Again he snatched up a stone, and hurled it with such unerring aim that it fell squarely upon the tiger’s nose. But this fusillade, instead of checking the onset of the brute, served to awaken its furious nature, and with another growl it leaped into the air, its forepaws outstretched to grapple with him, while its white teeth gleamed fiercely in the gathering gloom of the evening.
If Little Hickory had not possessed uncommon nerve and agility his career must have ended then, for there was a deadly earnestness in this attack of the tiger, all of whose native ferocity had been awakened.
But, never losing his presence of mind, Rob watched the movements of the angry beast intently, and as its body darkened the air he sprang nimbly aside, so it just grazed his body to fall a couple of yards away sprawling on the greensward.
Knowing that the battle had but just begun, and to run away would be to incur certain death from the brute, Little Hickory quickly faced the animal, looking it squarely in the eye, while he slowly advanced instead of retreating.
The tiger showed that this bold defiance puzzled it, if it did not for the time hold in check its wild passions. With a prolonged growl it crouched lower to the earth, and while its tail descried circle after circle in the air, it watched intently the youth who fairly held it at bay by his superhuman bravery.
Still Little Hickory knew there must be a change in this situation before long. It seemed only a matter of how long he could hold the animal at bay. He had heard cries from the children, and he judged by such sounds as he had heard that they were fleeing from the place. Of course it would not do for him to look around, or even to speak.
In the midst of this intense suspense a loud, commanding voice fell on the scene, and the words of the tiger’s keeper rang out clearly on the silence of the startling tableau:
“Back, Leo! lie still!”
The tiger growled low and sullen, while its glaring eyes shifted from Rob to this newcomer, who had approached swiftly and silently to the spot unseen and unheard by both our hero and the brute before him.
“Step aside, young man, but do not let your eyes leave him,” said the man. “I think I can manage him now. Down, Leo, down!”