Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1881-02-17
A TERRIBLE MOMENT.

1 had just rejoined my regiment in
India, the Forty-second Higlanders,
better known as the Black Watch, after
a year Of sick leave in Europe, and was
seated in my friend Major McGregor's
cool and comfortable bungalow, gossip
ing over all that had occurred in the
corps during my absence, when young
Alick Farqunarson, one of the Inrer-
cauld Farquharsons, strolled in with
the, to me, pleasing intelligence Of
"Tiger.'
"Bv Jove, that old shikarree, what
you-may call -'em-I never can recolleci
his name-has smelt the beast, and the
colonel is for getting up grand hunt,
for the purpose of bagging the brute
and-the skin; the latter for Mrs.
" mentioning a lady's- name, the
owner whereof-well, 7 viii not repeat
the story.
"Deil take the colonel grumbled
Sandy Mcpherson, who spoke with as
strong Scotch accent as any Draw
chiel" north of the Tweed; she's a
the time speerin' about tigers and var
mint, and if ane O. the laddies kills q
beastie, down he pops on him for the
skin"
I" It would be awfully jolly to cut out
this hunting expedition" 1 suggested.
And howY demanded Farquh jrson.
just to beat up few beaters, get
out to the jungle. and pot the beast
while the colonel is ordering elephants
In impossible Hindoostanee."
By Jupiter Olympus I'm with youl''
cried Farquharson; ssbut we must start
right away, Tor I heard Old Bagpipes 2
the irreverent title by which our
commanding officer was known, ac-
qlired from the fact of his ordering the
pipers of the corps to play at
chotohassuy, alias breakfast; tiffin, alias
luncheon, and dinner, till the mess was
fairly sskirted" to death" telling
Gordon to look up the guns. !"
We shall start now I cried /" /
have brought out capital pair OF
double -barreled breech- leaders, smooth
bore-the Prince of Wales brought
down a stag of ten tyne with
one of them at Mar Forest this season
and q Snyder. "
"Then I'll look up the beaters and
old what-do-y -you-eall- -'em, the shikarree, =
said Farquharson.
Farquharson and I left the compound
by different exits, having agreed upon a
rendezvous. When we arrived at the
trysting place found the shikarree and
half a dozen beaters, armed not only
with rifles, but with rockets, the latter
for the purpose of driving the tiger out
OF the jungle.
I had taken the precaution Of thrust
ing conteau de chasse, or deer-knife-
given to me, by the way, by his royal
highness, the Duke of Connaught, while
at Lord Fife's-in my belt, and armed
with my double-barrel felt match
for any tawny denizen of the yellow
Jungle.
The shikarree assured us with con-
siderable circumloeution -and after ex-
acting solemn promise to save him
from the wrath Of sahib, the colonel
that tiger had been lowering about
this particular Jungle for some time
past that a COW had mysteriously dis
appeared, and, having been tracked, its
bones were found close by where we
were then holding council Of war.
The jungle in which his Tigerian
majesty was supposed to be ensconced
was but short quarter of mile from
camp, and of very close and dense
nature, save in bald patches, which
yielded a goodly crop of boulders, or
where small stream cut it in two. A
few stunted trees endeayored to beard
fhr ~ 4
King Sol had shriveled up their foliage
until it was of the tawny yellow Of the
jungle grass, that color so admirably
arranged to conceal the hide of the
tiger.
Ali suddenly exclaimed the shi-
karree, in o low tone, g it's all right,
sahib. The tiger is in the Jungle. All,
here's his pug track). See how it
leads right into it,
That's large fist, observed
Farquharson.
" Yes, sahib, it is one great pug.
Great tiger great shiker fbeast) " for
sahibs. .
The beaters, who, as rule, are the
most cowardly wretches in the world,
now huddled together and held council
in low whispers, their heads close, their
eyes directed to the jungle, their burn
ished bodies In attitudes suggestive of
instant fight.
The shikarree ordered us to beat
that section Of the Jungle on our
immediate right as being the most
dense, and where, in all probability, the
tiger was now enjoying post-prandial
r,c-~ nrr,r,d ~, -