Wichita eagle., 1889-06-06

stripped the two mattresses from lrs sur
face. a woven wire mattress and the
Stats now alone interposed an apparently
fral barrier between the enraged animal
and its helpless victims.
Maddened with rage, the huge man
eater tore fercely at this fresh obstacle,
its sharp claws, however, failing to make
any impression upon the tempered spring
steel. But it bent dreadfully. Will it
hold? Yes, it bends, it is true, but even
those claws, terrible weapons though
they be, rebound harmless from the slip
perry and springy surface. Thank heaven!
1t forms coat of mail through which
the huge beast cannot penetrate.
After few minutes of futile endeavor
the tiger, exhausted with its exertions,
lay crouched above them. The man,
white with terror, could see the saliva
dripping from its jaws and mark the fe-
rocious CLEAN in its yellow eyes as it
glared savagely down upon them. With
out covering, it was bitter cold. A deadly
chill crept over him. Would he and his
wife survive the horrible experience?
His wife! He reached out his hand and
touched her. He spoke to her, low at
| first, then louder. There was no response.
Overcome with the horror of their
| situation the unfortunate woman had
tainted Each minute seemed an hour
as he lay there, the immense form of the
! tiger above them, while his face was
turned away to escape the prurient odors
which its body emitted. In their expos
ed situation his wife would perish with
cold and fright. Something must be
| done. He saw, too, that beneath the re-
peated onslaughts of their foe even the
steel mattress showed signs of yielding.
Suddenly the thought struck him, THAT
| box of tools again.
With the auger and saw it contained
why should he not cut his way through
the. floor, drop into the parlor below, and
summon assistance? No sooner had he
hit on this plan than he proceeded to put
| it into execution. Turning over on his
/ face, he bored with as little noise as pos
| sible series of holes through the soft
! pine flooring, and inserted the edge of the
saw. 1t was new and sharp, and the soft
wood readily yielded to his efforts. Soon
/ he had cut hole two feet in length in
one plank. The tiger had net moved.
Mrs. Hartley was lying face down
ward, and groaned from time to time
/ uneasily She had regained conscious
ness, but replied to all her husbands
! questions in an incoherent manner, and
the poor man thought piteously that per
haps her reason had given way under the
dreadful strain. The thought urged him
! on to renewed efforts.
Thesecond plank was now cut through.
Breaking away the plaster beneath, be
thrust his legs into the hole thus made,
and hung suspended by his fingers.
Whilst in this position the thought in
voluntarily flashed through his mind
! that perhaps the tiger might rush down
stairs and seize him, and he gripped the
rough boards tightly with his tired fin
! gers. He would soon have to let go his
hold anyway. He felt his fingers grad
ually slipping from the boards He
looked up, prayer trembling on his
blanched lips. The animal had not
moved from its recumbent position on
the bed. Its eyes were half closed, and
it was apparently becoming drowsy.
He let go his hold and fell-down
down, down-away into space. 1t seemed
| that he would never reach the floor.
At this juncture the merchants wife
shook him violently by the shoulder and
exclaimed in a somewhat irritable tone:
For goodness sake, James, wake up
and cease dreaming about that wretched
tiger. Ibeiere you are more frightened
! about il than / am"
And he was.-Austyn w. Granville in
Chicago Journal.