The Opelousas courier., 1884-12-06
The Colonel's Snuff Box,
A STORY OF BENGAL.

A STORY OF BENGAL.
I'm surprised that you should stu
take snuff, Colonel Pearson, when the
custom is so completely out OF fash
ion."
"My dear madam, an old-fashioned
custom just suits an old-fashioned fell
low; and. besides, / should be migrate
full to give up a habit which once
sved my life"
We all looked up, seeing that n OF
the good stories for which the colonel
was so famous was coming.
"You must really tell MS that story,
Colonel" said our hostess. "I'm sure
it must be a good one"
The colonel laughed. 81 don't know
that it's very much of a story, after
all; but if you care to have it, here it
is for you:
"a good many years ago, not long
after / first cam out to India, / was
sent to do garrison duty in one of the
wilder parts of northern Bengal. The
place where we were stationed was the
most out-of-the-way spot you can i'm
agine. In front. a range of high
rocky hills; at the back, far as the eye
could reach, a great of dark
green jungle. thick and close as a bram-
bile hedge. There wasn't a white face
within forty miles, except my own,
and that. with the sun and the mosqui-
toes, was not very white either. Al
together, / was a kind of Eastern Rob
inson Crusoe, with an outpost station
in place of a desert island, and thirty
or forty man Fridays instead of one.
"You would have thought this the
very last place where n would ex-
pect to meet a friend; but / had not
been there a week when a man came
up through the jungle whom I had
not seen since we were at school to-
gether in England. So of course I gave
him a share of my tent, and made him
welcome to stay as long as he liked.
Now | should tell you that among
the presents that I had received on
leaving England was a gold snuff
box given me by an Old uncle of mine,
who had commanded a cruiser in the
Eastern seas, and was especially inter
ested in everything East Indian. 1t
was from him that I first learned to
take snuff myself, which he said
would be better for me than smoking.
I valued the box, too, knowing how
fond of it the old gentleman was, and
what a wrench it must have been for
him to part with it.
eOne day, after a long march, we
mad turned in early. being rather tired.
Ny friend was Dor asleep, but ],
tired though ! was, could not get to
sleep anyhow. The more closed my
eyes and tried to doze off, the more
Wide-awake / was, and as restless as /
could be. At last ! could stand it no
longer, and determined to try whether
a pinch or two OF snuff would steady
my nerves a bit.
~ had just got out the box, which
was under my pillow, when there was
a rustic outside the tent, as If some
body had brushed against it in passing.
The next moment the loose flap of can
vas that hung W the doorway was
brushed aside, and in came, not three
feet from where ! lay, the great vel
low head. the fiery eyes and long
white teeth of the biggest tiger | had
ever seen in my life.
II think it was M of N~apoleon's
old generals who used to say: at is
only a coward who says he has never
been frightened. / don't mind con.
Tossing that ] was frightened that
time, and very badly frightened, too.
The guns were all beyond my reach,
and / knew well that the first move
mentI made would bring the beast
upon me.
"Just then q thought struck me
1 saw that, after the darkness outside
the glare of the light | had kept burn
ing puzzled Mr.. Tiger, who was blink
ing and winking like a mar just
aroused from a nap. Before he had
time to make d spring, / flung all the
SNUFF right in his face.
"You should have heard what a
noise he made! It wasn't a roar or a
scream, or a howl, or = sneeze. but all
four put together, loud enough to
wake UP the whole country. Away
ne went dashing and crashing down
the Hill, sending the stones apd gravel
dying like hail, and sDeezing and
coughing at every jump. ft to. blow
his head OF. And then flash. flash,
crack, crack went the rides and match
locks Of our raen below, to whom the
cnanee of shooting atiger was like d.
ilalf-holiday to q school-Doy. ] could