The daily morning Alaskan., 1902-11-11
A Man of Nerve
Lcon,rlrhl. lllg. by .. D. LewIl.l ]

Jack Beuton's nerve. He had a record as daredevil of a fighter, and his personal adventures were many and thrilling.
 T heard score of anecdotes about Caplaln Benton before we left Mysore for tiger hunt in the foothills of the Ghauts. There were six of us i'm the party with twenty natives to mind the horses and take care of the camp, and an went well for the first week. We had b0ggcd two boars and a tiger and knocked over number of jackals when a native came in one morning and reported that two full grown tigers and a cub were lying up in nullah, or rayinc, about three miles away.
 A good deal has been written about the fcroclty of the Bengal tiger. but as a matter ot fact he doesn't compare with the hll tiger in either size or tem. per. Neither is he as cunning. He has been hunted SO much that he is more Ike fugitive eat. The tiger of the hills seldom sees human being, is driven out only by hunters. and he is utterly without fear. The Bengal may drop his tall and run away after fac ing a hunter for a moment, but tho Oth- or will surely spring and de fighting. The six of us set or for the ravlne, where about fifty natives had collected to beat the tigers out of their lair, and We took up positions here and there along the banks. Captain Benton's position was opposite mine and about twenty rods away, and the ground was SO open that we had a fair sight of each other There was some delay over the bcatcrs getting to work, and the captain lay down on the broad of bis back on the grass under tree while waiting. Instead of emuaung him ! climbed into a tree on my side of thc raviuc and frankly acknowledge ed t0 myself that | felt shaky. There was profound silence in the ncighbor- hood. and while settling myself in comfortable position lost sight of the captain for four or five minutes. When | looked across again. it was to find three tigers standing over him. two old ! nINNn MIlA N AANs n AAN AAtAAA ANAN hAA''A lair at the first alarm and came trot- ting down through the thickets on the north bank of the nullah. The cap- tain was in their path as they started t0 cross an open spot, and curiosity had compelled them to halt lt would have been dead easy to pick or one of the three beasts at that distance had not been ratIcd. The sudden advent of tho tigers set mc Co shaking and my teeth chauercd gs sat there in the trcctop and watched their movements. | The old male tiger first reached out paw and turned thc captain over ou his face uc was as rigid as if dead. | The female then turned him back, while the cub leapcd over him back and forth In a playful way. Then the male tiger sniled at the mans face and licked his cheek, and the female struck him several times on the leg with her paw.
 Although ! was too upset to shoot, I could have called out, but dared not do that for fear of provoking the ti- gers. They were i'm playful mood, but yet they growled in a menacing way, and it was evident that they were suspicious of my presence. | hoped that when the noise at the head of the ravine began they would sink | quietly or. and listened for that with | my heart almost choking mo. While waited the cub lay down at full length and began biting one Of the captains hands He had torn the flesh with thorn the day before, and there was an | unhealed scratch. Tho rough tongue of the beast started the blood, and Inc | had no sooner got the taste than he | rose up. with fire in his eyes, and | grOwled savagely The old ones ad- | vanccd and turned the body over and back again and struck at the bleeding hand with their paws, and it was cvi- dent ,hat they were encouraging the young one to make his first meal of | human being. He was timid about be- ginning but finally lay down again and | bit and worried the hand as you have seen a dog worry a rat. The old tigers ran to and fro, whining and growing and encouraging, and presently rcal- ized that ! must do something or the captain would be eaten alive. had just opened my mouth to utter a shout when the beating began The natives were armed with drums. frecrackers, | torpeIoes and cymbals, and, though they were a mile away, the noise at once alarmed tue tigers The three were confused for a moment, end then the old male picked up the captains body and started off with lt He did not carry it over 100 feet however. Ratified by the explosions in the nullah. he lost his wits and dropped the body and bolted into the thicket
 It was only when too late that gave the alarm Two of the hunters answer | cd my call, and we crossed the ravine to the body. I was hopeful that the captain was still an right and more so when we found that his hand had not been SO very badly bitten, but a brief inspection proved that he was dead. | The body was warm and limp. but the heart had ceased to beat. That he could not have fallen asleep SO quickly after 1 lying down | felt certain He must have been awake when the tigers stole upon him, and his idea would have