ible brute and no mistake. The boy rubbed his eyes and
looked again. Some unaccountable attraction seemed to have brought Tippo
Sahib back to the dwelling where he had met with so interesting an
experience that afternoon.

But all this being so, Tom Gordon might well ask himself what good the
presence of the animal promised to be to him. Hitherto, he and his friends
had counted themselves lucky in being able to keep out of his way when he
showed a desire to explore the interior of the house. How, then, could he
expect to get the hundred dollars offered for the capture of the brute?

Mingled with the eager wish of the lad to earn the munificent sum, was a
slight misgiving as to the meaning of this return of the tiger. Having
eluded the men sent after him, had he come back to revenge himself upon
those who had treated him so ill?

This discomforting thought was dissipated by the action of Tippo Sahib.
He did not move around as on his former visit, but seemed to be prowling
about the woodshed, as if in quest of something. Surely he would not act
thus if he meditated an attack upon the inmates of the home!

But Tom had learned from his aunt and mother that if the tiger chose, he
could readily leap from the ground to the windows of the upper story, and,
therefore, would have little difficulty in entering, if he was bent on
doing so.

"I'll get my gun, so as to be ready to shoot him. But if I shoot him, I
won't get the reward that was promised; but it's better to kill him than
to have him chaw us to pieces."

Just then the animal worked his way round the corner of the structure, out
of the shadow, into the bright moonlight. He showed no interest in the
house itself, but confined his attention to the woodshed,--a fact which
lessened the lad's fear, and held him at the window, closely watching the
beast.

His change of location brought him to the front of the strong wooden
building, and near the partially open door.

The heart of the lad gave a great bound.

"S'pose he goes inside, and I slip up and shut him in!"

All the indications pointed to the tiger entering the structure, though
it was impossible to imagine his purpose, unless he scented the waste food
kept there in a barrel for the pigs belonging to the Widow Gordon.

The attempt the lad had in mind involved a fearful risk; for there could
be no doubt that if the beast detected him, he would make him serve for
supper.

Probably if Tom had been given a few m