Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-04-07

I'm AT THE DEATH
There were three IF US cumming to-
gether in solitary little hole In the
jungle, not so very far-as one counts
distance in India-from Secunderabad
We were Coolers Hill young men;
and fate and the government had
given us g. chance of distinguishing
ourselves and extinguishing our fell
low-creatures by the making of a
branch railroad including bridge and
q tunnel. So there were three of us;
and right Jolly time we had on the
whole. Our bungalow was real work
OF art, covered with creepers, by which
do not mean to insinnate centipedes,
of which, however, there were q good
few, but jasmine, plumbago, q climbing
moss-which one of us had rescued
from the tangle of the jungle and
coaxed to live in a more civilized posi-
tion-besides many other lovely
specimens. To save our valuable
time we generally addressed each other
by our initials. Mine, unfortunately,
spelled M. A. g., to which my COM
panions, in moments of hilarity, some
times added g. second course of p. I. e.
I was the eldest of the trio.
We had not been very long at our
work when I was laid low with
an exhausting attack of jungle
fever and ague. Ny friends E.
s. P. and II. E. by turns
nursed me with a tenderness and care
for which [ can never be sufficiently
grateful. pulled through, thanks to
them; but since that time have been
subject to rather severe fits of ague,
from one of which | was recovering at
the time the incident happened l wish
to tell you about.
It had been an absolutely broiling
day, and we had been driven to the
verge OF insanity between the heat and
the flies. We were reclining after our
days work on our basket sofas on the
veranda In the cool of the evening,
putting away solemnIy and silently on
our brier-root pipes, when it suddenly
struck US that a group of native work
men who were experimenting the
cooking of their evening meal in q cor
ner Of our very lmprovlsed sort of
compound, must have received some
very exciting intelligence. Beingyoung
and sportively inclined, we were all
three fellows of one idea, and that idea
was "tigers."
S'Just call to that gaping fool and
ask him what's up" suggested [, in q
washed-out voice.
est. Johnl" shouted E. S. P, whose
voice carried further than any of ours,
clapping his hands loudly at the same
time to attract the attention of the
gebbling group; and up came the tall
est, thinnest native to bemet in a very
long ride. We had christened this
wore the most fearfully and wonder
fully made camels hair garment that
civilized eyes ever looked upon; and
secondly, because he was so desper-
ately lean and lanky, we were certain
that he must feed on either locusts or
grasshoppers, which were both sup
posed to be q very anti-fat diet.
Up, then, came this mysterious
coolie, and, with many salaams, much
gesticulation and showing the white of
his eyes, he informed us that there
was most blood-thirsty man-eater
lurking in the nelghborhood, close by,
at our very door! I looked round,
not enjoying the idea of being caught
by Monsieur Maneater armed only
with 81 ,brierwood pipe. E. and Ell. at
once appeared to beseized with ST. Vi
tus' dance, so absurdly and hysterical-
ly active had they become.
"Where was he last seen ?" f'HoW
large was he ?" "What village was the
scene of his last meal ?" Chow many
people was he known to have eaten ?''
"Who brought the news?" s'Send him
up to be questioned"
st. John went away, and in 6, few
minutes reappeared, accompanied by a
native postman, who it seemed, know
ing that the railroad Sahibs were par
tial to tiger, had kindly dropped In with
the intelligence. We found out all we
could from the man. and rewarded
him with some money and tobacco.
The last victim was a poor native
woman who had crept into the corner
of the veranda of bungalow some
miles away and fallen asleep, from
which, poor soul, she was roughly
weakened, and then half carried, half
dragged, to a clump of thick jungle
grass and bushes about two and q
half miles from where they were. The
postman's eyes and teeth glistened
with sympathetic pleasure as he saw
how keen and eager the other two fell
lows were to be after the brute. I
was out OF it altogether, I could
not trust my shaky hands with a rife
In such q case of life or death, so I
looked on and listened to all their sug-
gestions and arrangements with the
deepest interest.