The men looked at Tom Gordon as if doubting his words.
"Are you in earnest?" asked one of them.
"Look for yourselves."
The horseman was out of the saddle in a twinkling, and walked quickly tothe woodshed, whose cracks were so numerous that it was easy to see everypart of the interior. Placing his eyes at one of these openings, he peeredthrough.
"By George, boys!" he exclaimed, turning about, "the youngster's right;Tippo is in there."
The others hastily dismounted, tied their horses, and joined him. All tooka look before they were satisfied no mistake had been made.
The tiger was stretched out in one corner, and had been asleep, when hewas awakened by the noise. He raised his head, opened his eyes andgrowled, but showed no special anger at being disturbed.
While the men were debating as to the best means of securing him, JackDurrick, who had done most of the talking, explained to the ladies and Tomwhat must have puzzled them concerning the action of the beast.
Durrick, it should be stated, figured on the stupendous posters as"Professor De La Cordova, Successor of the Renowned Van Amberg, and Fullyhis Equal in his Amazing Power and Control over the Wild Beasts of theForest and Jungle." In this case, it must be added, the professorpossessed fair claim to this distinction. He displayed great skill in themanagement of wild animals. No one could handle Tippo Sahib as did he. Hadhe been near the cage when Sam Harper angered him, he never would havepermitted the beast to escape.
He said Tippo was frightened and nervous through his suddenly acquiredfreedom. He suffered pain from the jab in his eye, and was made morerestless and fidgety by the excitement and his strange surroundings. Theslight wound received by him renewed his anger; but, when he withdrew fromthe immediate vicinity, he undoubtedly made a raid on some farmer'slive-stock, and had devoured a calf, pig, or sheep. He had eaten his fill,and thereupon became so docile as to be comparatively harmless, providedhe was treated with consideration.
His return to the scene of his most stirring experience was one of thosewhims which his species sometimes show. Tired from his flight and filledto satiety, he had lain down to rest in the woodshed, so satisfied withhis quarters that he offered no objection when Tom Gordon slipped up andfastened the door. So powerful and active an animal, had he chosen, couldhave broken out of the place in a twinkling; but he was content to staywhere he was until fully rested.
"I assure you," added the professor, "you wouldn't have kept him muchlonger; when he awoke, hungry and thirsty, he would have placed himself onthe outside before you could say Jack Robinson, and _then_ there wouldhave been trouble."
The actions of the professor proved his faith in his own words. He coollyunhooked the door, gently pushed it back, and stepped within thestructure. Tippo Sahib uttered a growl, and Tom and his friends shrankfarther away. The men, however, one of whom carried a coil of rope, heldtheir places.
Professor De La Cordova displayed admirable coolness and tact. He was notrough in manner, but acted like one who felt himself master of thesituation. His course, indeed, suggested to Tom that there was much truthin Jim Travers's declaration about the power of the human eye over thedenizens of the jungle. Standing erect, the man remained motionless for afull minute, during which he kept his gaze fixed on the tiger, staringinto those orbs as if he would "look him through."
Tippo Sahib was uneasy for a brief while, and then succumbed to thatmysterious hypnotic influence which, in some cases, is equally potentwith persons. He became humble, meek, and, if the term can be allowed,penitent.
Fully understanding his condition, the professor reached his hand behindhim, without removing his gaze from the beast.
"The rope!" he said in a low voice.
The next moment, to the amazement of Tom and his relatives, he steppedgently forward, and fastened the rope around the unresisting neck of TippoSahib, who was led outside like a thoroughly subdued dog. Tom gave himplenty of room, and closely watched proceedings. While doing so, heobserved a slight scratch on the hip of the beast, barely sufficient tobreak the skin; that was the path of the bullet fired by the lad the dayprevious.
Other ropes were fastened about the tiger, who took it all as a matter ofcourse, and calmly followed when his guards moved in the direction of thehorses. These resented the approach of the huge cat, so the professor andone of his men walked some distance behind the others, who took care ofthe animals.
Before their departure, Professor De La Cordova told Tom to call at thehotel between six and seven that evening, and he would be paid the hundreddollars with the thanks of Mr. Jones and all connected with the menagerieand circus.
"I wonder if they mean to cheat me out of it?" said the boy thatafternoon, when he looked at the clock and saw it was nearly time tostart.
"I hardly think so," replied his mother.
"Why didn't they give the money before they took the tiger away?"
"Probably they hadn't so much with them," suggested Aunt Cynthia, whoplainly felt some misgiving over matters; "most likely the money has to bepaid by some officer connected with the show."
"And he may say he never gave his men the right to make such an offer,"remarked Tom.
"That may be," said the mother, thinking it wise to prepare her son for aprobable disappointment; "the circus is to exhibit at Boorman's to-night.That is twenty miles off, and all may have gone thither. If those menchoose to disregard their word, I see no help for it."
"It will be awful mean in them," declared the boy, who had become quitenervous; "I'll never catch any more tigers for them."
Tom loitered on his way to Briggsville, striving not to reach there beforethe time named; but despite the effort, he was in town fully a quarter ofan hour too early.
A surprise awaited him. The news of the recapture of the runaway tiger hadpreceded him; and, as was natural, the story was exaggerated to an absurddegree. Jim Travers had told the wondering people that he saw Tom captureSipo Tahib, as he called him, by jumping on his back and bending hisforepaws over his neck. (Peter Parley's History, which Jim read at school,contained a picture of the naturalist Chatterton thus navigating analligator, and Jim couldn't see why a tiger should not be handled the sameway. He preferred, however, that some other boy should be the one to makethe experiment.)
So it was that Tom found himself the hero of the hour. The boys and allhis acquaintances gathered round him, and he had to tell the story overand over, until he became tired. When Jim Travers was reminded that Tom'smodest account did not agree with his flamboyant yarn, he said he fearedhe had got things a little mixed, but that was the way he or Tom wouldhave conducted the recapture had the chance been given them.
"Are you the young man that caught the runaway tiger?" asked a pleasantlooking gentleman, somewhat loudly dressed, as he laid his hand on theshoulder of Tom Gordon, while he was standing among a group of his friendson the porch of the hotel.
"I didn't exactly capture him," replied the blushing lad; "but I shut thedoor of the woodhouse, and he stayed there till the owners came and tookhim away."
"It's all the same; you deserve as much credit as if you had brought himhere without help. I believe they promised you a hundred dollars reward,didn't they?"
"Yes, sir; one of the men said if I would call here between six and sevenhe would give me the money; but I don't see anything of him," added Tom,looking around, in the hope of catching a glimpse of Professor De LaCordova. "Has he gone away"
"Yes; he is to appear in the show to-night at Boorman's, and could notwait. But I am Mr. Jones, the proprietor, and if you will step inside withme, it won't take us long to fix it. I was only waiting to make sure youwere the right lad."
Tom delightedly followed the gentleman into an inner room, where the doorwas closed and the transaction quickly completed.
Mr. Jones made some sympathetic inquiries of the youth, and when helearned of his mother's moderate circumstances, expressed great pleasurethat the reward had fallen to him. Then he handed him ten bright, crispten
-dollar bills.
"That is quite a sum of money for a lad like you to have about him," addedMr. Jones. "You must be careful not to lose it."
"I am very thankful to you, and shall take good care of it," replied Tom.
"Where are you going to carry it?"
"In my inside coat pocket; then I will button my coat over it."
"That's right; and don't unbutton the coat till you reach your own home."
The money was put away as Tom indicated, and, thanking his kind friendagain, Tom bade him good-by and withdrew.
Chapter VI.