Treed By A Leopard

I waa a liaruui-soarum young cavalry offlcer then, aud delighted ia nothing so much as in fool-hardy adventures, loving danger f or the keen cxcitement Itafforded, without taking into considaration its possible ultímate result. Besides this innatelove for adventure, I had inhoritad frotnmy father, a professor of natural phllosophy, a strong love íor the study of animáis and birds, and this latter passion alone would jave been Bufllcient. tu lead me into many perilous situations, without any additioBül motives. At the period to wliich [ refer, our regiment was stationed ín the Teral, only a few inites fiom a Httle Hindoo village; the latter was situated in a remarkably pleasaut spot, and in its midstdweltau Iiiahman, whose roomy, bamboo dweiling f urniahed the favorito resort for recreation of us young offiw.rs. Wnenever it waa possible to obtain leave of absence for a day or two, we made a doublé quick charge into Mike's cozy quarters, aud then aallied forth into the jungles with seveial Ghoorkha attendants, to hunt leopards and tigers. I had' been for over a year in quest of the nest of a paitieularly raro species of burrowing beetle, and upon the obtaining of which I had pledged xay reputation for enterprise and perseverance. A Ghoorkha lad, whom I had employed in the quest, carne into my quarters one morning with the uews that he had at last located the desired 'nest' I plead with my Colonel for leave to seek it out. It was granted, and on the followlng day I roete into the Ghoorkha village, f uil of enthusiasm, only to flnd that my promised guide, in company with all the able-bodied men of the cummunity, had sallied fortk in pursuit of a mueh-dreaded 'man eater who had for months been creating sad havoc among the terrifled natives. Startled out of the abject fear of the lückabagga that had hitherto paralyzed their pursuit.theiuhabitants had seized their arms, and gone out in a body to the jungle, hoping to enclose the 'man eater' in a circle, and put an end to his frightful devastations. An urgent message had been left me, to join them, and a natlve boy left bebind to be my guide, but on inquiry í found the latter had disappeared biding au Í afterward discovered. in terror of being compelled to enter the jungle. I stood for a moment iu i quandary ; well armed as I was, it was no prudent thing for a single man to venture into those dense thickets, especially vhen the near neighboruood of such a terrible enemy was a matter of certainty, it was an equal chance that the hunter might become the hunted ; the la ver, the slain. I have said, there was within me an ardent longing for adventure, and now in addition I was deterwined notto return to the barracks, without an effoi t tó obtain those coveted beetles ; cojisequently, af ter a ahort consideration, I stabled my horae and plunged Into the jungle unaltended, having flrst obtained as minute direction as possible, both as to the position of the beetles nest and that of the hunting party. II need scarcely say, that foolhaidy as I was, I did not pursue my laborious course through the thick jungle witb out keeping a sharp watch, with bot eyes and ears that none of ita fiere denizens might take me unawares. It so chanced that the insects I wa so desirous of obtaining had locatee their nest at the f oot of a large tre that stood alone on the very verge o a small open space íd the jungle whei a year or two back, an enterprising na tive had essayed to start a plantation but had been compelled to leave it on account of the frequent inroads of ti geia and leopards. Henee it was tha I was enabled to find the exact spot ', wished to reach, otherwise it woulc have been like hunting a needie in a haystack. After two hours cautious marching, I stood at the foot of the wide spreading tree, and beheld at last my long-coveted specimens running to and fro about their sabterraneaD dweiling, unsuspidious of the destróyer near at hand, just as un&uspicious in fact, as he himself was, of the slayer in waiting for him! It was a moment of triumph, such as only an enthusiastic naturalist can appreciate; those beer les were extremely rare, so rare indeed, that more than one eminent seientist refused to credit their actual existence. and I had pledged my word to eonvince these sceptics and produce to the world the mysterious inseets; for over twelve months the obtaining of specimens üad been my chief anxiety, and now in the excitement of my complete success, I entirely f orgot the neceas' ty of keeping watch upon my surrouiidingH. Not wiahing to lay ruy rifle dowu in the dirt, I rested it against a young tree a few yards away and dropping on my knees, pounced with eagereyes upon the large glossy blue bee tl es; one by one 1 placed my coveted treasures in my well furnished 'entomologists' box' I always carried buckled at my waist, first putting each to a painless death, by means of a few drops of chloroform. A hideous noise whose puiport I knew full well, sounded almost at my elbow, and leaplng to my f eet my blood chilled as I beheld the dreaded 'aiau eater' of whom the village was in pursuit, crouched within twenty feet of me, his red eyes glaring, hissides heaving, his tail lashing the grourid. I was paralyzed; then the instinct of selfpreservation rose up in all the plentitude of its power and I took in the whale scène, and. my well nigh desperate chances for escape, at one glance. My rifle was lost to me ; the lashing tail of the 'luckabagga' actually touched it. I had only ïuy revolver, and there was not a second to lose in its use; already the huge spotted f orm of my enemy was quivering preparatory to its terrible death dealing leap. Flash! bang, the littie weaponspoke