The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-05-21
CLOSE ACQUAINTANCE
LcopyrIght. La. by G. D. LewIs.l

had been in India for two years
with Lowenbaek's men, and we had
made many captures of wild animals.
One day as we were beating up a for
est in search of water holes, so that we 1
might set traps for the animals COM
Ing to drink, / suddenly heard ele-
phants ahead of me, / was leading I
the way and supposed my men were
following. The afternoon was wearing /
away, and whenever 1 struck favora-
BILE ground increased my pace to a
run. / finally heard the elephants
ahead Of me and was creeping up when
I suddenly realized that was alone in I
the forest. waited for perhaps ten |
minutes and then followed slowly on
after the elephants. who were feeding
as they moved along. ! expected TO be
overtaken at any moment and was not
III the least alarmed. | was gradually
getting on to the heels Of the herd
when something occurred to alarm the
beasts again, and away they went at q
tremendous gait, and knew should
see nothing more Of them that after
noon
| was now within four miles Of the
village ana on plain path, but the sun
was 50 low that 1t was twilight in the
forest. | was going forward at a good
pace when a huge hyena crossed my
path. with a growl. Two minutes later
there were yelps and snaris from every
direction. and i realized that the night
providers Of the forest were astir.
was going bravely ahead and would
hive been out Of the forest in half an
hour more when the sun went down,
and I had to almost feel my way foot
by foot. The situation was anything
but pleasant AZ ] climbed 2 tree
might be- bittew by snake lurking
among the branches, and the nlosqui
toes would eat me alive In two hours
IL / escaped the serpent. To go for
ward was to guess at the right COM
mass point. and heard sounds TO prove
that wild beasts were proving about
tn every direction. Williams had baf-
rowed my match box Or | could nave
made 4 torch. / had heavy single
barrel ride. but no extra ammunition,
and therefore dared not fire a signal
was picking my way slowly, feeling
4 beaten path under my feet, when Of
sudden | felt myself falling 0he
cannot remember his thoughts ~ such
emergencies. may have cried out,
but 1 do not recolleet 1t. ] remember
that as brought up on my head and
shoulders | heard a fierce growing
almost in my ear. / was stunned TOT
a moment. When ! pulled myself Up
10 sitting position was at one end
of an elephant pit, which was i've feet
wide, twelve feet long and twelve feet
deep. The other end was occupied by
a tiger ! knew it because could
smell him a.. It because be had his eyes
on me. and knew his eyes belonged
to d tiger. Elephant pits are generally
SO firmly covered that no beast weigh
ing less than 500 pounds can break
through This one, as afterward as
certained, had been covered SO long
that the poles had rotted and weaken
ed. The tiger was ahead of me ID fan
ing in.
No one can tell how a wild beast VIII
act under certain circumstances. There
is even a wide difference between two
of the same species. This tiger did not
rush upon me as | fell into the pit, but
that might have been the action Of an
other. AS became certain Of the stu
alton / found little in ii to console me
and l admit that / was badly ratified
The tiger kept his two greenish eyes
fastened on me, but l glanced at hin
only at long intervals. The fact tina
he had not attacked me might be takei
as proof that he would not If did no
provoke him. 1t was a very hot nigh
above but quite cool at the bottom O
the pit, and not a single mosquito founC
its way down there. After a lapse o
half an hour ] began to get my nerv'
back, and it may astonish you to learl
that | took number of short maps dur
ing the long hours Of that night.
was sleeping quite soundly whei
daylight came and whining, snuffin;
noise made by the tiger aroused me
My eyes were hardly open when h
came over to me and smelled of m,
knees ana feet and hands. He actual
ly rested his head on my knees AM
looked into my eyes. | think he wa
at first inclined to attack me, as b
growled In menacing way and lashe'
his tail, but as I shut my eyes and KEEP
quiet he finally changed his mind ant
withdrew to corner AS time passe'
he grew uneasy and kept up a eontin
ual whine. Every wild beast seeks It
covert between daybreak and sunrise
and this instinct made the tiger rest
less. The sun was just up when
Hon I'd thn rnrrr.t nf rinns md iva mir