The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-09-09
THE BLACK TIGER.
How He Was Captured by a Young
Honduran.

"H we take him alive, without
scratch, Francisco, you shall have fv
doubloons."
francisco tore his cigar from be
tween his lips land dashed it to tn
ground.
"Ten hundred doubloons," he erie,
IN an agony Of Impotence. .sSeno
Henrigo, not for 10000 doublons cal
we do that thing. Iii impossib'! Yo,
hear me-, Senior Henrigo. it is impossib'
kill him. Yes, 1 kin him for on,
doubloon. But catch him. alive! Non
non. Not any tigrero in Honduras car
10 that thing. You know how strong
Is tins tiger Nero-this black tieeri
With one slap of his paw he kills me ar
OK. lie is big like a horse, nimble like
cat; he can jump like a bird and his
claws and teeth-they are cuchilIos-
they are crooked knives, with edges
Ike a razor"
A soft, musical voice interrupted him,
"Buenas dias," it said, and Francisco
n myself turned at the same moment,
to recognize in the speaker lad named
Guilierrao, who had been working with
q gang OF mahogany cutters in the for
est near the hacienda where l was stop
ping. he was apparently not more than
sixteen years of age, but his bare arms
n legs were knotted with punches of
muscle and his handsome face had an
open, fearless expression seldom met
WIN among the poems, or laborers, of
Central America.
"Good day." he repeated, what is
the talkP"
Folly" replied Francisco, ..much
foolishness. One tiger Nero is kill four
teen oxen In three weeks for Don Jose
Geray, here at the hacienda. He is
come into the pens and carry off three
calves; he is kill one herder, and the
whole hacienda is frightened of him. I
know him. He is the biggest tiger in
All Honduras; and what you think,
GuillermoP Don Henrigo is give me
Y doubloons when 1 catch him alive!
En-. how is that like your I am not kill
him. l am catch him in my hands, and
n Henrigo gives me five doubloons."
Inc extravaganza of the idea made
Francisco laugh. He was one of the
boldest ''tigreros," or professional tiger
hunters, in Honduras, and with only his
spear had killed dozens OF the beasts
which prey upon the herders' oxen: but
he had lever before thought of captur-
ing n of them alive, and the idea
seemed to him absurd.
But the boy, Guillermo, did not
laugh.
Five d%oubloons" he said, gravely;
chow much reals is SO many doub-
loonsPn
six hundred"
He brought his right fist down into
the palm Of his left hand with a sound
ing blow.
Il catch him for you, Senior Hem
rlgo," he said, quietly. "Not
scratch he shall have. 1 know the
patch OF sarsaparilla where he hides,
and tonight 1 catch him. Six hundred
reals! Yes, Senior Henrigo, 1 catch him
tonight for six hundred reals" And
The boy turned on his heel and vanished
as quickly as he had come, but not so
quickly that he failed to hear Francisco's
!ecring cry: "You catch him? You-a
boy-catcb a tiger Nero aliveP Caram-
ba! He will bite you in bits"
At live o'clock that night Guillermo
Was again at the hacienda.
"The trap is built, Senior Henrigo,"
be said quietly, 'but 1 have no bait. I
am only a boy-I-and to coax the
tiger the trap will need one calf, one
young cow, to cry and cry, so that the
tiger may hear it and come. 1 am only
a boy-l-and l have no calf"
That's all right, Guillermo," I said
at once, tor l liked the boys spirit, and
while l doubted that he could do that
which SO old and experienced a tigrero
as Francisco declared impossible, [ was
willing to aid him to the extent of fur
nishing bait for his trap.
IF you would like to see Don Tiger
walk into the cage, it can be so," Gull
iermo told me a few minutes later, as he
laid the bawling calf which I had pro-
cured from my friends herd across his
shoulders. There will be a youno
moon tonight, and l make you a nest
in the vines high up in a mahogany tree
where you a see, but tiger not see
YOU"
"Good boyr 1 said heartily, ..that
will suit me exactly"
When l had procured my rifle and a
light lunch from the hacienda, we made
u way to the sarsaparilla jungle |
wherein the tiger lurked.
The trap proved to be an Enclosure of
logs, about seven feet long by five wide,
and six high. The sides were made of
strong young tree trunks firmly planted
in the ground, close together. The top
was built into the sides by notching the
top and side timbers, and the whole was !
SO secured by wedges and dovetails as
to be solid as a rock. In front-directly
below the perch which Guillermo soon
built for us in a mahogany tree overrun
by vines-a sliding door was raised and
secured by a bar which passed along the
top of the trap, and was so arranged
tsat a violent pull at the bait would
spring a spindle which communicated
with the pole through a grapevine rope,
and send the heavy door, sliding in its
grooves. smoothly and swiftly down to
the grass.
Darkness came suddenly. The calf
kept up a continuous crying, and made
(iuillermo-who was crouched beside
me-say more than once, '.Poor calf!
pooe little COW! But it is better So"
he would ad '.better that calf be killed.
and tiger caught, so he a not kill SO
many more COWS and may be people,"
] had just looked at my watch, and
saw thai it WAS ten o'clock, when a
sharp, waiting cry broke the stiffness OF
the night. and made me jump SO thai
the watch slipr.ed from my hand and
would have fyllen to the ground but
Tor tho chain that held 1t: The cry was