Evening star., 1898-06-04

|
inspection of the menagerie.
wait until you have seen Mogul," the
| raJah replied. That is the name of a
| tiger larger than any of these He is
| savage and intractable brute and is at
present confined in "a safer place. In the
| morning, when he has been fed and is in
| a better temper, 1 will have him brought
here"
| they returned to the palace. The evening
| passed pleasantly. The dinner was perfect,
| as were the wines and cigars. The rajah
| unbent to his guest, and showed brilliant
| conversational powers. At late hour
| Quin retired, and as he was satisfied that
| his connection with the affair at Bombay
had not been even suspected he slept
| soundly and peacefully until morning
The rajah did not appear at breakfast,
| on the plea of Il slight indisposition. Quin
| made hearty meal in state, with three
| servants lowering about him obsequiously.
| Having finished, he was waited upon by a
| handsome but evil-faced Hndoo from his
gorgeous attire probably an officer of the
| rajah's irregular soldiers.
Greeting to the sahibt' he said bowling
low. His highness will receive him at the
| hour of noon. And meanwhile the tiger
| Mogul is in the outer court Is it the
| sah1bS pleasure to visit him.
| That was precisely what Quin wished to
| do, and he intimated much. In the best
| of spirits he followed his guide scarcely
| observing the dusky faces that peered
| strangely at him from curtained doorways
! or from tie balconies overhead. Arrived
at the massive gate, the Hindoo unbarred
| and opened it.
Enter sahibr' he said curtIv.
| Quin passed unsuspiciously into the court.
He advanced few feet, noting at a swift
| glance that the elephants and the Thibetan
| yaks had been taken away. Then his
] eager eyes sought and found the tiger.
| 1t was a superb creature, enormous of size
and magnitcently striped. It's cage was
| just in frcnt of the other cages ranged
along the right hand wall
at that instant Quin heard the dull rat
| tie of a bar dropped into it's socket and
turning to look behind him, he was startled
| to discover that he alone; the Hindoo
had closed and fastened the gate. Con-
vinced of premeditated treachery, he next
wondered what form it would take and as
| quickly the awful truth was revealed to
him. With roar the great tiger Mogul
| bounded against the bars of his cage and
the door. which had, no doubt. been left
unbolted purposely, swung open on it's
hinges.
Surprised by such an unexpected thing,
the brute did not at once take advantage
of his freedom, and this gave Quin a mo-
ment to reflect. He stood though carved
from stone and 1t Is little wonder that
the horror of his position seemed to turn
his blood to ice. Never had he been in
such frightful peril! He was at no loss to
understand the dastardly trap laid for him
planned to compass his DEATH 1t was an
act of revenge! The rajah had recognized
him from the first, and with cold-blooded
ingenuity worthy of a Nero he had chosen
this method of repaying the insult offered
his rank and castle in the bazars of Bonn
bay two years before! Doubtless from one
of the curtained windows high up on the
palace WALL Jewan Khan was now watch
Ing with fiendish pleasure. And there
seemed no escape for the victim: it was
impossible to scale the walls, and the puny
trees by the tank offered shelter.
All this flashed through Quinns mind
in far less time than it takes to tell He
ms hut CIT
q slim chance of saving himself at least
from the tiger. A loaded revolver was on
his person-he always carried one-and he
whipped it out AS he did so the brute
came Sinking from the cage. Evidently 1t
had not been fed, and was now actuated
more by hunger than rage. 1t kept up a
low and incessant snarling as 1t approached
with soft and stealthy steps, its eyes fixed
ereedily on the Englishmans erect form
When within twenty feet it suddenly stop
ped roared tremendously and crouched fiat.
1t was preparing for a spring.
Qun leveled his revolver aimed and
pulled the trigger. Only a sharp snap fol-
lowed and he knew what 1t meant. The
weapon had been tampered with during
the night and the cartridges extracted. He
dropped 1t at once. put both hands to his
mouth and shouted with all his might
This attempt at intimidation partly sue
ceeded. The sound of the human voice
ringing above the excited clamor Of the
beasts in the various cages seemed to awe
the tiger He turned tail and fled several
U.s. ~ was oHiS an 1nStantS re-
| prieve. Quickly the brute wheeled about
and came creeping on again. roaring with
Iury' Its great eyes like living Goals, Its
teeth grinning from open jaws, it's tail
sweeping and beating the ground.
Quin stood still, his heart beating fast.
He knew that he was face to face with
death-that in moment more the huge
teeth and jaws would be mangling his
limbs. And as he shuddered, trying to fnuf
ter prayer, an unexpected thing han
pened He heard creaking noise, and saw
the little iron door over in the palace wall
at the left fly open. AS quickly there
darted out the native girl whom he had
saved from the cobra, carrying a light
whip in one hand.
Back. Mogul, backv' she cried, in a
loud, imperative voice.
The tiger, In the very act of springins.
seemed to hesitate. as though quite aware
that it had been bafi1ed of its prey. And
this gave the plucky. hthe-limbed girl time
to thrust herself between the brute and
| the man.
| II will save you, sahib" she shouted,
without glancing at him. 'Mogul knows