The Mineral argus., 1885-07-02


lately encountered ihi, foe. made me
neglect Oh this occasion to bring with
me NV usual arms The beast that wa
now before me. when stimulated by
hunger. was accustomed To a--ail
whatever could provide him with a
banquet Of blood lie would set upon
the man and the deer with equal and
irresistible fcroci'y. Iii, >agacity was
equal 10 hi. strength. and he seemed
able to discover when his antagonist
was armed
My past experience enabled me to
estimate the full extent of my danger.
lie SIT on the brow of the rock. cyc:ng
the bridge. and apparently delibcriing
whether he should cross il. II wa.
probable tha, ne had ONLY scented my
footsteps thus far. but. should he pas
over. his vigilence could scarcely fail
Of detecting my asylum.
Should he retain his present station.
my danger was scarcely le>>ened. To
pass over in the face Of furnished
T, tiger was Only to rush upon my fate.
The falling Of the trunk. which had
been 80 anxiously deprecated. was now
no less earnestly desired. Every new
gust | hoped would tear a>under its re-
naming bands. and. by cutting of all
communication between the opposite
sleeps. place me in security. NV hopes.
however. were destined to he fru>tra-
ted. the fibrcs Of the PROSTATE tree
were Ob>tinately tenacious Of their
hold. and presently the animal scram.
blcu down the rock and proceeded to
cross it.
OF all kinds of death that which
now menaced me was the most abhOr.
red. To lie of disease. or by the hand
OF a fellow creature. was lenicnt in
comparison with being rent to pieces
by the fang> of this savage. To perish
in this obscure retreat. to lose NV pOr-
ton of existence by SO untOward and
ignoble destiny. was insupportable.
| bitterly dep!orcd my rashness in COM
ing hither unprovidcd for an encOunt-
cr like this.
The evil of my present circumstan-
ces consisted chiefly in suspense. NV
death was unavoidable. but my imagi.
nat on had leisure to torment itself by
anticipation>. One foot Of the savage
was slowly and cautiously moved after
the other. lie. struck his claws SO
deeply into the bark that they were
with difficulty withdrawn. AT length
he leaped upon the ground. We were
now separated bv an interval of scarce.
~ eight feet. To leave the spot where
| crouched was impossible. Behind
and beside me the cliff rose pcrpcndic-
ularly, and before me was this grim
and terrific savage. shrunk still clo-
ser to the ground and closed my eyes.
From this pause of horror | was
aroused by the noise OccasiOned by a
second spring of the animal. He
leaped into the pit. in which had so
deeply regretted that had not taken
refuge. and disappeared. My re;cuc
was so sudden. and so much beyond
my belief or hope, that doubted for .
moment whether my senses did not de-
ceive me. This opportunity to escape
was not to be neglected. left my
place and scrambled over the trunk
with precipitation which had liked
to proved fatal. The tree grOaned and
shook under me, the wind blew with
unexampled violence. and had scarce
" reached the opposite steep when the
roots were severed from the rock, and
the whole fell laundering to the bot.
tom of the cha>m.
My Temptations were not speedily
uuieted. | looked back with wonder on
my hair-breadth escape. and on that
singular concurrence of events which
had placed me in so short II period in
absolute security. Had the trunk
fallen moment earlier. ! should have
been imprisoned on the hill or thrown
headlong. Had its fall been delayed
another moment. should have been
pursued; for the beast now issued from
his den. and testified his surprise and
disappointment by tokens. the sight of
which made my blood run cold.
He saw me and fastened to the verge
of the chasm. He squatted on his hind
legs. and assumed the attitude of one
preparing to leap. My CONSERVATION
was excited afresh by these appear
ances. 1t seemed ut first rs il the rift
was too wide for any power of muscles
to carry him over in safety: but knew
the unparalleled agility Of the animal.
and that his experience had made
him a better judge Of the possibility
of this exploit than ! was.
Still there was hope that he would
relinquish this design as desperate.
This hope was quickly at an end He
sprang. and his fOrelegs touched the
verge of the rock on which stood. In
spite of vehement eNertiOns, however,
the surface was too smooth and too
hard to make good his hold. He fell,
and a piercing cry, uttered below.
showed that nothing had INSTRUCTED
his descent to the bottom.