Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1885-02-18


ready late, now glanced round, and,
selecting a neighborlng tree, signed to
us that we should climb into it. Moth
ing 10th for the shadows Of the jun
gle were fearfully dark, and the tiger
was, as my comrade said in my ear,
''overdue"-we were speedily aloft and
safely perched in the hollow of a deep
fork commanding good view of the
dead heifer. Our rifles loaded and ar
ranged, we proceeded to brace our
nerves to an iron. clad calm, while en-
joying the contrast of bright white
light and deep shadows on the plateau
before our eyes. But the suspense of
waiting soon became very hard to bear
every rustic in the jungle, every
chirrup of a cricket, made us grip our
guns under the impression that the en-
emy was at hand. Royalty, however,
at home, is not to be hurried, and the
beast took his time. The delightful
quietness of the evening was broken
only by the familiar voices of the for
est, grown so common to our sense of
hearing that they were now hardly
perceptible. Every twig had its hum
ming night-perfotmer, every blade of
grass or loose stone was an orchestra
for a chorus of winged insect musicians
adding to the general murmuring
Now and again the black monkeys in
a sal tree in the valley below appeared
troubled by dreadfully bad dreams of
wandering panthers or gliding snakes,
and disturbed the universal peace by
sudden chorus Of barking Overhead
the leaves made fairy tracery against
the purple vault Of heaven spangled
with glittering consultations, and a
shooting star flashed occasionally
across the vault, dragging after it a
pale streamer of saffron light.
Suddenly the cold, black, nervous
fingers of the shikaree tightened on
my arm, and could feel his agitation,
though he was invisible, for at this
moment the moon went behind fleet
of light, Aeecy clouds sailing up from
the westward before the faint midnight
wind. My own hands closed on my
rifle, while eyes and ears were strained
Intellectually to see or hear anything
in the gloom. and heart and breathing
were kept under close control to pre-
vent the possibility of any sound es-
Gaping. How long this tension was
preserved it is difficult to say; but in
perhaps forty seconds the windward
edge of the cloud shrouding the moon
turned slvery with light, and another
second or two saw the great shield of
silver ride out triumphantly into space.
Instantly all eyes were tu' ned to the
"kill' at our feet, and there, his ap-
proach unannounced by the cracking
of a single twig or the displacement of
one pebble stool our quarry, his royal
livery of striped gold and black show
lug with wonderful richness in the
clear glimmer of the stars; one mon
strous paw planted firmly on the swell
ing flank of the dead kline, and the i'm.
perial jowl already at work "nuzzling'
under the creatures body for the
trickle of blood yet yelling from the
ugly gashes in its neck. Then the
royal beast, giving way to his appetite
tore a long goblet of flesh from the
shoulder, and WAS settling himself
down to a comfortable evenings re-
past. But he never said grace after
that meal. | saw my friends rifle 60
up to his shoulder as the tiger turnel
his broadslde for a moment. and the
next tongue of flame leaped forth,
and the sharp crack of the rifle hushed
every wild thing in the forest, while
its own echoes rolled away among the
distant hills to light and left.
1t was clearly hit, for we noticed
the bullet plump on the mark and
heard the sholt. sharp, angry grOwl
which responded like an echo to the
shot, and when the smoke drfted off
through the branches we perceived
stripes" limping away badly wounded
in the direction of nullh or deep
water-course thirty yards over the
dead grass. Into this he was hasten
ing just as got a good sight upon
him. and my ball, taking him in the
back, made him leap high in the air
and plunge, apparently dead, into the
corinda bushes. My companion-eveI
impetuous-w down to the ground
and running after him quick as
thought. Following, but keeping q
steady finger on the trigger to meet
any charge of the enemy--for nothing
is more dangerous than badly
wounded tiger-I was at the brink al
most as soon as my comrade. "Whert
is he?" was then the question, and fol
a moment we were uncertain; but two
stones thrown into patch of dwarf
bamboo elected feeble stir and ;
faint waugh! waugh" from the tiger
who actually endeavored to crawl W
at us, stumbling across the stream
bed. Our rifles were on him as hi
made feeble spring at the bank OF
which we stood, but he could. as W,
saw, do nothing, and, scratching inef
fectively at the dry bushes on top, fel
back. 1t was now really pitiful to SCI
tha rnvol hnaat in hia Turious helnlpss