The Indiana State sentinel., 1886-03-24

elephant or the grunt of a rhinocesos-
those huge and harmless animals gradually
becoming extinct through the wanton as
saults of man. at times some of the roar
ings came very near indeed, and more than
once Brown thought that he could detect a
cat-like movement over the leafy carpet be-
low, but this give him little concern. Grad
ually the sounds grew fainter and further
off. till they ceased altogether. Brown was
asleep
How long he bad slept he knew not, when
strange, undehnable impression of some
thing wrong caused him suddenly to open
his eyes and stare straight before him. There,
shining through the foliage, and seemingly
close to him, appeared two stars of intense
brilliancy and richness, the only CLEANS
amid the pitchy darkness. He could not re-
move his eyes from them, but kept staring
as If magnetized. Presently he thought
there was a slight swaying or movement of
the stars, and hardly feeling as If he were yet
awake, and with the impression of being un-
der some strange fascination, he tried to
rouse himself, never moving, however, nor
yet once lifting his eyes off those glittering
lights. Gradually, as reflection grew clearer,
the truth dawned upon him with almost
overwhelming force. There was no doubt be
was under the blaze of hungry tigers eyes,
the owner of which was apparently gauging
bis bearings before proceeding to business.
The discovery almost petrifed him for mo-
ment, but only for moment, and then all
his GOODNESS returned with redoubled force.
EverythiD depended on his self-possession.
His only chance of life, he felt, lay in max
ing himself master of the situation, and this
he was resolved to be. Without moving a
muscle, without iinching or faltering
steadily he returned the fierce glare that was
fixed upon him. In this stare was concen-
trated the power of the human mind over
the brute. He felt this power and knew its
efficacy from the experience of many pre-
vious occasions. Seconds and minutes pass
ed and still the two continued thus motion
less staring at each other. AS each minute
passed Brown left more and more that this
monster that could have torn him to pieces
with ease was yet powerless to touch him so
long as he kept him under the check of his
eye. The least wavering on his part he
knew would at once be detected by his ter
rible vis-a-vis and signal his fate. The idea
OF seizing his gun had never entered his
mind. Before he could half reach for it the
animal would have been upon him.
By, and ant by as as Browns Bro eye
got oriS afo6Ssomea d;eonr obed the pa darkness mess
branch on which he lay, the outline of a
tiger, dimly visible, only some three yards
Off The time that now passed was intensi-
fed into length that seemed interminable
to Brown; but still there was no movement
of the enemy. AT length the glaring eye
balls, he thought, drew near,r TO each other,
then one gradually was lost 10 sight, and soon
after the Oih' Then Stealthy, cat-like
movement and heavng of the branch, as of
some animal retredtiug along it, till pres
emily soft plunge and rebound of the
branch indicated its having quilted its posi-
ton. 1t was not the sound of leap to the
ground however. but rather of springing
from one branch u another, and Brown did
not yet feel quite secure, though at the same
time thoroughly mystified to account for
the movements of his enemy. Not
less puzzled V1s he to understand
how the amin Il could possibly have
reached him in = place that seemed inac-
cesslble to tiger md where he had thought
bimself perfectly secure.
Presently he h. Td a dull thud, announc-
ing that the bru had reached the ground.
and Brown at LEI 9Th drew a long breath of
relief. He felt | 1T his foe was fairly gone
routed from the field; and this with but
single effort on his part The tension of
those last few minutes left strain from
which it took Brown some time to recover;
then his first action, needless to say, was to
get in hand his ''trustY friend" to be better
prepared against any fresh emergency.
Insecure though his quarters were now
proved to be, he had no alternative but to
continue there for the rest of the night. To
descend and attempt to search for others
would be the more hazardous of the two,
with such neighbors about, and besides an
almost impossible task in the darkness. He
resolved, therefore, to keep awake the rest of
the night and cats lookout for contin-
gencies. The blood track of tire antelope had,
no doubt, he thought, led to his being dis
covered, though possibly it was more in
quest of the antelope than of himself that
the tiger had scaled the tree How he had
done so still remains puzzle. Brown did
not close an eve again that night
xuhfrl, coov,aoI int
him dozen more Havanas without getting
him through it, but, happily, he had no
more deadly visitants than the mosquitoes
At length pale, purple glow through the
foliage indicated approaching day, and soon
thereafter Brown descended from his perch
with stiffened limbs, but with a keen appe-
tite for ''cheta hazri'' (early breakfast), de-
spite his nights experiences He now found
out what had so puzzled him about the
tigers ascent-namely, that the branch on
which he was resting almost touched mid
way another huge semi-broken branch of a
neighboring tree that was bent down to the
ground, and thus afforded easy access to the
animal.
Shouldering now his antelope and birds,
Brown lost no time in making tracks for
camp as best he could guess. He kept firing
of shot at intervals TO apprise his friends
of his whereabouts and at length faint an
sweriDg report reached his ears sufficient to
guide him on in the right direction and re-
lieve his mind of all anxiety. Soon there.
after he was hailed by his friends amid a
perfect shower of calculations: all the an
swer that they got was a wall of hunger and
a cry of "cheta hazri," after which Brown
promised to relate his adventures faith
fully and truly. over a cup of
steamiDg mocha hot toast, cold fowl
and eggs Brown recounted bis
experiences of the night and the hair
breadth chance on which his life had hung
of waking at the right moment. How he
mad done so he could only regard as provi-
Dental. Two days later the skin of his
tiger visitant adorned the front of the camp
spread out in the sun to dry. The antelope
that had attracted the brute to Browns
roost served as a bait to lure him a second
time to the tree, where he now fell victim
to the rifles of Brown and bis friends who
were ensconced above; and where Brown
had the pleasure of passing a second night
in his old quarters. though now in company
with his friends. and after they had secured
themselves against the dangerous access by
the branch.
A National Dirt-1Tixer.