out nobly, but I did not pause to see the result of its speech ; I was an expert climber, had 'swarmed' up many a smoother tree than Lhe one whose branches spread above me ; so the instant my flnger had eped the leaden messenger on its errand, I commenced a rapid ascent not knowing but death might overtake me before I reached tlia lowermost branches. I heard a sharp cry, anti a crashing among the underbrush, but not til] i hád gaiued a resting place did f look downward to see what damage my shot had done. That glance was not reassuring; apparently it had missed its mark altogetlier ; the i uckabagga had not only madt! bis i n tended leap, but was already at Ue foot of tlie tree and preparing Eor another leap upon its trunk, with the object of following me into its branches ; only one thing could save me, (for as everyorm knows, the leopárd is un expert climber), that was to einpty tho rematning shots in my revolver into his body as he mounted the tree trunk. Only those who have been in similar desperate situation.s, and have geen üieir last hope lost, can aparecíate the thrill of horror that crept over me as putting my hand to my belt, I fouud thut in my b.isty aseent, my oue weapon had fallen to the ground, and now lay, glistening beneath the feet of the furious '1 uckabagga.' Tme, l had a huiitíng-knife, but that would not avail to save me from those death-dealing claws, once they carne near enough to seize upon me. I had only one forlorn hope left me now, to cüoib higher and highei', until I found a branch which would bear my weight, but not that of the terrible man-eater, for with all nis ferocity, he is like au elephant, a veritable coward, as to trnsting himseif upon an insufficient foothold, and is wonderf ully keen in detecting branches that will not bear hls weight. I, therefore, clitnbed higlier, but soon pereeiving the menacinggrottls carne no nearer, I paused to look down. Who can describe my thaukfulness at discovering tliat my one hasty shot had, after all, done good seivicf1. One of t'uose fearful foropuws wasbroken, and it was invainthatthe maddened creature leaped again and again, in the endeavor to climb the iree and secure his prey. His clirnbing days were over, as 1 feit with a thrill of exultatiou, so I slipped down again to the lower branches and placing myself as comfortably as I might be among thein, resolved to walt quietly until my enetny sbould depare. Becoming convinced at length that he could not reach me, the nckabagga evidently made up his mind to starve me out, so he lay quietly down beneath the tree, conteuting himseif with licking his wouuded paw and winking his red eyes at me, as much as to sav. 'never mind, my boy, l'Jl have you after awhile.' Aud truly, I began to think he would, for as the hours rolled on and niglit approached, I becameterribly cramped and faint with liunger, and moreover carne the fear that I might in spite of inyself, drop asleep and fall frooi the tree. It was in vaiu that I aJiouted and flung down my cap, my belt, my beloved entomologista' box, with all ia array of bottlea and insect-preaerviug powders. my beaeiger was not to be frightenedaway. Night came on and the leopard still lay beneatb the tree, 1 could see the gleam of his hungry eyes lixed upon rne through the darkness. [ was becoming drowsy, when my attentiou was attracted by the noise of some creature crashing through the jungle neai by aud the tiext moment there came a lierce roar, answered by another from my beseiger. And then such a roaring, growÜHg, hissing, snarling and tumbliug, as went on in the dense shadow of the tree, Í hope never to hear again; it was vident that a due! to the death was going on, though ] could only see the glint of two pairs of red eyes. Tor ten minutes didthe eombat rage and then the uproar gradually diec away, until only an occasional moan could be heard, and after awhile this too, ceased, and a total silence succeeded. How anxiously I waited for daylight to reveal my position ; whether a priaoner or freeman, may easily be conceived . When the blessed sun did at length send down his raya upon the scène, I fairly ahouted aloud in the my joy at the apectacle that met my sight. My enemy of the night bef ore lay dead, nearly torn to pieces, while stretched at his side, lay hia assailant, a magniflcent tiger; the latter bore no marks upon him save a few acratches, yet he was dead, as I proved before deacending, by throwing my boots down upon him. .Within two minutes af ter making sure of this fact, 1 was on my knees beside the splendid carcass, before whoae superior strength it was evident my own particular enemy hal gone down, au end to which his broken leg had no doubt contributed ; but i,o what the tiger owed his death, I could not perceive, as he had scarcely a scratch upon him. But the mystery was solved when Icameupon the fragmenta of a bottle that had held the cyanide of potassium I carried with me for the preservation of insect specimens. It had been in the box I had thrwn down in hopes of frightening ;he Ipopard, and during the brief comDat it had no doubt got broken aud the aowder becoming rubbed into the wounds of thé 'lnckabagga' had been absoreed in the flesh eaten by the tiger, and thus had the slayer's appetite slain íimself and preserved me; for i f he iad lived, I should ultimately have fallen into his clutches, I make 110 doubt. You may rest asaured that I lost uo ime in making my way back to the village, wliere the exhibition f the ;ai)s of the dreaded man-eater and the scarcely lesa feared tiger, caused the wildesit demonstrations of joy, in which I shared, not alone because of ny miraculous escape, but because lat ast held in my hand those coveted beetles.-