Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-10-19

intimation of his presence was snufning
growl There he stool, looking in the
moonlight as big as ye..sling steer, and
as we turned on him he uttered a grow
which paralyzed me for so seconds.
"Shoot, Sahib-for Gods sake, shoe:
himl" cried the native, as he grovelled
on the floor in terror.
The day being cloudy, the tiger~would
probably visit the village a little earlier
than usual, if at ALL AT o'clock we
ordered all the people to retire to their
tents, and soon thereafter the three of us
took up our stations. each of us having
a man 10 keep US company. My hut was
broadside to the thicket, but the door
faced the other way. There was large
window at one end about eight feet from
the ground, and door and window were
well secured. Several portfolios had been
made in the walls. and felt that could
give good account of the tiger should he
appear in my neighborhood. 1t cleared
off at sunset, and full moon came up to
make the village light as day. While
watched at the back of the hnt the native
took the front. but after two long hours
had gone by without an alarm he came
over to me and said:
%The beast knows the white hunters
are here and he does not show his face.
ale may even have left the neighbor-
hood
had to struggle up and get my rifle,
which was leaning against the wall, and
by the time 1 had it in hand and had
turned about the beast was gone. We
knew where he had gone to, though. He
had sprung upon the roof, and as he trot-
ted about his weight shook the cabin to
its foundations. The cunning old beast
knew what was in there for, and he
didn't propose to become target. After
walking about for three or four minutes
he coolly lay down and rolled about as if
an play. The dry grasses may have
tickled his hide, for he set up loud pur-
ring, and seemed to be greatly enjoying
himself
set the native, who had a shotgun, at
one of the portfolios, and / took another
myself, but the tiger seemed to divine
our positions. When he finally leaped
down it was at such a point that we
could not reach him. We could follow
him with our eyes, however. He went
trotting down the street, stopping here
and there to investigate hut, and but
for the native / should have left our shell
ter and tried to get shot at him.
Don't go, Sahib-for the love of
heaven, don't gol" pleaded the badly
frightened man. Everybody is secure
and the tiger knows it. He has seen us.
He knows you are white hunter. He
runs away thinking you will be foolish
enough to follow. Take my word for it,
ii is a trick of his.
So it seemed to be. We had scarcely
lost sight Of him down the street when
we heard him leap upon the roof again.
He had doubled back on us. After reach
ing the roof he remained quiet for five
minutes, but then, hearing us move
about, he jumped down and trotted off
again. We just got glimpse of him as
he disappeared in the direction of the
nullah. Three or four minutes later we
heard wild shout, and the native with
me cried out:
villagers and is off to the thicketsl"
Every native in that village knew the
danger of quitting his hut that night, but
one of them, walking out of his sleep and
feeling thirsty, decided to open the door
and secure drink from calabash kept
In hole in the earth at the back end of
the hut. He did not even stop to look
out to see il the tiger was abroad. The
incident shows the strange recklessness
of the natives in general. and explains
how it comes about that the loss of life
in that country from wild beasts is so ap-
pallingly great. The man was no sooner
out doors than the tiger seized him and
rolled him over and over. He was then
gripped by the left shoulder, given
twist which threw his body over the
tigers back, and the beast came walking
up the street with his burden as cool as
you please. / could not fire at him from
that side until he should reach the door,
though we could watch him through the
crevices in the wall.
The beast did not come quite to the
door, but lay down just where l could
not reach him and began TO play with
the dead body. He rolled it over and
over, struck it with his paw, and in other
ways reminded us of cat playing with
a mouse. Fortunately for the poor
native, he was killed when first attacked.
was closely watching every movement
of the beast, and by and by as he rolled
about he came within range. got but
one shot and that inflicted only a flesh
wound. The instant the bullet struck
him he uttered terrible roar and rushed
at the wicket, and he threw himself
against it with such force that the whole
hut trembled. Standing on his hind legs
he used teeth and claws to try and pull
the poles away, and he did not cease his
efforts until gave him another bullet.
Then he sprang upon the roof and foi
the next 10 minutes lay there growing
IN way to make our hair stand up.
Meanwhile, all the dogs in the village
we're barking, and every family had been
aroused. The noise ought to have fright
ened the tiger away, but instead of retir-
ing to the thicket he leaped down TO the
etreet, seized the dead man about the
middle, and with no effort at all regained
the roof. What / feared was that he
would tear hole through the thatch and
leap down on US, but this idea did not
seem to occur to him. He was severely
but not mortally wounded, and his actions
showed that he had been rendered doubly
savage. While he was growing and maui
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