Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-11


stantly on the move that dared not risk
/ il Our object was to bag one or both,
/ instead of driving them away from the
neighhorhnod by a general alarm. The
play continued for "A quarter Of an hour,
! and ceased then because n child in hut
near by cried out in its sleep The tigers
/ changed their demeanur in an instant,
! and a low grOwl warned the dog that the
1 froliC was at an end He did not want il
50. but scarcely had he renewed his
| efforts when one of the beasts struck him a
| blow with its paw and laid him dead on
/ the grass Then both stood stock still,
/ listening for the cry to be repeated.
| They were side by side, brOadside to me,
aud not q hundred feet away, but in the
| darkness il was a chance shot. / pulled
| trigger, and the report of the rifle was
| followed by a terrible growing and snsrl
/ ing and the sound of claws at work in
! the grass The natives were out in mo
ment shouting, screaming, and blowing
| horns, and a. soon HS their torches were
alight descended from my perch. One
! of the tigers was rolling over and over on
! the ground, and utteriug sounds OF rage
while the other had disappeared.
| gave the wounded beast shot through
| the head. and when we came to examine
| the body we found it to be that of the
| tigress My first bullet had broken her
! right shoulder, and it was a wonder she
| did not go off on three legs.
The lieutenant came running up to
/ compliment me on my luck, and in ten
minutes every man, woman and child
| in the village was in the circle around
the dead beast Everybody supposed
! the mate had made off for the jungles, as
would be the case nineteen times out
| of twenty, but we were sadly mistaken
| While we stood in a circle with eight or
| ten torches lighting the scene, the male
! tiger seized a woman who stood not over
/ ten feet from me, and, before even n
| cry was raised, had disappeared in the
| darkness The lieutenant and myself
/ fired every shot We had in the direction
/ taken. hoping To frighten or wound the
| beast and willing to take the chances OF
! hitting the woman, but we threw our
/ bullets away. The victim had a child
| about two years old in her arms, and she
| carried this forty or fifty feet before re
leasing it. As she did not utter a single
| cry, we concluded that the tiger had
| struck her a fatal blow as he sprung upon
| her. The husband and three or four
/ other children were there. and they set
!
when they were conducted to their hut at
the other end of the village That tiger
was my thirteenth. and Harrington had
| killed fully as many. but as we compared
notes we agreed that we had never
| known such an instance A tiger which
| is fired at from ambush and not hit is
| overcome by fright, and will travel for
| miles before halting, or make straight for
| his den and lie close for the next twenty
! four hours. That is the rule, but here
| was IL startling exception. The tiger had
not only not been frightened away by the
reports Of our guns and the shouts of the
natives. but had remained to select vic
/ tim at his leisure, and that with torches
/ blazing in his face and deafcning hub
! bub prevailing. We could naturally and
/ justly conclude that he was a mRneater
! or the most vengGfUl disposition.
when morning came we took up the
| spOor and trailed the tiger and his victim
| to a grove about half mile away He
| had only half devourcd the body, proving
| that hunger had not forced him 10 dis
| plav such bOldness. He had taken his
/ full time about eating, and had then
made for the hills Some of the native
| traCkers could follow his trail on run,
| and they came upon two places where
/ the beast had turned in his tracks as if
| he contemplated a return to the village
| and the seizure of another victim. The
| trail was followed TO the mouth Of a
| dark, dry gully, with n rocky bottom and
! sides lined with bushes, and the natives
| would 90 no further. One of them was
| dispatched to our camp with word To
! come over, and in a couple OF hours there
| were five of US white men on the ground
| with a determination to hunt the big cat
| to his death. \ body of natives were
| sent off up the hill TO beat the gully, and
| we took our station, in u crescent, each
! man facing the hill. and none OF US over
| 100 feet from the spot where the trail had
| been abandoned. 1t turned out that the
| gully did not penetrate the hill for more
! than a quarter of mile, and after u lit
| tie the natives got on both sides Of il and
| began to beat toward US. While some
! blew horns and beat drums, others kept
| up a fire of stones into the gully, and we
| felt that the tiger !iust show himself.
| The only fear was that his temper would
boil over and he would Chamber up the
| side OF the gully and attack the beaters.
! 4 frightened tiger would have sought to
| Chamber out instead of following the
| gully down to the plain, and once he
| started 20 bolt nothing would have
stopped him.
The beaters had been at work half an
| hour when we heard cry announcing
! that the maneater was making his way
| toward the plain hustled along some
| what by the yOlleys of stones, but sharpen
| ing his claws and growing defiance. In
| taking up our positions it SO happened
that Lieut.. Harrington was on my right,
| in line with the mouth of the gully, and
| not more than twenty feet from my ell
| bow He had a double barrele rife of
| heavy calibcr. while had a repeater. In
| three or four minutes after the cry Of
warning the tiger appeared in the mouth
| of the gully, head on TO Harrington, and
! looking him straight In the face.
"'HOld on! He's my meatP shouted
| the officer as he brought his gun up, and
it became point of honor with the rest
| of us to hold our fire. He took cool and
careful aim, but his bullet simply
touched the skin between the tigers ears.
| He dropped like a stone. but was up in an
instant, and, with a roar to shake any
! mans nerves, he sprang forward at the
| lieutenant. In the tenth Of a second
turned my eyes from the beast to the off
Ger, and what was my horror to see ser
| pent twining itself about his leg and
rearing its head to a level with his shOul-
| der. forgot all about the OnComing
| tiger, and for the first time in my life my
| blood seemed turned to ice. Harrington
stood with his left foot ahead and his
right braced, and as the tiger touched
the ground for his last spring the rifle
spoke again asi the beast rolled over with
a ball through his brain Then while
we all kept our places like SO many
blocks of stone, he dropped his rifle.
! seized the snake just below the head with
his right hand. and came walking toward
us. The serpent writhcd and twisted
about in its rage, and as it unCOiled itself
from the man ; leg he flung it thirty feet
away 1t was rushing back at him, when
one of the party, with a shotgun at his
shoulder, blew its head off.
:" Good shot. remarked Harrington, as
he walked back and picked up his rifle.
1--WE ran after him and shook his hand,
and ShOWered unStinted praise on him