He would have liked to stay and watch
him--to see him walk, to see his great claws and teeth, and his wild
eyes. But Flint hurried him off, and without a sound they left the
place. Not till he had put miles between himself and the tiger did
Flint shake off a feeling of terror, and speak in answer to Thorn's
question:
"How does the tiger get things to eat?"
"He steals to the river bank where the shade is deepest," said the old
man, recalling many a sight of the crouching beast. "There, on some
over-hanging limb or rock, he waits for deer or horse or any other
animal to come to drink. Then from his hiding place, with an angry
snarl, he springs upon the back of his prey."
"Oh, many a time I have seen him," continued old Flint, thinking of
past years; "for when I was a boy, my father's cave was in a high
cliff, close to the river. A little way below, there was a place where
the animals came to drink. And often I have felt the hair rise on my
head as I heard the cry of some wounded animal, and saw it rush away
with a yellow patch clinging to its neck."
[Illustration: Tiger]
"I have a tiger's jaw which I found once long ago. You may see it some
time. Then you will know why the tiger can kill the rhinoceros, whose
thick skin no other animal's teeth can pierce. In the tiger's upper
jaw, there are two teeth that are long and sharp and thin. The tiger
thrusts these into the neck of the rhinoceros, and he sinks to the
ground, and the tiger feeds upon him.
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