MARY'S LETTER.
LESSON XXXII.
THE TIGER.
- The tiger is a giant cat. His body is nearly covered with black stripes.
- Unlike the lion, he runs so fast that the swiftest horse can not overtake him. He goes over the ground by making bounds or springs, one after another.
- By night, as well as by day, the tiger watches for his prey. With a frightful roar, he will seize a man, and carry him off.
- Have you ever thought what use whiskers are to cats? Lions have great whiskers, and so have tigers and all other animals of the cat kind.
- Whenever you find an animal with whiskers like the cat's, you may be sure that animal steals softly among branches and thick bushes.
- By the slightest touch on the tiger's whiskers, he knows when there is anything in his road.
- A few years ago, some English officers went out to hunt. When coming home from their day's sport, they found a little tiger kitten.
- They took it with them and tied it, with a collar and chain, to the pole of their tent. It played about, to the delight of all who saw it.
- One evening, just as it was growing dark, they heard a sound that frightened them greatly. It was the roar of a tiger.
- The kitten pulled at the chain, and tried to break away. With a sharp cry, it answered the voice outside.
- All at once, a large tigress bounded into the middle of the tent. She caught her kitten by the neck, and broke the chain which bound it.
- Then turning to the door of the tent, she dashed away as suddenly as she had come.