The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-30

throat. forI understood at once that the
cracking and breaking Of the underbrush
meant the advance of a heavy yet supple
body. Instantly I felt overcome by IN
awful terror.
81 had met the rhinoceros and the croco-
die of Java and did not fear them, the
first because it never attacks human be-
ings unless driven to it, the other because,
though a great and dangerous fighter in
his element, it is quito i~noffensiveon land.
s'Ten to one the animal approaching
was a tigerl
when this knowledge-for it wasn't "a
surlnise-took hold of me, the upper part
of my body and the organs in it contracted
convulsiyely. I could scarcely breathe and
felt as if I was choking. Ny brain was
capable of only n perception There
within 80 feet of you stands the prince of
ferocious beasts, the terror of the entire
brute creation, and you are in his grasp!
'sThe thought lowered before my mental
vision wiu-o'-the4wisp fashion-now / felt
its terrible significance, now / didn't.
Then I became aware that the wind was
in my favor. There was, then, a POSSIBLE
ity of escape.
"When the tiger-I was willing to
swear that it was the man eater of Nieu-
wenhuys-reached the clearing, he stood
still. He (the N~ieuwenhuys) is said to
measure at~least II feet from his nose to
the tip of his tail. This tiger didn't measure
much less, I was convinced of hat He
must have been 8 feet 10 inches high. His
coat a tawny yellow, fringed by white,
was most beautifully marked by dark
transverse bands. His head was big and
round and majestic. AS | was hidden
from view by some o~verhanging branches,
I took in the whole situation before my
eyes wandered TO my wheel, SO near and
yet SO far.
ssIf / had wings, it would have been i'm
possible for me to rise and approach the
bicycle without attracting the tigers at
tention. He could have reached me by
one leap.
"Reminiscences of the race track chase
through my brain-X. X. beating the vic
tor of tho Grand Prix on his bicycle; A. B.,
the amateur, making a mile a minute on
a 10 mile stretch-hopeful signs, but
these men were not chased by an iron
jawed tornado, by a leaping, stretching,
bloodthirsty ton weight, winged by hun
ger and passion.
"Confound It'll Ny last hope, tho six
shooter, / had left behind in the shed. All,
there was no use trying to escaped My
heart beat like a sledge hammer, and my
mouth was as hot as a furnace.
"The luminous eyes of the beast shone
like topaz, wandering from tree to tree,
from bush to bush. He seemed to be
half willing to re-enter the forest. He had
already turned to go when the cry of a bird
attracted his attention. Now his neck
stretched in every direction, and his eyes
danced like balls of pbosphor turned on a
spindle. Only the wind that blew me we'll
stood between his appetite and me. Pos
sibly he knew that l was there, yet was
unable to locate me-. At any rate, for half
8 minute or 80 he seemed undecided what
80 do. Iheard my heart and also my brain
BANNER. Was he returning to the water?
SIC made a step and again hesitated. When
He raised a foot a second time, terror grab
bed me with his iron fist and pushed me
frresistibly forward. 1 leaped twice, | be-
lieve, and these two giant strides enabled
mo to put my hand on my wheel.
.When mounting, a task which occu-
pied a second, ! distinctly heard the tiger
crouch down; then there came a whiz as
II a great body was propelling through
bush and low hanging branches, and my
wheel was moving.
ssThough in a fever, my movements
were correct, swift and sure. I felt it in
the muscles OF my legs and congratulated
myself on it. / seemed to have become
instinct all over. I ~personificd tho instinct
Of ke1f preservation, that power which car
sfcs one through dancers with q far great-