The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-10-21

were at once ssnt to buy buffalo calvs, ana
stake them cut This was the frst Act Of \
strange tragedy.
Capt Mason resolved suddenly to watch
BY one of these bait. and ordered a macb.n
to be prepared IN The most favorable spot
Nobody opposed him. Why should he noS
90. except on the ground that the Captain
might forestall our party and kill the only
tiger abroad? This could not be URGED
however for now We heard from the sbaka r
that at least three were near by. Asatie
juog'es are always full of mystery and peril.
they never affo,d spor, without possibilities
OF danger that can neither be fore-een nor
avoided. Hence their cbarm-that spell
they cast upon those really familiar with
them, and which distance and time cannot
break.
The elephant which took Mason out with
his gun-bearer was brought back by its
nahout early. and it is so common thing
in India for sporlsmen TO watch bait thas
there was DO anxiety on our part for our
friends safety. Mason's position was an adj
mirable one Right in front of deep. nar-
row ravns two small streams formed a pool.
It's farther side was covered with ban boo,
tamarisk, and karinda- But on the hither
side, where . few trees stood we'll within
I shooting distance, the ground was clear, and
here the buffalo calf was fastened in plain
sight of where our friend sat on his platform
amidst the branches. Scarcely any experi-
epced man would have called this spot
"tigerish," but no place seemed more likely
to be haunted By panthers.
1t WINS early next morning that We were
aroused by the cries of the SARGE who had
! taken out Mason's pony. He and the other
men had fed at once in terror to bring as
:he news of a catastrophe. We were soon
| on the spot. There stood our calf, still fAs-
tened by its foot. Nothing, so far, defsced
the trails that had been r1ads, and 10 the
practiced eye the signs" around the bait
| ing-place were all too clear.
Early in the night tiger had come up,
not by way of the ravine-a deadlier beast
had appeared from that direction-but
| around on the left, through heavy UNDER
growth, stalking the calf This tiger made
| out the men in tie tree without being seen
himself, and he came and weat-quietly, We
knew, else his track would have shown it.
But there were two sets of panther pugs
in the ravine. One belonged to a small
female which had walked down toward its
mouth and then turned of into a side gorge.
Side BY side with them, bub not associated,
aud only to be Disseminated from the tracks
of tigress by what this brute did, ran the
oval pugs of a large male panther. tie bad
gone out of the arroyo and taken bis way
toward the water, where since his scent then
foated down wind, the buffalo had caugnt
it, and begun to plunge about, as its foot
prints indicated.
Mason, of course, had seen this. When
the panther had skirted around to attack
the bait and come ont into the bright NOON
i light Mason had fred But moonbsams
make the best aim uncertain. There was o
sprinkle OF blood showing a slight wound,
which had served only TO make the beast
furious. 1t had charged. Nothing can
match panther's onslaught for speed. His
rush resembles tie swoop of some strong
winged bird of prey. If any effort had been
made by the gunbearer to stop the charge 1t
failed. The panther had crossed the inter-
yeniug space, dashed up the tree and fallen
upon the luckless hunters in trice.
There must have been some brief, desperate
struggle, for the machsn had broken down
on one side, and poor Mason lay stretched
below. his body torn with many wounds and
his throat rent open. Mohunlall, his bearer
hung framed between two limbs, with the
front of his head beaten in, and his face a
mass of bloody pulp.
There is little more TO tell. We hunted
that beast for q week. When all Of US were
nearly dead with heat and exhaustion. We
, found him by accident It was a fierce
fight. Two natives were struck down, and
third bitten through the thigh, 80 that hs
J bled to death quickly. Az the brute was sx-
pending his last gasp in final charge he kill
. ed another Hindu. and then fell dead ct sul
, feet. Truly it was disastrous expedition