Bert Wilson at the Wheel

  CHAPTER XIII

  DAVE'S TIGER STORY

  The next night, while Dave, who had promised to tell them a tiger yarn,was pulling his "thinking cap" on tight, and trying to select his mostfetching story, the boys gathered closer about him, and with heartsbeating a little faster at the very mention of the word "tiger,"prepared to listen.

  At last Dave looked up, and in order to make his story a trifle morethrilling, gave a little talk on the bloodthirstiness of his majesty,the tiger. When he concluded by the tense look on his hearers' facesthat the right moment had arrived, he plunged into

  THE STORY OF THE TIGER

  "One calm evening in the summertime, somewhat later than usual, agentleman stepped from the train at a railroad station in a suburbantown and walked up the street toward his home. Deep in thoughts ofbusiness, he did not notice at first that a most unusual silencepervaded the town. In a short time the deadly stillness roused him, andhe noticed, wonderingly, that he was the only person to be seen on thestreets. Not a man, woman, or child could he see, a most unusual thing,as at that time, in the early evening, the town was always a very livelyplace indeed. He noticed, too, with amazement, that the doors andwindows of the houses were all closed. Not a face appeared at any ofthem. All the windows that had blinds or shutters attached had themdrawn tightly, and fastened securely. Not a sign of life anywhere. Whathad happened? Had everybody gone crazy?

  "Amazed and frightened, he hurried on, up one street and down another,until his own house came into view. That, too, was closed and shuttered.The welcoming face that had never failed to greet him was not at door orwindow. Now, thoroughly alarmed, he ran up the steps of the porch andwildly rang the bell. The door was opened cautiously, just a littlecrack, and to his great relief the face of his wife appeared at the tinyopening.

  "At the sight of him the door opened wider. He was clutched by thesleeve and hurried into the house with scant ceremony. Before he couldget his breath after this amazing treatment the door was closed andlocked and double-locked on the instant, and the white face of his wifeconfronted the dazed man.

  "His dinner was ready, but without waiting for him to be seated at thetable his wife commenced to tell him the cause of the unusual state ofaffairs. 'Did he remember that the wild animal show was to have arrivedin the town that day?' 'No,' he had not remembered, 'but go on.'

  "Well, it did come, and while the show was in progress one of theanimals, a tiger, had escaped from the tent and raced up Main Street,while everyone on the street hurried to the nearest refuge. At theend of Main Street he dashed into the woods, and though the crowd ofpursuing men and boys did their best to recapture him, he was still atlarge. The manager of the show told the people, while they ran madly inpursuit, that the tiger was a new one, scarcely at all trained, and byfar the fiercest and most savage of all the animals in the show. Hewarned everyone to stay closely within doors that night, and assuredthem that as soon as daylight appeared every possible effort would bemade to capture and cage him. That is why everybody is barricaded withindoors.

  "Of course, being a man, he laughed at his wife's fears, said therewas no danger, and that it was extremely foolish for everyone to beso scared, and that, as for him, he would not lose a wink of sleepworrying about it. His wife noticed, however, that although he talked sobravely, he kept closely within doors all the evening, and that whenthey were ready to go upstairs for the night he looked with unusual careat the fastenings of all the doors and windows, both upstairs and down.Once, as he fastened the bolt of a window, he had stopped and grown alittle white at a slight scratching noise just outside the window."

  Here a decided shiver ran around the camp, furtive looks were cast overhiked shoulders, and Sam, who for some minutes had been watching amoving shadow just outside the line of camp firelight, decided that theshadow was decidedly tigerlike, and wanted to know if they did not thinkthe fire needed some more logs. "All right, old man," said Bob, and thelogs went on. They blazed up brightly, and gave every man Jack, even thebravest of them, a more comfortable feeling of security, and Dave wenton with the story:

  "In the middle of that night the man found himself suddenly awake, withan intense feeling that someone or something was in the room. Raisinghimself upon one elbow, he gazed searchingly about the dim room, and wasjust about to give himself a lecture for imagining things, when, inthe farthest and darkest corner, he saw what appeared to be two greatballs of green fire glaring straight at him. At once the thought of theescaped tiger leaped into his mind, and he knew that the fierce andsavage beast was within his room. For a moment his heart fairly stoppedbeating, but, gaining control of himself with an effort, he tried tothink what he should do. He reached over and laid his hand softly overhis wife's lips and whispered in her ear. Then together they watched thetwo glowing points of fire, wondering with sick hearts how soon thetiger would be upon them.

