Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-06-24

most white.
i 'If you'll believe me, sir, as he held
me and shook rue in his mouth, felt
no pain and no terror, but a sort OF
almost pleasant benumbed drowsiness
and strange curiosity as to how the
brute would eat me. | could hear the
deer, monkeys and snake scuttle off as
he shook me, as a cat does mouse
or a terrier rat. Then l tried to
get 6, pistol from pocket No. ID, and
| tainted.
Before | came to, full half an hour
must have elapsed. There lay in
nest of dry MoonJe grass. felt that
the monster was still over me. | felt
his pestiential breathing on my fact
even in my swoon. Yes, there he was,
his enormous length reclining beside
feet at every vibration-his head turn
ed from me. If you'll believe me, sir,
he had actually munched and chewed
the whole OF my left leg from the toe
to the knee; he had eaten about three
feet OF it, sir pardon the awkward
ness of the expression), during my
| swoon."
''Chewed; Major Monsoon?" cried
in an angry, expostulatory voice.
why, there areyour two legs as sound
as minei"
"Pooh! pooh! my dear sir, said he,
without a smile and quite unruffled,
holding out his left leg to me to pinch,
"the leg he munched was cork then, as
it is now, and as it has been ever since.
A cannon ball took of its fieshy prede
cessor at the siege OF Mooltan. One
happy result of it being cork, as you
may imagine, was that it took the
beast some zine to get through, and
that the beast didn't hurt me much.
81 opened my eyes quietly when
found what he was at, for he kept
! growing and snarling over the rather
indigestible meal, and began to look
round me to see where my rife was.
If you'll believe me, sir, there it lay,
i full cooked, not three inches from my
right hand.
"My first thought was to steal my
hand along and get hold of my rifle,
but the instant l moved even limb,
the beast of 'man-eater' began to
growl, and evinced dangerous dis
position to leave my cork leg and set
tie on the more valuable one of flesh.
/ therefore, for the moment, abandon
/ ed the attempt, end resigned myself
to death; for it seemed certain that
when the beast had finished the cork
leg and began to taste my blood, he
would turn and devour me.
81 was sufficiently cool, even in this
horrible emergency, to cast my eyes
around to see if was wounded. /
found no wound but discovered that
the tiger had in seizing me torn off
and probably devoured the tenth and
eleventh pockets of my shooting jack
ct. | listened for the beaters, but
could hear no voice or sound. They
had either gone so far of that they
were out of hearing, or what was more
likely, they had been alarmed by the
/, tiger and had fled. For they're poor
creatures, the niggers, in any real dan
ger.
81 now, therefore, gave myself up as
lost; the tiger was still gnawing my
cork knee and had one paw lying as
heavy as lead on my other leg. when
suddenly, if you'll believe me the beast
ydwned twice, nodded his head and
fell fast asleep. l saw it all in mo-
menr. He had swallowed, in my No.
10 pocket, a large bottle of morphine,
the bimeconate OF morphine, an
American preparation of great
strength-that | always carried with
me when | went tiger hunting, in case
of an attack OF neuralgia, TO which
was subject after | had two-thirds of
my teeth carried away by match
lock bullet at Bundelcore. Now was
my opportunity. There lay the great
striped beast fast asleep. stole my
hand gently toward my rifle.
grasped it. | cooked it. Hooked at
the clean copper cap, held the muzlle
close to the brute's ear and fired.
With yell-a groan-the beast fell.
| leaped up at the same moment to
avoid his fatal claws, and gave him
the second barrel behind the right
paw, close to the heart. He groaned,
stretched out his legs, tore the earth
in long scratches you might lay your
hands in, and fell dead. | took out
my repeater. 1t was exactly three
minutes past P. NJ. | had started
from the bungalow at Kollywallah at
TAM. Then a giddiness came over
me, and tainted again.
81 was awoke by something soft
touching my face. looked up. Kind
heavenl 1t was Ramchunder, with
the beast of khansamah dead drunk
/ in the howdah, and with one of my
| silver topped champagne bottles in his
hand. instantly called out, Pukraov
| which is Hindostanee for take hold
and, if you'll believe me, sir, the sa-
gacious animal, whom had trained
to this, lifted me up with his probos-
els into the howdah; for how could
move, you know, with my cork leg all
eaten away?
THE first thing did was-what do
you Think"
could not guess.
"The first thing did, sir, was to
punch that beast of q khansamah's
head, to be sure, and thengo in search
of Dostee Pooloo and those cowardly
niger beaters.
"If you'll believe me, sir, we found
them in the nearest village, two miles
of, cooking rice at fire, and telling
the people how the sahib had been
killed by the man-eater. So what did
do but ride in among them on Ram
chunder and give the fellows such a
welting with the whip of my buggy,
which always carried for that pur-
pose, that they fell on their knees and
cried for mercy.
"Juhlde ioa, Dostee Pooloo,'
cried, and bring home the tiger on q
stretcher of champa boughs. You'll
| find him in such a place
go they did, and three hours after,
| Just at sunset we entered Kollywallah
in procession, firing guns, letting of
| rockets, the niggers shouting songs
about the sahib and the tiger Twen-
! lyman was delighted to see me, for he
had given me up for lost, as one of the
beaters had run to the bungalow and
told him | was killed.
The next morning, when / called at
| the ajor's lodgings, | found, to my
establishment, he had left by the 6 a.
m. train desiring thelandlady to send
in his bill to his brother at No %.
His brotherl But j felt bound in hon
or to pay it.
On closely considering the story of
Major Monsoon's remarkable escape
| from the tiger, found several alarm
ing discrepancies that led to doubt in
my mind as to its entire veracity.
Breech leaders were not, think, in
vented 20 years ago, and. now think
os it, regret did not pinch his leg
hard-to make sure it really was cork.
p. S.-The other day, too. at the
Oriental Club, was telling the story
to Colonel Curry, when he made the
following remark
"My dear Foozle, the fellow was
humbugging you, take my word for it.
Monsoon is a traditional name in
Indian, and is often tagged on to ma
| tive stories There was Colonel