Part 5 (1/2)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A TIGER TAKEN BY BIRDLIME

The plan of the shi+karree was put to the test sooner than any of theer to return before sunset, and they had resolved to pass the night a the branches of the banyan in order to be out of the way of danger The tiger ht take it into his head to stroll into their cah, under ordinary circumstances, these fierce brutes have a dread of fire, there are soard it, and instances have occurred of tigerstheir attack uponpile!

Ossaroo knew of several such cases, and had, therefore, given his advice, that all of theer could easily scale the banyan if the notion occurred to him; but, unless they made some noise to attract his attention, he would not be likely to discover their whereabouts They had taken the precaution to erect a platfor the branches, so as to serve the-place

After all, they were not under the necessity of resorting to this elevated roost,--at least for the purpose of passing the night there

But they occupied it for a while; and during that while they itnesses to a scene that for singularity, and co that any of them had ever beheld

It wanted about half-an-hour of sunset, and they were all seated around the caular noise reached their ears It was not unlike the ”whirr” -machine--which any one ricultural district Unlike this, however, the sound was not prolonged, but broke out at intervals, continued for a few seconds, and then was silent again

Ossaroo was the only one of the party who, on hearing this sound, exhibited any feelings of alarm The others were simply curious It was an unusual sound They wondered as producing it--nothing more They quite shared the alarm of the shi+karree, when the latter informed them that what they heard was neither er!

Ossaroo communicated this infor forward towards theto the others to follow hin, and all three climbed, one after the other, up the trunk, and silently seated theh the outer screen of leaves, and a little doard, they could see the quarters of venison hanging froround where the glittering leaves were spread

Whether the haunch which the tiger had stolen on the preceding night had not been sufficient for his supper, and he had grown hungry again before his usual feeding-time, is uncertain But certain it is that Ossaroo, who understood well the habits of this striped robber, did not expect him to return so soon He looked for him after darkness should set in

But the loud ”purr-r-r” that at intervals ca round

All at once they espied hi out of the bushes, and on the other side of the rivulet--his broad whitish throat and breast shi+ning in contrast with the dark green foliage He was crouching just after theher approach to so back hollowed down--a hideous and fearful object to behold His eyes appeared to flash fire, as he bent theh up upon the branch of the tree

After reconnoitring a little, he gathered up his long back into a curve, vaulted into the air, and cleared the rivulet from bank to bank Then, without further pause, he trotted ni joints

Ossaroo had purposely raised the meat above its former elevation, and the lowest ends of the joints were full twelve feet froreat distance in a horizontal direction, he is not so well fitted for springing vertically upwards, and therefore the te morsels were just beyond his reach He seemed to be somewhat nonplussed at this--for upon his last visit he had found things rather different--but after regarding the joints for aa loud snuff of discontent, he flattened his paws against the ground, and sprang high into air

The atte touched the rowl

In anotherupwards This time, he struck one of the quarters with his paw, and sent it swinging backwards and forwards, though it had been secured too well to the branch to be in any danger of falling

All at once, the attention of the great brute became directed to a circumstance, which seemed to puzzle hi to his paws He raised one of theround, and saw that two or three leaves were sticking to it What could be theto his soles in that manner? They appeared to be wet, but what of that? He had never knoet leaves stick to his feet any more than dry ones Perhaps it was this had hindered hih as he had intended? At all events, he did not feel quite comfortable, and he should have the leaves off before he atteht shake, but the leaves would not go He shook it more violently, still the leaves adhered! He could not ummy substance upon them, such as he had never met with before in all his travels He had ra-leaves in his day, but had never set foot upon such sticky leaves as these

Another hard shake of the paw produced no better effect Still stuck fast the leaves, as if they had been pitch plasters; one covering the whole surface of his foot, and others adhering to its edges Several had even fastened themselves on his ankles What the deuce did it allthe paas of no use, he next atteet rid of the theainst his cheeks and snout He raised the paw to his ears, and drew it along the side of his head He succeeded in getting rin, they now adhered to his head, ears, and jahere they felt still

These he resolved to detach, by using his paw upon the so, he only added to their nu his foot, he found that a fresh batch of the sticky leaves had fastened upon it He now tried the other foot, with no better effect It, too, was covered with gummy leaves, that only became detached to fasten upon his jaws, and stick there, in spite of all his efforts to tear theot over his eyes, and already half-blinded hiet rid of the leaves, that had so fastened upon his head Every tis worse But there was still a way to get theround

No sooner thought of than done He pressed his jan to the earth, and, using his hind-legs to push hi, he rubbed hard to rid himself of the annoyance He then turned over, and tried the sa at this for so matters worse; in fact, he found that both his eyes were now coed up,” and that he was perfectly blind! He felt, moreover, that his whole head, as well as his body, was now covered, even to the tip of his tail

By this tier of the venison He thought only of freeing hiht in which he was placed He sprang and bounded over the ground; now rubbing his head along the surface, now scraping it with his huge paws, and ever and anon dashi+ng hirew around All this while, his growling, and howling, and screa, filled the woods with the most hideous noises