  "They had not long to wait, for now the tiger began crawling towardthem, inch by inch, inch by inch----"

  At this point in the story the boys, utterly forgetful of the worldand everything in it, had crowded close about the story teller, andwith flesh creeping and hair rising on their heads were listening,open-mouthed, to the story. Dave had paused to take breath, when everyheart stood still as a fierce scratching on the bark of a nearby treeand a deep, savage growling were heard.

  All sprang to their feet. Dick Trent was the only one who remained cool.Having seen Bert Wilson (who never lost an opportunity for a little funand mischief) steal quietly away under cover of the darkness, he morethan suspected that something was going to happen, and so was prepared.

  Suddenly a burst of ringing laughter made itself heard, and thereon the grass lay Bert, rolling over and over, holding his sides andsaying between gasps, "Oh, my! Oh, my! you did look so funny! Hold me,somebody, or I _will_ go to pieces. Oh, my! Oh, my!"

  At first the boys were inclined to be angry, but they were good fellowsand always ready to laugh at a joke, even when it was on themselves, andso with many a laughing threat to "get even with Bert, and that mightysoon," they came, a little sheepishly, back to the fire and with oneaccord begged Dave to go on with the story.

  "Well," resumed Dave, "we left the tiger creeping inch by inch, inch byinch, toward his two victims, and feeling very sure of his capture; butthe man was not the one to give up his life or that of his wife withouta brave effort to save them. He whispered hastily to his wife, 'Beprepared'"--here a voice interrupted to exclaim, "They ought to havebeen campers"--"'to jump out and roll way back under the bed the instantI say Now!'

  "By this time the tiger had come to within a few feet of them, and theycould see him in the dim light, every muscle quivering, crouched for aspring. The man had slipped his feet over the side of the bed to thefloor, and his hands clutched the bedclothes from underneath.

  "As the beast sprang the man shouted, 'Now!' and at the same time flungthe bedclothes over the head and body of the tiger. The two terrifiedpeople used the few minutes the angry, snarling beast took to get outfrom the tangle of bedclothes to roll as far under the bed as theycould. The bed was a very low one, and the man knew that the tiger, whowas very large, could not creep under without raising the bed with hisshoulders. So the two resolved that when he tried to get under, as theyknew he would, they would grip the steel springs above them and hold onlike grim death, and try to hold the bed down.

  "All too soon they found themselves holding on to those springs with allthe combined strength of their muscles. The tiger tried again and againto lift the bed, but could not get enough of his shoulders under to geta purchase, and finding himself baffled, crept away to his far corner toconsider what to do.

  "The man knew that they could not keep the tiger at bay in this way verylong, for their strength was nearly gone. Groping about desperately, hishand touched his son's tool box, pushed carelessly under the bed. Howthankful he was that their boy was visiting relatives at a distance. He,at least, was safe. He grasped the box as a drowning man grasps a straw,and lifting a li
d searched for and found a screw driver, and, oh, joy!a few large screws.

  "Working desperately, and more rapidly than ever in his life before,he drove a couple of the screws through the two top legs of the bed,securing them to the floor. Another two minutes and he had one of thebottom legs in the same condition. Before he could touch the fourth legthe tiger, angered by the noise of the screw driving, bounded forwardand again tried to lift the bed. Finding he could not get at them, thetiger suddenly sprang upon the bed and began tearing at the mattress.Very soon there was nothing between him and the now almost despairingcouple but the woven wire springs. These springs were of extra strong,fine quality, but even these could not hold out long against theonslaught of those terrible, powerful claws.

