Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-08-18
A MAN EATER ;
a True Tiger Story.
By CAPTAIN DYCE ;

4 True Tiger Story

[ az this bungalow was George Price, q
Young officer OF artillery. Price WAS
much given to athletics OF al kinds,
and had rigged up in one OF the unused
rooms what might be considered q
very fair apology for a gymnasium.
There was movable horizontal bar,
set OF parallel oars, trapeze and
rings, and, as Price always asserted
tha; the alpha beta Of gymnastics
| ought 10 be 10 making falling easy,
and, If possible, even comfortable and
luxurious, he had provided an abun-
dance OF wadded rugs and elephant
paes for that purpose.
II was IN the middle OF the month of
May. The hot season was in full
swing; but it was compare tively early
in the day, and the heat, though great,
had not as yet reached it's maximum.
Three young fellows were disporting
themselves in the gymnasium.
Perched on the horizontal bar, sitting
with his shoulders square, and both
his legs dang ing on one side, was Ar
thur Venn, a captain ire the LOYAL
Prancers. The bar WAS seven feet
from the ground, and Price was Of
some feat was about TO be performed.
The third individual had made him
self as comfortable as circumstances
would permit on the parallel bars. and
was watching the other two, with an
| amused smile On his face. This was
| Capt. Francis SacEville, q years OF
age, in the san regiment as Nenn, and
one of the handsomest and most popu-
lar men in the station. Price was hold
ing forth.
NOW, Venn, what you've got TO do
Is this: Fold your arms across your
chest and let your body swing quickly
backward, keeping the knees well
crooked. The effect of this catch viii
be TO send your head and shoulders
penduluu-wise, up against the other
side, then slip the knees from the bar,
and you'l come tc the ground On your
legs as light as feather"
"Say like birdi'" suggested Sack
vile, persuasiveIy. You see, a feather
has no legs TO speak OF. Moreover, IT
| isavscillating, undecided sort Of thing,
which, take it, doesn't pay in this
business"
marked Venn, sitting stolidly on the
bar, apparently without the least IN
tention Of carrying out the instrnc-
tions given him.
'Of course-of course!" said Price
taking no notice Of Sackvile. THE
| hoctswing Is the simplest feat IN the
| gymnasium"
Simplest feat, indeedl / found il
far simpl.r in. alighting on my head. when
Price, I'd seen you do IL two or three
times running. 1t appeared so easy
that, when you all went out, ! de-
| termined to manage It by myself. Sit
| ting squarely on the bar, screwed up
| courage and made dive backward,
but II II hadn't been for those marvel
Gus elephant cushions of yours / should
have broken my head"
Come, confess, Venn, you had Prices
long-legged valet handy, in case OF ac-
c!dents."
"Poufl l don't count natives as any
thing"
| At this moment the servant In ques-
| tion came into the room, with a letter
in his hand, and, making q low salaam,
he handed It 10 Saclcville.
"Chitt-he-captain. sahib loe waste"
| ("Lettcr for his honor, the captHin'o.
Sackville tore open the note, read
| rapidly for second or two, and then
| uttered quiet "Hurrah!"
whats up?" inquired Venn.
| well, about fort night ago, Jeffrey
and / were dining with Col. Burrows,
| the deputy com missioner. After din
ner the conversation turned on tigers
and tiger shooting. Burrows told me
he knew what keen sportsman was,
and that he might soon have something
| for me to do, II / cared about it, OF
| course, / replied that / should be de
| lightcd. Now, this letter Of his says
| that, driven probably by drought and
| hunger, a large tiger has appeared at
| Ooua, a village e1out 60 miles from
| here 1t has killed couple of ma
| tiye,-a woman and an old mnn--and
is committing oil sorts OF depredations
! on their .fochH and herds. The vii
layers say 1T Is a man eater and one
| that paid them visit two years ago.
| So, good-by, both OF YOU! l start this
evening. Nothing Ike travelling b.
| night In this weathcr. Besides, who
| knows what good l maJ do by being on
the spot day e4rlier2"
| And, having shaken hands with both
| lis friends, the young soldier left the
| gymnasium IN search Of JcNrcy.
Ard now the scene changes TO Oona,
| which place our tiger hunters reached
| H. due course. The village IS situated
4 - 1T 4. 4
| ing the rains IL Considerable stream.
| Now, however. in the height of the hot
| season, tho flow had entirely ceased.
Small, shallow pools dotted The bed
! at intervals, but they were, for the
most part, stagnant. being used ialis-
criminotely by both the villagers md
their cattle IL was. nevertheless, clear.
from the moist appearance OF tho sand.
that water lay not FAR below the sur
| face.
Scattered In the nu1lah, or water
course. were a few patches Of stunted
regetation. These, by degrees, as one
advanced up stream, grew thicker and
more luxuriantly, TIL, about three or
four miles from the village, whore the
banks were much broken and the bed
considerably wider, the underground
became a low scrub Jungle. 1t was
hero that the tiger had his lair and
snoozed comfortably in the shade dur
ing the fierce hent Of tho day, to
emerge again at sunset on his errand
Of blood and slaughter.
To-day, however. he was destined to
be roughly awakened from his glut-.
tonous slumbcrs, for Jeffrey and Sack
Vile had determined to beat tho Jun.
ple. Nearly the whole village turned.
out to assist in the drive. In the hope
OF seeing their savage enemy bite the
DUST.
Our hunters post themselves, one
on either side OF the watercourse,
! choosing n position where the inter
mediate jungle is thin and scanty, SO
that the tiger, driven from one clump
CT underground TO another, must nee
essarily pass In view % one Of Them,
nnd thus afford him an excellent op-
portunity Of firing with effect.
The beaters are arranged in Il long
line across the river bed. At given
signal, amid yelling and bush beating,
! tom-toming and general uproar, the