Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1898-10-15

Was ! frightened? Not an atom;
I had my bicycle and start of forty
! yards, so i'll could not beat him it
was pity.
He had not seen me yet, and
stood for another minute admiring
the handsome creature, and then
quietly mounted-(the tiger was di-
rectly on my right, while the road
stretched straight away in front of
me). The noise made reused him;
he looked up, and then, after DELHI
erately stretching himself, came
leaping with long, graceful bounds
over the rank, grass and rocks
which separated him from the road.
He did not seem bit angry, but
evidently wished to get a nearer
view of such an extraordinary OBJ
ject.
Forty yards, however, l thought
was quite near enough for safety.
The tiger was in the road behind
me now; SO I pulled myself together
and began to quicken my pace.
Would he stop disguised after
the first hundred yards and give up
the chase. or would he stick to it?
I quite hoped he would follow me,
and already pictured in my mind the
graphic description I would write
home of my bicycle race with
tiger.
Little did / think what terrible
race 1t going to be. I looked
behind me. By jovel he was astick-
ing to it," I could not judge the
distance; but at any rate I was not
farther from him than when we
started. Now for squirt. / rode
the next half a mile at lively pace,
but on again looking round, found l
had not gained a yard.
The tiger was on my track, NOV
ing with long, swinging trot, and
going quite as quickly as I was.
For the first time I began to feel
anxious, and thought uneasily of the
ten long miles which separated me
from safety.
However, it was no good thinking
DOW; it was my muscle and "bike"
against the tiger. / could only do
my best and trust to providence.
Now there was no doubt about the
tigers intentions; his blood was up
and ON he came, occasionally giving
vent to roar which made the
ground tremble. Another mile had
been traversed and the brute was
slowly but surely closing up.
I dashed my pouch to the ground,
hoping 1t would stop him for a few
seconds; but be kept steadily on and
felt it was then in grim earnest.
calculated we must be about
seven miles from camp now, and be-
fore Z could ride another four miles
my pursuer, I knew, must reach me.
Oh, the agony Of those minutes
which seemed like long hoursi
Another mile passed, then anoth-
Icould hear him behind me now,
pad, pad, pad, quicker and quicker,
louder and louder. I turned In my
saddle . moment and saw there were
not twenty yards separating us!
How enormous the brute looked,
and how terribiel His huge tongue
hung out, and the only sound he
made was continual hoarse growl
OF rage, while his eyes seemed liz
orally to fash fire.
It was like some awful nightmare,
and with 'shudder I bent down
over the handles and flew on.
On, on. on, / scorched. The
slightest slip knew would be fatal;
a sudden jolt screw giving, pedal
breaking, and l should be hurled to
instant death.
Ny strength would not stand
much more; the prolonged strain had
told upon me, and / felt all would
soon be over. My breath came in
thick sobs, mist gathered before
my eyes-I was stopping; my legs
refused to move and a thousand
tends seemed to beiitting about me,
holding me back A weight like
lead was on my chest; / WAS dying.
Then few moments which seemed
like lifetime, and crash
with roar like thunder the tiger
was on me and was crushed to the
ground.
Then | heard shots fred, babal
of mems voices, and all was blank.
After many days of unconscious
ness and raging fever, reason grad
ually returned, I learned the par