68 The Tiger on the Hudson.

them now when, suddenly, he sprang to his feet in
unutterable horror, for he saw that the eyes had
begun to move! Slowly, slowly they looked round
the room, and rested at last, upon em /

He met their gaze, and having once looked
into those cruel, green glaring eyes, he was en-
tirely unable to move. For fully a minute did
those two stare at each other silently, while the
small bronze clock ticked busily on, and the fire
snapped and crackled its way merrily up the wide
chimney. Then the Tiger opened his mouth, and
in a rough, hoarse voice spoke:

“T heard your uncle say that he would tell you
how I, the king of beasts, the Royal Bengal Tiger
came to lie here. I will tell you first my side of
the story. Sit still and listen” (and, indeed,
Harry was quite unable to do anything else).

“My home was on the banks of the river
Ganges. J had a beautiful wife and three beautiful
children.” (Here the Tiger’s voice became husky.)
“We had a happy home,” he continued, “near an
old deserted temple. Plenty of water we had, a
pleasant climate and enough to eat. There was a