The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-08-29
ADVENTURES WITH A TIGER.
A story Of Northern IndIa

flgeri out When the tiger takeS TO hunt
ing you. it's not quite so jolly.
''But, although I've had some mar
row escapes in that way, toe. I'd sooner
have them all twice over than one such
adventure as happened to me close to
this very spot, about six years ago.
| ''ln those days, as you may think, the
place looked very different from what it
does now. Tie railway wasn't even
begun then, and was the only white
man for miles round.
"All this clearing was as thick as a
ks&- brush, with trees and jungles right
down to the waters edge, and if you
wanted to go anywhere, your only
chance was to look. out for some place
where an elephant had crushed his way
| through the thickets, and then follow
his track.
II don't believe you'd have slept very
sound here in those times. / can prom
| Use you didn't for the first month or
| so. No sooner did it get dark than
| you'd hear a row like fifty cracked
| trumpets all blowing at once, and by
| that you would know that an elephant
was coming down to drink at the river.
"Then that would wake up the croco.
dies in the mud along the bank, and in
a minute they'd all be splashing and
believing in chorus, one louder than
another. a
Then the monkeys in the trees
overhead would begin squeaking and
chattering and bowling like mad.
''Then that would arouse some dread
full old native bird, whose name L could
never find out (perhaps no one had
ever been able to invent one bad
enough for it), and it would start
shrieking away as if somebody was be-
ing murdered. a-a
''And then, all at once, there would
come rolling through the depths of the
forest the roar of tiger, which seemed
to strike them all silent for moment,
as a cannon browns the erackle of fire.
works; but in another minute or two.
they were all just as bad as ever.
''But the things that plagued me
most were the jackals. You've heard
them often enough. and so you can
Judge what it must have been for a
man fresh out from Europe (and rather
feverish into the bargain) to hear under
his window, every night and all night
long, a noise as if forty children were
being bitten by half dozen mad dogs.
cat last, / couldn't stand it any
longer, and made up my mind that
I'd teach them to hold their tongues be-
fore had done with them, il l had to
keep watch for fortnight to do it.
$50, early one morning, | went out
to small clearing in the very heart of
| the wood, where there were plenty of
iackals' tracks about, and dug hole
| deep enough to cover me, leaving just
my head and arms out.
e Then I waited till night came on,
and when all my native servants were
asleep, took my double barreled rifle,
and away I went and got into the hole
to wait till the iaekals turned up.
'.But one would have thought the
sneaking brutes knew what was after;
for, although they had come in crowds
when. I didn't want them, yet now,
when was watching and wishing for
them, not one would show his nose.
"Well, there / waited and waited,
till at last got so tired and stiff that L
was just thinking of giving it up and
going home to bed, when | thought /
heard rustling in the thicket just in
| front Of me.
"The next moment there was a
sharp cracking, like dried twigs snap
ping under a heavy weight, and out
into the clearing, with every point of
him quite plain in the glorious summer
moonlight, came stalking the biggest
tiger l had ever seen in my life.
"It's no use trying to make out that
1 wasn't frightened. / s0Gs frightened,
and very badly frightened, too, l can
| tell you.
s'Indeed, I couldn't well have been
in worse fix than / was. If [ had
been on tree, L should have had no
fear, for the real Bengal tiger can't
climb like the panther or the cougar.
Even if / had been out on level ground,
I'd have felt more comfortable; for
then, at least, l should have had a
chance to fight or run. But, damned
as | was into this precious hole, with
my head just level with the ground, |
seemed put there on purpose for the
| beast to eat whenever he liked.
"The tiger saw me as plain as / saw
him, and came creeping on till | could
feel his hot breath on my face, and
| count every one of the great white fangs
| that glittered so ominously in the moon
light. Why didn't shoot him? you
say. Why, Just because at the very
first movement made he'd have Bit
ten my head off like strawberry. My
( only chance was to keep stock still, and
did it.
meanwhile, Mr.. Tiger seemed quite
| as much taken back as | was. The
sight of mans head growing out of
| the ground like mushroom was, no
| doubt, quite new thing in his expert
| ence, and he evidently did not know
what to make of it. He prowled back
ward and forward in front of me, sniff
ing uneasily, and coming SO close to me
every now and then that the froth from
his open jaws and great red tongue flew
| off in flakes all over my face.
"This was bad enough, as you may
think; but it was mere joke as towhat
| was coming. For now the tiger, haY-
ing looked at me long enough in front,
took it into his head to 60 round behind
me.
"Then I felt as if all was over. Even
while could see what the tiger was
| doing, it was quite as much as I could
bear to have him smiling about me as if
I'd been the bait of trap. But when
he got round behind my back, and |
expected every moment to feel his teeth
and claws in my flesh, without being
lble to tell where he was or what he was
at-ugh! L don't like to think OF it even
now.
II felt that another minute or two of
this work would drive me mad out
right, and l made up my mind to
scramble out of the hole, rush upon the
tiger, and take my chance. But at
| that moment I heard shot behind me,
and then a tremendous roar, and turn
ing my head, l saw the brute springing
at tall man in white, who looked ike
az English officer.