The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-02-18

-, o"' q ioi SCI IOOIu mas Ue6n
prepared for you two gentlemen when
ever you are ready. Sir, am at your
service to show you the way to it.n
II am ready now, go on, / will fol-
low.' | followed him, as lamp in
hand he went up long, winding
staircase and along narrow corridor
until we reached what seemed to be a
sort OF tower. Here in broad space,
where were several doors, he stopped
II suppose this part of the house is
not occupied"
"Oh, yes, sir, it is all occupied.
Your room is one of the best. This is
it.u
He opened the door of large bare
apartment. On one side near large
old-fashioned bed l saw my travelling
bag. "Your friend is here. sir, proba-
bly," and he left me.
With the key in one hand and the
lamp in the other, advanced to the
Fireplace. There was no fire, but one
single candle stood on the mantel.
This ] lighted, but the darkness and
gloom seemed impenetrable. "Petro-
witch is not here" thought I, IS
threw myself into an immense arm
chair>to wait for him. "What can
delay him ?n
sat there until midnight. Still he
did not come. Rousing myself then,
thought / heard the rafting of a
chain. "The fellow is somewhere
here. Who else could make a noise ?"
Then | distinctly heard regular
breathing. "He must have fallen
asleep somewhere. | will look for
him." So lamp in hand proceeded
to explore the room. / reached fur
ther away than / had thought |
heard the chain again. What
was my horror to behold, stretched at
full length, fast asleep, beside his open
cage, g splendid tiger. The chain at
tached to his cola hung loosely to
the ground; he was free!
rushed to the door. 1t was locked
on the outside! to the windows, they
were enormously high from the
ground! There was no escape for me.
There was the treachery feared. This
must be the trap of the generous, hos
pitable Baron To call or make a
noise might be useless, and would
certainly arouse the animal. had no
pistols with me- / carefully and
without any noise piled the chairs in
serving a stout little one as weapon
of defense. Then l sat down, keeping
my eyes on him. He lay cat-like,
| opening occasionally his drowsy eyes,
sometimes giving his enormous head
a shake. By degrees his sleepiness
seemed to pass away, and with a
frightful yawn he raised himself up
and advanced towards me.
He paused for moment and, rails
ing his head, he snuffed the air as if
suspicious of the presence of an intru-
der. With growl he continued to
advance cautiously, as if on his guard
| against foe whose strength he was
| ignorant of. A few steps discovered
me to him, and with growl of rage,
he crouched as if for the fatal spring.
While / awaited in terror the fearful
fate, which would be on me in few
seconds, could not help admiring the
excessive beauty of the animal whose
splendid stripes of black ON his brown
and orange skin and glaring eyebal1s,
az he dashed his sides with his tail,
made him perfect study. The quiz
ering movement of his body told me
that in moment would be torn to
pieces without chance of defense or
escape. / closed my eyes for second,
and as I opened them he suddenly
raised himself and stood with his head
turned towards the door. Was anyone
coming to save me? | listened in
vain for footstcp. Suddenly the soft
music of guitar broke upon the still
ness. Ny first impression was that it
meant another trick of the Witty
Baron, but to my intense relief the
tiger with a pur Of satisfaction laid
himself down against the door in an
attitude of attentive and delighted
listening. Hour after hour passed
away as the music continued without
moments cessation and his highness
the tiger remained subdued and quiet
in his evident enjoyment of the
sounds. This lasted until daylight,
when the door was suddenly opened,
and a man entered armed with
heavy whip and carbine. This was
the tigers keeper. AT sight OF him
it crept lazi1y into its cage.
The mans surprise at seeing me
was very great. THE secret OF this
door, said he, lis known to the Bar
oness and myself alone { g
I lost no time in escaping from my
80 econ roaehnd the other