ore minutes to think over the
matter, he would have abandoned the design in his mind; but that one
hundred dollars looked as big to him as a million does to most people.
Hastily drawing on his trousers, he began stealthily descending the
stairs. Fortunately for him, his aunt and mother were asleep, else they
would have put an emphatic veto on his foolhardy scheme. The bolts of the
door were softly slid back, the door itself silently drawn inward an inch
or two, and the lad peeped out. His position gave a full view of the front
of the woodshed, and the sight was an interesting one. The tiger had
partially entered. Indeed, little was seen more than his tail, which,
projecting from the darkness of the structure, swayed slowly from side to
side, as if he had detected something not altogether pleasing.

"If he goes in, I'll slip out and hook the door; but, if he comes back, it
won't do to let him see me."

This was the thought that stirred Tom Gordon, as he peered stealthily out
of the crack made by the door. Could he have thought of any way by which
to drive the tiger inside, he would have done so; but there was none. He
could only wait and watch, and hope for a favorable issue of the
undertaking.

It struck him as strange that the beast should stand so long with only his
tail in the outer air. The lad fancied it had disappeared entirely; but at
the moment he was about to slip forward, he detected the tuft agitating
the chips and dirt about the entrance. He therefore held back and still
watched and waited.

There! the brute must have taken another step farther, for no part of his
appendage was visible. He was wholly within the shed.

It was now or never.

Tom left the door open a few inches, so that if he should find it
necessary to retreat, he would meet with no trouble in re-entering his
home. In that event, however, it wasn't likely Tippo Sahib would meet with
any trouble in following him.

The heart of the youth throbbed violently when he stepped out in the
moonlight and comprehended the perilous nature of the business.

"If he comes out tail first," was his thought, "I'll have a chance to
dodge him; but if he comes head first, I'll be a goner."

He was not idle while these imaginings were passing through his mind. Step
by step, and on tiptoe, he stole forward, until he stood within a couple
of paces of the fastening. Then it was that his courage almost deserted
him, and the desire to turn about and make a das