They rode on, close to the river bank for many a mile under a dreadfully hot sun, and, a little after noon one of the men who had mounted a tall tree shouted out that he had seen the tiger among the reeds on the river bank not very far from the spot where our hunting party sat quietly on their elephants.
Stones were now thrown into the bushes and several shots were fired by the native hunters. But no tiger made his appearance. The thicket was full of thorns and was very dense, and there were other reasons for not entering it—one very good one.
So the shouting and the stone-throwing were continued, and that was about all that was done for fifteen or twenty minutes.
Then one of the followers, who had a gun, crept on his hands and knees to the edge of the thicket and peeped in under the bushes.
He looked all about and could see nothing, and then he cast his eyes to one side, and there lay the tiger not ten feet from him!
It is amazing how quickly he drew back, jumped up, and ran off at the top of his speed. As soon as he reached what he thought was a safe distance he turned and fired at the spot where he had seen the tiger.
And what was very astonishing indeed, he hit it.
Up jumped the beast in a rage, and in an instant he bounded out of the thicket into the open field.
He was all ready for a big fight, and he growled and gnashed his teeth in a way that would have made your blood run cold.
Every body leveled their guns at him, but he did not give them time to take a good aim, for he charged at headlong speed right for the foremost elephant. The animal on which the Colonel and his friend were mounted was a brave one, but he did not fancy such a tiger as this, and he turned to run away.