THE TIGER 121 



but perceiving the party of men, the Tiger dropped the dead 

 beast and made its escape. The buffalo was probably 

 nearly a thousand pounds in weight, or more than twice 

 that of the Tiger. 



It is not only in the open that the Tiger is to be feared ; it 

 often enters houses at night in search of prey. An educated 

 Hindoo gentleman had a night encounter second to none 

 as a blood-curdling experience without a tragic ending. 

 While he was lying in bed, a huge Tiger entered the room 

 and peered at him with his glowing eyes through the gauze 

 mosquito curtains that surrounded the bed ; he was so close 

 that his fetid breath was in the man's face. The brute 

 probably viewed the netted bed as a trap and its occupant 

 as the ' bait,' and the man held his breath in the hope that 

 the creature's caution would master his desire for a meal. 



But the pressure of the tiger's head caused a cord to snap, 

 and down came the curtains. The spell was broken ! In 

 the brief instant of respite allowed by the temporary surprise 

 of the animal, the man slipped between the wall and the bed 

 and crawled under it. The next moment the Tiger was 

 tearing the netting and the sheets to shreds, only to find his 

 prey had disappeared. 



Speedily the animal located the man and made a wild 

 dash to reach him ; but the bed was too low to permit the 

 huge head to pass under it. By repeated efforts the cruel 

 head with its fiery eyeballs was forced under the beam, 

 whose sharp edge peeled the skin off the animal's forehead, 

 which by no means improved his temper ; but he could 

 make no further progress, and there man and beast lay 

 separated by only a few feet ; the one paralysed with terror, 

 and the other working his horrible jaws as though tearing 

 flesh to bits. 



Perceiving that the animal was fixed as in a trap, the 

 man again withdrew to the bed, to throw his weight upon 

 it just above the head of the tiger, which was frantically 

 endeavouring in the narrow space, where its body was 

 wedged, to get sufficient leverage to lift up the heavy load. 



Calculating his chances to a nicety, the man paid a flying 

 visit to the next room, where he procured a carving-knife, 

 the .only weapon available. He returned to the room, and 



