resisted it to the floor. The tiger
never stayed to use its jaws. It sat up, much in the attitude of a
kitten which plays with something dangled before its eyes, and the soft
pit-pat of its paws, as it struck out rapidly and with unerring aim,
speedily disposed of all its enemies. Che' Seman, with his two sons,
Awang and Ngah, were the first to fall. Then Iang, Che' Seman 's wife,
reeled backwards against the wall, with her skull crushed out of all
resemblance to any human member, by the awful strength of one of those
well-aimed buffets from the fearful claws. Kassim, Potek, and Abdollah
fell before the tiger in quick succession, and Minah, the girl who had
nestled against her father for protection, lay now under his dead body,
sorely wounded, wild with terror, but still alive and conscious. Mat,
cowering on the shelf overhead, breathless with fear, and gazing
fascinated at the carnage going on within a few feet of him, was the
only inmate of the house who remained uninjured.

He of the Hairy Face killed quickly and silently, while there were yet
some alive to resist him. Then, purring gently, he drank a deep draught
of blood from each of his slaughtered victims. At last he reached Che'
Seman, and Minah, seeing him approach, made a feeble effort to evade
him. Then began a fearful scene, the tiger playing with, and torturing
the girl, just as we all have seen a cat do with a maimed mouse. Again
and again Minah crawled feebly away from her tormentor, only to be drawn
back again just when escape seemed possible. Again and again she lay
still in the utter inertia of exhaustion, only to be quickened into
agonised movement once more by the touch of the tiger's cruel claws. Yet
so cunningly did he play with her, that, as Mat described it, a time as
long as it would take to cook rice had elapsed, before the girl was
finally put out of her misery.

Even then He of the Hairy Face did not quit the scene of slaughter. Mat,
as he lay trembling in the shelf overhead, watched the tiger, through
the long hours of that fearful night, play with the mangled bodies of
each of his victims in turn. He leaped from one to the other, inflicting
a fresh blow with teeth or claws on their torn flesh, with all the airy,
light-hearted agility and sinuous grace of a kitten playing with its
shadow in the sun. Then when the dawn was breaking, the tiger tore down
the door, leaped lightly to the ground, and betook himself to the
jungle.

When the sun