n6 SIR VICTOR BROOKE CHAP. 



to shoot her at once, and not wait as I had intended 

 till she began to feed. What was my disgust like 

 when I found, from the position I was sitting in, it was 

 perfectly impossible to shoot her off my right shoulder ! 

 Now for a little resolution to move was to lose the 

 noble brute, as I was full in the radius of her eye, she 

 being on the same level as myself, owing to the slope 

 of hill on which the jungle grew. Watching her eye, 

 at least the expression of her face, I moved the rifle 

 and put it up to my left shoulder, took steady aim for 

 her heart, firing into the middle of that snow-white 

 breast. Oh the excitement of that moment ! I pulled 

 the trigger most cautiously, and a click was all the 

 result ! The cap had missed fire ! As quick as thought 

 I pulled the other trigger, and at that second, that all- 

 important second, I was steady as a rock ; I felt sure 

 the bullet had gone to the right place. The tigress, on 

 receiving the deadly pill, sprang high in the air with a 

 low muffled roar, and came straight at the tree we 

 were in. I never saw such fury, such ungovernable 

 rage. Her face, which a minute before was beautiful 

 and almost gentle-looking, was now literally alive with 

 deadly hatred and defiance ; her awful teeth glittered like 

 knives as she sprang about. We were, of course, quite 

 safe (I consider it certain proof of ignorance and craft 

 of the nature of a tiger for one to put themselves in 

 any real danger ; tigers, if you really understand the 

 thing, may be shot with fair safety), being 20 

 feet up the tree. The tigress missed the tree, and 

 turned off at right angles and went springing with 

 immense bounds through the jungle. Brine let fly at 

 her to finish her if possible, but at the report her rage 

 if possible doubled ; she pulled up short, snapped a 

 small tree off at the roots and tore it into pieces ; then 

 the thought evidently struck her that the dreaded being 



