Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-02-15

struggled away, clutched his lips with
his hand and shook his head.
I believe the voy fear that ! should
succeed in giving him the whisky kept
him alive till the poison began to lose
its power. At all events he did not die
Salad was as fond Of hunting as L
Many a timo we two slipped away from
camp in tho gray Of carly morning.
Once, just before daylight, / wa out
with my shotgun in a thinly wooded
Jungle a mile from camp upon the
shore Of q small lake, waiting for birds
Il was just my luck. Because / came
prepared for birds, there was not one in
sight, but three beautiful antelope came
down to drink within n hundred feet Of
Us. 1 looked at the shotgun in disgust.
Thcn looked again at tho antelope. It
was exasperating. / was determined to
have a shot, at any rate, and in the hope
that l might stun one of them or at least
bewilder him for an instant. L whisper
cd to Salad to be ready with his knife
and make a dash the moment l fred.
Cautiously l raised the gun to my
shoulder and was pressing the trigger,
when Salad touched me and whispered:
"Wait, sahibl Look therel''
1 looked, and my shotgun fell. At q
slight angle, but little more than half
way between Us and the antelope, there
crouched n royal Bengal tiger. a single
glance was sufficient. He was surely a
man eater. Evidently he had been on
the point of satisfying his hunger with
an antelope when he caught sight Of us,
He was within an easy leap Of tho deer,
but was deliberately turning away and
facing us. The motion startled the deer,
and they bounded off, but the tiger paid
them no further attention. The huge
creature opened his great jaws till his
head seemed nothing but u red, yawn-
ing gullet bordered by long, ragged,
g%listening teeth, and with q savage
snarl he beg-n - approach US.
There was no need Of looking about
for q place Of safety. The jungle was
sparsely wooded at the best, and the
largest tree we had passed in coming
from camp would not have borno even
Sajad's weight 10 feet from the
ground. Salad had only his hunting
knife, l nothing but my shotgun.
Zone of us must go, sahib, q" Salad
muttered, without taking his eyes from
the tiger. ''If we run together, we shall
both go. He will overtake us in q mo-
ment Let Allah decide as it is written
in our foreheads Run that way for
your life, sahib. 1 will run this way.
Be quick, before he comes nearerr'
There was no time for thought. 1t
seemed a fair proposition, and even as
he spoke the Hindoo started at tho top
of his speed away. 1t was useless stand
ing still or following him, and acting
upon his suggestion / started in tho op-
posite direction.
After running q rod or two I looked
over my shoulder The tiger had made
a leap and was just landing, already
crouched for another spring. He was
following mel
1 will not admit that I hoped he
would follow Salad, but 1 did hope that
he would not choose nc. 1t amounted
to the same thing.
/ started on for ono moro desperate
struggle. 1 was doomed. l knew it per-
/, fectly well, yet while there is life there
is hope, and / ran as 1 move ran be-
fore. resolved to go as far as 1 could
and then whirl about and give the tiger
q charge of fine shot full in the face. 1t
might put out his eyes. There was at
least that possibility to hang a desperate
hope upon, and throwing my gun to my
shoulder I turned. The tiger was not
therel Looking farther back, 1 saw his
tawny hide in the underbrush. Instant
ly it rose. He was making a leap, but
, IL was not toward me. One thrill OF
gratitude shot through my veins, wheI
my heart stood still with horror. There
was one sharp yelp as the huge form
swept through the air, and crushing the
leaves and branches as it fell landed up
on the PROSTATE figure Of Salad, silently
waiting for the blow.
stood there petrifed, the cold per
spiration dripping from my forehead
There was not a sound from Salad
! Thore was only one fierce howl from tn,
s tiger; then all was still.
1t was only an instant, but in that in
t slant we two, my Hindoo ervan ant
/, stood out before me in very bold re
~ it'll. 4 nAu AuA III NY AAANS AiAQM III
that the chances lay between US two ant
g hoping at least that the tiger might no
v follow me. He had run, too, knowing
that the chance lay between us, and be
2 cause the tiger did not follow him h
) had come back again and tempted hin
a called him away from me and givol
his life for mine.
a He was a poor benighted heathe.
It and only an average sample of his kind
# Ho could not help stealing prett
It things. He could not stop telling lies
1t But surely he was a truer, Drawer, nc
bier man than l, and if the image G
= God can be found today in any Of hi
Il creatures it would require no very dee
theologian to decide which Of us tw
70 betrayed it least profaned Henry Wi
d lard French in Romance.
The straightest Line.
The straiRhtest thing in nature or N