  "Almost mechanically the man again thrust his hand into the box, anddrew out a small saw. The idea came to him to cut a hole through thefloor into the ceiling of the room below, slip through, and rush forhelp. He spoke to his wife, and found she had fainted. He workeddesperately, faster and faster, while all the time the tiger tore moreand more fiercely at the tough springs. His hot, terrible breath sweptacross their faces, so close to that snarling one above them, while thesaliva dropped from his savage jaws.

  "Almost fainting with disgust and terror, the man worked on still moredesperately, for dear life now. At last one side was finished, thenanother, now the third, and a little hope came back to the man's heart.If he could only finish that other side he would have at least a slightchance of escape. But now the tough woven wire links began to give wayunder the tearing of the tiger's savage claws. In one place a small holeis broken in the wire. In mad haste the man tears the saw through thewood. It seems as if it would never give way. Once the saw slips andbends. What if it should break! One more desperate, despairing effort.Only two more inches now, only one, only a half inch. At last it isover, and the saw drops from his nerveless hand. He makes a last effortto arouse his wife, but without avail. He cannot bear to leave her, forhe fears that before he can get help and return the tiger will be uponher. What can he do? It is his only chance to save her. He _must_ takeit.

  "The tiger, as if he knew a crisis had come, ceased his tearing and layabove them, watching with angry fire flashing from his eyes, and keepingup a low, savage snarling.

  "With a muttered prayer for protection for his poor wife and help forhimself, the man lowered himself through the opening until he foundhimself suspended from the ceiling of the lower room. In desperate hasteto go for help, he is about to drop to the floor, but pauses to hear ifthere is any sound or movement in the room above. Not a sound. There iscomfort in that, for his poor wife must be safe as yet, but what is thetiger doing? Why is everything so deadly quiet? Incensed at the escapeof one of his victims, one would suppose him to be all the more eager tosecure the other; but there is no sound. What can he be doing?

  "At this moment an awful thought comes to him. What if the cunning tigerhad crept silently down the stairs into the room below? He remembersthat the door into that room was open when they passed it on their wayupstairs. How safe they had felt then! How little had they dreamed thatthis awful thing would come upon them! Could it be only a few hourssince they had gone upstairs, chatting cheerfully together? It seemeddays and days ago. Perhaps the tiger was at that moment crouched belowhim there in the darkness, ready to spring upon him the moment, yes,even before, his feet touched the ground.

  "The awful thought made him pause, and he hung there with fiercelythrobbing heart, undecided what to do. If he could hear one sound ofthe tiger moving in the room above him he could drop, quickly closethe door, and rush away for help. Still no sound from his wife's room.What should he do? Perhaps it would be better to try to hold on untilmorning, when he could at least have the blessed light to aid him. Itcould not be long now before daybreak. Surely out of doors there must bedaylight now. Soon it would come into the room and enable him to lookabout him. Yes, that would be the best and only thing to do.

  "But no; he cannot! His strength is failing. Already his numbed fingersare slipping--slipping--another moment and the tiger will be upon him andall will be over. He can hold on no longer. He is falling--falling----

  "'John! Oh, John!' comes a cheerful voice from below. 'Aren't you comingdown? It is almost train time, and breakfast is ready.'

  "John sits up in bed, looking with dazed eyes all around the brightroom, flooded with morning sunshine, and it is minutes before herealizes that it is _all a dream_!"

  If anyone could have taken a photograph of the boys' faces just beforethe conclusion of the story and another just after it, the two pictureswould have been a comic study; but they could not have given thetransition from faces filled with rapt, motionless, breathless interestto the astonished, somewhat disgusted look as the totally unexpectedending of the story filtered in upon them.

  Mr. Hollis, who had listened to the last part of the story with as muchinterest as the boys, thanked Dave for the pleasure he had given them,but could not keep back a smile as Shorty voiced the general sentiment,"You ought to be ashamed, Dave Ferris, for handing us such a lemon."