The excitement was intense, and nobody dared to venture far from the Hall. The cadets kept a constant watch; but nothing came of it.
“They must have news of the beast by this time,” said Captain Putnam on the following morning. “I’ll drive down to Cedarville and find out.”
“Oh, dear captain don’t do that!” shrieked Mrs. Green, the housekeeper. “If you meet him he’ll eat you up!”
“I’ll risk that,” returned the master of the Hall, grimly. “I’ll take my rifle with me, and also my seven-shooter. If I see the tiger I’ll try to give him a warm reception.”
“You—you—er—don’t want me to drive you, do you?” asked Peleg Snuggers, in a trembling voice. “I—er—I ain’t well this morning. I had a—er—a dreadful backache all night, an’ a headache, an’——”
“You won’t have to drive, Snuggers. I’ll take the buggy and drive myself.”
“It’s flyin’ in the face of Providence,” came from Mrs. Green. “Better wait a day or two longer.”
“No, I’m going now. Hitch up Black Bess, Snuggers. She is a steady mare, and won’t run away even if the tiger does show himself.”
The mare was hooked to the buggy, and Captain Putnam looked carefully to his rifle and his old army revolver. The excitement of the occasion was just to his liking. It put him in mind of his days in the wild west, and he half wished the escaped tiger would show itself so that he might get a shot.
“The captain certainly has grit,” remarked Jack, as the master of the Hall drove away.