as I sat here against this post the tiger
came, seized the knot of my blanket and began to pull. Like lightning
I made my plan. I grasped with a strong tight hold the sides of the
blanket and holding myself together like a ball I let Lord Tiger
pull. He dragged me to the edge of the tila (hill). There I suddenly
let go the blanket and shouted with all my might. The tiger fell over,
down the hill, and is gone."

Sure enough, there were the foot-marks of the tiger, the mark of
the drag, and the signs of where "Stripes" had slipped over and down
the terrace.

The tiger had been harrying the coolies for some time and a rumour
had got about that he was a man-eater. It was pretty certain that he
would come again the next night; so the planters determined to sit
up and shoot him.

On the following night after dinner M. B. C. and H. took their
positions on the verandah. Each had his loaded gun and all waited
patiently for the tiger. Time passed. It was weary work and they dozed.

M.'s dog had wandered off to the kitchen as usual after dinner. After
some time it returned hurriedly and ran up the steps of the verandah,
barking in a frightened manner. The dog's barking woke the four
men. B. sat first near the steps and H. not far from him in a
dining-room chair.

The dog ran into the dining-room and hid himself under the table and
everything again became quiet, and the men waited. Suddenly a hoarse
cry paralysed three of them. "He's on me. Shoot."

The tiger had come up on to the verandah and springing at B. caught him
by the arm. Then, releasing the arm, he made a spring at his victim's
throat. B. was instantly on his feet and, as the tiger essayed his
throat, he rammed his clenched fist into the animal's mouth. The
tiger shook the man's fist out of its mouth and made another attempt
to reach his throat. B. repeated his manoeuvre. This happened three
or four times.

In the meantime the other three men dared not shoot for fear of missing
the ferocious cat and killing their comrade. H. had the presence of
mind to swiftly fix his bayonet, and, rushing towards the tiger, he
thrust it in the animal's side, firing as he did so. The tiger fell
backwards off the verandah mortally wounded, but to the amazement
of the Sahebs struggled tip and made another attempt to get at B. He
was however too badly wounded and fell back dead.

B.'s hand and arm were terribly mauled, and after medical treatment
he had to go home on long leave.