The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-05-24

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A MINUTE OR TWO MORE AND THE RACE
WOULD BE ENDED.
ceptibly. Then came quick, sharp
crack, and off she went again at such a
dizzy speed that the tangled foliage of
the jungle shot past like wavy green
curtain.
The brake had given way. The
thought of jumping off never occurred
to me. l hung to the seat in helpless
terror, my gaze fixed with a resistless
fascination on the group Of tigers ahead.
They were terribly close now, and 1
closed my eyes with shudder as re-
membered what would happen when
the trolly struck that great tawny brute
and bounded into the air.
l have a very faint recollection of see
ing the tigress walk leisurely off the
track at the last moment, followed by
one of her cubs.
remember the big tiger, too, crouch
ing in the ditch, his great red tongue
lolling out, and then, as the trolly
bounced and grated over some obstacle,
and my ears were deafened bysa most
fearful snarling, knew that / had run
over one of the cubs. The iolting was
over in an instant, and the trolly, with
out leaving the rails, swept on down the
grade at a terrific rate of speed. There
was one tiger less in the Madapur for.
est, knew, for, glancing down at the
foot-board, l saw spattered drops OF
blood.
All OF sudden 1 heard, above the
dizzy hum of wheels, most terrific
roar, and, turning instantly around /
was startled to see the big tiger bound
ing over the rails in hot pursuit.
AT every jump he roared, and my first
impression was that he would overtake
the trolly in about one minute. Re-
membering my revolver l took it from
my pocket and cooked it. Another
glance made it apparent that the tiger
was not gaining any, and as the trolly
was now on the very steepest part of the
grade, ] felt pretty confident that I
would ultimately leave him behind.
For the next quarter of mile / act
ually did gain, and then, as l began to
draw near the foot of the grade, the
situation assumed very ticklish phase,
for, astonishing to relate, my vindictive
pursuer showed no signs of giving up
the race. He was bounding gracefully
over the ties, thirty or forty yards be-
hind, without the faintest trace of wear
mess. OF course If could keep up the
present rate Of speed l would be all
right, but just there was the rub. The
bottom of the grade was close at hand
and then came level track. The mo-
mentum / had gained would of course
carry me a mile further, but somewhere
in the space of that mile would be
overtaken by the tiger. The cold chills
ran over me at the thought.
stole another glance at my pursuer.
Horror! The distance between us had
certainly lessened already. / took aim
as we'll as could and fred one chamber
of my revolver. The only effect pro-
duced was dismal roar. 1 did not try
another shot, for / remembered that I
would probably have need of the re-
naming chambers for use at close quar-
ters. The sensations experienced as the
trolly gradually lessened its speed were
horrible. For the space of five minutes
/ suffered torments as actual and real as
though the brute really had me in his
jaws. 1 was bowling over the level
track now and the tiger was closing in
on the homestretch.
A minute or two more and the race
would be ended, for knew that my re-
volver was about as useless as a pop
gun.
Hardly conscious of what i was doing
turned and emptied the remaining
chambers at the tiger as fast as i could
pul the trigger. One or more of the
shots must have struck him, for he
stopped short with fiendish roar, and
then came on more furiously than ever
! hurled the empty revolver at him
and then settled back on the seat in de-
spair. / could hear the soft patter of the
cushioned feet on the ties. the hot
breath seemed to be scorching my neck,
and then gun shot was fired almost
beside my ear and l caught brief
glimpse of white helmet and smok-
ing rifle barrel. tumbled off my trolly
somehow, and there lay my late pur-
suer breathing his life out across the
rails.
My timely rescuer was not Colonel
Danvers, as had supposed, but the res
ident engineer from Decca, who was
spending a weeks furlough in the Jungle.
Ny firing had attracted his attention
and he had arrived just in time. He &C.
companied me back TO the station on the
trolly, for l was completely unnerved.
My recreant Hindus, Pershad and Jung,
were promptly dismissed from the serv-
Ice, and l picked out two Others. who
stoutly affirmed that they had no fear
whatever OF tigers
Ever afterward, however, loaded
rifle lay on the seat beside me, and !
kept sharp watch ahead for tigers on
sbs track.-Philadelphia Timea