
,la>.'
'BefoIe / cvulL grasp trt revoivers IN lny
belt. the tiger was upon me. | felt his hot,
fetid breath upon my cheek, was uncon.
scious of the sharp claws and sharper teeth
piercing my flesh, for one brief moment
heard the shouts of alarm and horror from
my comrades, then all was darkness and OBJ.
livion. had tainted.
'When | regained consciousness, | found
,ryself on the back of the animal which was
trotting at rapid pace toward a series of
sand-hills which [ have before mentioned.