ance, the man had scrambled from beneath
the carcass of his would-be slayer, without a scratch to indicate how
close to death he had been.

Delcarte's buoyance was entirely unruffled. He came from under the
tiger with a broad grin on his handsome face, nor could I perceive that
a muscle trembled or that his voice showed the least indication of
nervousness or excitement.

With the termination of the adventure, we began to speculate upon the
explanation of the presence of this savage brute at large so great a
distance from its native habitat. My readings had taught me that it
was practically unknown outside of Asia, and that, so late as the
twentieth century, at least, there had been no savage beasts outside
captivity in England.

As we talked, Snider joined us, and I returned his rifle to him.
Taylor and Delcarte picked up the slain deer, and we all started down
toward the launch, walking slowly. Delcarte wanted to fetch the
tiger's skin, but I had to deny him permission, since we had no means
to properly cure it.

Upon the beach, we skinned the deer and cut away as much meat as we
thought we could dispose of, and as we were again embarking to continue
up the river for fresh water and fuel, we were startled by a series of
screams from the bushes a short distance away.

"Another Felis tigris," said Taylor.

"Or a dozen of them," supplemented Delcarte, and, even as he spoke,
there leaped into sight, one after another, eight of the beasts, full
grown--magnificent specimens.

At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I
saw that three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the
word to put out from shore, hoping that the "tiger," as the ancients
called him, could not swim.

Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth,
uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent
manner.

As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far
inland. They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the
water's edge, and from the wide distribution and great volume of the
sound we came to the conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts
must roam the adjacent country.

"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, shuddering.

"I imagine you are right," I agreed, "for their extreme boldness and
fearlessness in the presence of man would suggest either that man is
entirely unknown to them, or that they are extreme