er was now an angry beast. Hopping
backward a little way, he now crouched to the ground, and then gave a
wild spring upward. It was heart-sickening as his great form, with its
yellow skin and black stripes, his blazing eyes, his flashing teeth, and
his outspread claws, rose toward us through the air. Of course he could
not hurt us; we were too high up. Irene's face flushed. 'That was a
great leap,' she said.

"I took up my rifle again. It comforted me to see what a small jump the
beast had made compared to our distance from the ground. Again I fired,
and this time also I did not hit him. I had never practised shooting at
things almost beneath me; the slightest motion of Irene disturbed my
aim. The report seemed to infuriate the tiger until he was on the verge
of madness. He jumped from side to side, he roared, he gnashed his
teeth, and it seemed to me that I could smell his horrid breath coming
up toward us.

"Suddenly he ceased all motion; he crouched upon the ground; he made no
sound; he shut his mouth; he partly shut his eyes, but they were fixed
upon me immovably, and they were green as emerald.

"'Now,' said Irene, 'is a good time to take another shot. Shall I try?'

"I raised my hand that she might not move. There was a change coming
over the sun. At first I thought my sight was affected and I did not see
well, but it was not that. Instinctively I gazed upward. A wandering
cloud was slowly moving under the sun. Then I looked down. The tiger's
yellow was not so bright, his black stripes were not so clear and
sharp-cut, and, more than that, he was coming nearer. The balloon was
slowly descending. The truth flashed upon me. Deprived of the direct
rays of the sun, the gas was condensing. We were going down, down,
slowly but surely down!

"A chill ran through me, an awful premonitory chill. I knew what to do,
but there was little I could do. We carried no ballast, for this was a
captive balloon. What could I throw out? The extra rifle! Out it went,
and fell not far from the tiger; but he did not move; with his green
eyes fixed upon the car, he watched it slowly descend. The rifle had
relieved it of a little of its weight, but the middle of the cloud was
thicker than its edge. The gas was still condensing, the balloon was
slowly descending. I became almost frantic. If my Irene had been any one
else I believe I would have thrown her out. But I could not throw out my
Irene. Besides, she was so vigorous.

"It was aw