The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1895-09-12
AN UGLY FELLOW TRAVELLER.
Thought His Dog Had Joined Him, but II
the Moonlight Found 1t Was a Tiger.


Once, while travelling in an open
top buggy in the spring of 1857 from
tho gulf coast TO San Antonio de
Bexar, in west Texas, a distance of
$50 miles, l YVES frequently compel
led to travel far into the night to
reach a place to obtain aocommoda-
lions, the country being so spMsely
settled that the nearest neighbor
was often SO miles away. In this par
ticular instance ! was accompanied
by faithful bloodhound, friend in
his way, whom could trust in any
emergency.
Leaving the picturesque little vii
lage of Victoria, on the Guadalupe
at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, my
course led me through thickly
wooded section of country up the
river to the next settlement, @ dis
lance of 25 miles. About dusk I
reached the darkest and densest part
of the path, some ten miles from my
destination, when my dog was Civ
ing signs of uneasiness by success
sion of growls and would frequently
drop back alongside of the buggy,
making his presence known by his
nervous whines. AS there would be
no moon to afford sufficient light
for an hour or such matter the trail
was in the densest darkness, and my
progress was necessarily slow.
In the meantime my dog had be-
come aroused to anything but con-
templative mood and was frisking
back and forth from front to rear in
such an excited manner that it gave
me some uneasiness. Placing one of
my pair of colts revolvers on the
seat beside me along with a large
belt knife, I cooked the other and
held it ready in my right hand. Civ
ing my horse the slack lines to use
his own discretion as to the route, I
started out through the dense black
ness of the pitchy darkness in the
vain hope of seeing what was the
cause of my dogs great trouble, as
he had now taken his position di-
rectly under the rear end of my
buggy, as l could plainly tell by the
anxious growls and desperate lunges
he was making at something it was
impossible for me to see.
While in this attitude, my horse
jogging along at his usual pace, as
though there was nothing to disturb
his quiet and serenity, something,
which I supposed was my dog, leap
ed into the unoccupied space in the
hind end of the buggy and in such
close quarters that it sent a thrill
through me that caused me to trem-
BILE, Notwithstanding my supposition
that it was nay dog, having taught
him to do SO before when on long
| journeys in this fashion. The posi-
ton in which the animals were plac.
ed, coupled with my excited and
! overweight imagination, caused me
to suppose the dog was in the buggy
and the beast on the ground making
desperate efforts to dislodge my pro-
tector, but the reverse was the case.
The supposition of the situation pre-
vented me for the time from at
tempting to use my pistol, fearing I
might perchance shoot the wrong
animal. While sitting there motion
less and oppressed with d feeling of
the profoundest awe my horse sud-
denly increased his pace, taking the
buggy into the open plain just as the
moon showed it's full and welcome
face above the horizon and from be-
hind range of hills that ran paral-
lei with the course of the river.
What sight was presented to my
view. An eternity of calamities fash
ed through my brain in an electric
twinkle. The danger of my position
showed with equal vividness, and
grasped the situation and my huge
knife with the same alert motion.
changed my position unobserved by
the tiger, whose attention was so in
tensely drawn toward the desperate
attacks of the dog that I was en-
abled to use my knife to great ad-
vantage. The risk of killing the dog
was too great by using my pistol, so
"Hobson choice" was the only
thing left to consider, and with rap
id and desperate strokes with that
keen edged Damascus blade I soon
placed my enemy hors de combat,
and it was really amusing, although
it was no laughing matter just then,
to see my faithful canine friend
dancing the cancan over the terribly
mutilated body of the tiger. -Phila-
delphia Times.
What Man Expects of Wife.