The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-11-20
A HUNTERS NERVE.
Calmly Facing a Ferocious South
American Tiger.

1t was in the state Of Mirandea. New
Venezuela. 1t was three o'clock in tho
morning and / was with Manuel. the
tiger hunter. on the mountain. After
a half-hour of cautious walking Man
uel paused ut a turn in the narrow
path. and / felt rather than saw that
the dawn Of day was at hand. There
was a strange stir in the air. as though
the feeble breath OF life had come
back to the dead and inauimatc nature.
Over beyond the eastern mountain tops
the stars were growing pale. The first
faint gray tinge of dawn was coming
long way OF.
Day came slowly. 7 noted this with
surprise. for had any number of times
read descriptions OF dawn IN the trop-
les wherein il was represented that day
came with a bound ont Of the blacllness
II the night. Perhaps the writers of
these descriptions had waited until the
sun had already reddcued the eastern
sky before watching for the dawn.
From the time that noticed the Grst
faint gray strcalls in the sky until the
sun was actually shining on the noun
tain tops IL was perhaps a little more
than an hour- have seen the day
break in the Rocky mountains in the
same lGABLIl DL llliit- " lLi Ailt OlllN ull-
ference that in the tropics the day came
more swiftly after the rosy lights
had come into the sky. Between the
first grays of the early morning and the
rosy hines of actual day there was little
difference in the Cordilleras and the
Rocky mountains.
could have watched the coming day
for another hour. but as soon rs II was
% i,.,.
iects Manuel carefully chose a spot
which / could occupy during the i'm
pending gladiatorial exhibition. II
was the peak of a high rock that al
most ovcrhung the path that he
eventually chose, and with some diff
Guilty I climbed to the top of it. Nature
evidently had intended the rock for
some such purpose a. this. for it gave
good view of the path for some dis
tance on olch side. could easily have
seen any animal walking upon it for
a considerable distance in either di-
rection. There was plenty of evi-
dence, too. that the advantage of this
peak as a lookout station had been ap-
preciatcd and used by other hunters
than man. Indications showed that
wild beasts. presumably tigers. had
crouched there in wait for unsuspect-
ing prey This discovery gave me
mild sensation. ] might be reasonably
safe from the attack of a tiger in the
path below. but ] hesitated TO think
what would be the result if 4 tiger
came up and found me occupying his
private personal outlook.
When | was comfortably concealed
behind the rock, although in a position
that permitted me To keep careful
watch of the exposed parts of the path,
Manuel disappeared. lie was stand
ing by the base OF the rock one mo-
ment, and the next moment he had
vanished lie must have gone like a
serpent, for heard no sound. Then
was alone on tigers fayorite resort in
an uninhabited South American forest
1t was hardly pleasant sensation, es-
pecially as my revolver seemed to be-
as doubtless ii was, a very inadequate
weapon. \ suspicion might have
crossed my mind that Manuel had left
me there as a bait for tiger, but
would not give il a moments credence.
There were noises on the mountain
side by this time, and some of them
were so distinct that ! could distinguish
them. Small animals were scampering
about in the underground and birds
We're calling in the trees. a commo-
ton among the birds some distance
down the path attracted my attention,
and i wondered if a tiger had stirred
them up. or if Manuel had strayed as
far away rs that. a few moments
later there was another commotion
in the distance on the other hand of
me, but ] gave little heed 10 it. On
the right-hand side of the path a small
creature, something like a North
American woodchucll, stopped short in
his leisurely morning walk and shifted
suspiciously at the air. ! was to lee
ward of him in the light breeze that
had sprung mp, and So he could not
lave scented me. lie smiled moment
in the direction of the first disturbance
and then suddenly dived hcadlong into
the underground. Assuredly there was
something off TO windward that he was
afraid of. The disturbances ceased
after a time and then the mountain side
was still again.
Looking down over the rock few
moments later ! found Manuel gazing
up at me. He pointed away off 10 the
left in the direction of the second dis
turbance and again disappeared. 1t is
probable that on this occasion he hid
himself in the underground alongside
the path. gave my undivided atten-