Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-05-15

| but not monotonous, for every min
ute l was expecting the man-eater.
Shortly after midnight / drowsed
a little. Then a sense of danger
brought me wide awake. A breath
less dread had settled over the jungle.
/ strained my ears and eyes. A low,
! rasping purr broke the stiffness; and
there, close to the ground, not twenty
feet of, glared two fiery eyes, like
brightly burning pieces of charcoal.
1T was the man-eater; l felt sure
of that l lifted my rife, pointed it
| straight as / could at the blazing
eyes. and pulled the trigger. l was
shaking with nervousness, so
missed.
There came a horrible, unearthly
scream. The eyes rose suddenly. and
shot toward me through the black.
ness. A tremendous shock on the
side Of the cage set the steel rods
rafting and threw me backward of
my stool. A paw shot between the
bars and grazed my shoulder; hot
breath burned my cheek.
"Bracing myself on my knees.
pushed my gun forward till its muz-
gle almost touched the glaring balls,
and fred again.
"a frightful roar broke suddenly
! into a coughing and choking. There
was a death-scuffle, succeeded by a
longdrawn moan; then stiffness.
| Mpongwe had been reyenged.
F, Triumph thrilled me. l had seen
my quarry only by the gun-fash, but
felt sure 1t was the animal / was az
ter. Poking my rifle-muzzle out into
the blackness, touched a soft, limp
body. The leopard was unquestion-
ably dead.
Not knowing what other night
providers might be abroad, l dared
not leave the cage until morning.
Though my men had probably heard
my gun, knew they would not come
to look me up until after daybreak.
So I made myself as comfortable as
could and waited for the light to
come
Hours passed. Gradually the sky
frightened over the eastern forest,
and soon / could dimly discern the
shoulders of the big beast. not four
feet from the cage. Before long 1t
was light enough for me to see that
my second bullet had taken him right
between the eyes. l gazed on him
with relief and exultation.
The tropical day came quickly.
There was no reason for further de-
lay. Besides, l was eager to get
the exact measurements of the Loop
ard, which was the largest l had ever
seen. My hand shook with nervous
ness as / pushed the key between
the bars and fumbled at the Yale lock.
which was on the outside. The hole
was small and hard to find Growing
impatient, made too sudden a dab;
the thin bit of steel twisted out of
my fingers, clinked on a stone, and
rebounded to the ground, three or
four feet away.
Il began to fish for 1t with my
gun-muzzle, but my efforts only prod
ded 1t deeper into the earth. / had
to confess at last that / was as Sc
curely Gagged as any of my monkeys.
1t was annoying and ridiculous, too.
"A twig cracked. seized my gun.
Out bounded leopard fully as large
as the one l had killed. With not
even a look at me, it leaped away
down the glade before / could insert
a fresh cartridge. A trumpeting, and
the thud of heavy feet; an elephant
burst out and numbered by. Then
chattering troop Of monkeys swung
themselves along from branch to
branch. All appeared to be fleeing
from some unseen foe.
Suddenly came a soft rustling, like
the distant hiss CT snake. l cock
ed my rifle. The noise grew louder.
What was this mysterious thing that
has caused such a panic among the
jungle-dwellers?
Something stirred on the ground |
not ten feet away, and a line of |
small dark objects crept rapidly into |
the glade. For a few seconds look
ed curiously; then a thought made |
me tremble with horror. Here was
something against which my power
full rife was useless as a spear Of !
grass.
1T was, a column of bashikouay,
or great bull ants, the most dreaded |
scourge Of the tropical forest. / now |
understood the hurried retreat of all |
the beasts. No living thing can re-
sist the attack of these terrible in
sects. Flight is the only safety from |
them. And l could not flee, for I |
was locked into the cage.
Il must recover that key at any
cost. II l didn't get It, and the ants
discovered me, they would eat me
up piecemeal. And when my men
came to release me, they would find |
only a skeleton.
The cage door was on the oppo-
site side from the marching army.
The Sey lay on the ground over a
yard on. 1t was so light that |
could now see 1t distinctly. As quiet
ly and quickly as possible began try
ing to hook it toward me with my
gun-muzzle. Little by little l drew
1t nearer. AS / worked, looked over
my shoulder at the numberless thou
sands pouring rapidly from the jungle |
and passing not two yards from the
rouo What he eh