The Tiger on the Hudson. a

man had arrived at the village the night before,
and that he intended to make an end of me and
my family! Oh, how I roared in my rage, when
I heard that. How I lashed my tail from side
to side, as I hurried home to tell my wife.

“ «Shall we not all go farther into the thicker
denser forest,’ said she, ‘farther from the haunts
of man ?’

“But I turned fiercely upon her. ‘I will de-
fend you,’ I roared, ‘I will defend you.’

“Three days after this, I was taking a nap in
a clump of bushes, when I heard an odd crackling
noise. Keeping perfectly still, I crouched and
listened. The boughs directly over my head were
now parted, and there stood a man, not two feet
away! Never had I been so near a man before.
He was a native, and his eyes seemed to have a
strange effect on me, for when I looked into them,
I was powerless tomove. He grew very pale, and
his teeth chattered, but he kept his eyes steadily
fixed on me, while he slowly, slowly moved back-
wards. When I could no longer see those strange
eyes, I sprang, but alas, not upon him! He had