Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
BENNIE AND THE TIGER.
BENNIE AND THE TIGER.
A fair little English boy lay sleeping inthe shady verandah of his Indian home.The servant who was left with him wasunfaithful to her trust, and, while he slept,wandered away in search of pleasure.A treacherous tiger, prowling in search of3a pig or a lamb for his supper, finding thevillage very quiet, ventured in among thedwellings. The English gentlemen wereall absent, and most of the natives wereat work in the rice swamp or the paddyfield; while the white ladies, exhaustedwith heat, were taking their rest, littledreaming how careless were their nurses.
The treacherous tiger crept noiselesslypast the deserted homes, until he espiedthe sweet little sleeper. Then, with onebound, he sprang upon him, grasped theflowing white robe in his teeth, anddarted off to his native jungle. Havingsecured the prize, he laid him down;and as a kitten plays with the captivemouse, began sporting with him. He4walked round and round, layed first onepaw and then the other on the littleplump feet, and looked into his beautifulface as if his ferocious heart was almostmelted by its sweetness.
There was a brave heart in littleBennie, for he seemed not at all alarmedby his strange companion. He was wellused to Negro, the large black housedog; the ponies were his chief favourites;and he felt inclined to look on the tiger,perhaps, as an addition to his circle ofdumb friends. Or, if the glance of thesefiery eyeballs, and the display of thesedreadful teeth, made his heart beat for amoment, he only returned the gaze,saying in baby language: “I’m notafraid of you, for I’ve got a father! Youcan’t touch Bennie—Bennie’s got a mamma!”Oh, how strong this trust inearthly love made that frail boy! Whywill not those who know that God is overall, confide in him in times of danger, andbe at rest!
All this time the boy’s mother slept,nor dreamed of danger to her darling.The truant nurse, missing her little charge,flew from house to house in search of him.But the Eye which never sleeps was onhim. An aged native had heard the lowgrowl of satisfaction, which to his practisedear, told that a tig