ssage from the head of his house. It
read: "Arriving Singapore daybreak Thursday. Leaving noon same day.
Wish to shoot tiger in Johore. Make arrangements."

Now the representative in Singapore knew perfectly well that his
promotion, if not his job, depended upon his employer getting a tiger.
And, as the steamer was due in four days, there was no time to spare.
From the director of the Singapore zoo he purchased for considerably
above the market price, a decrepit and somewhat moth-eaten tiger of
advanced years, which he had transported across the straits to Johore,
whence it was conveyed by bullock cart to a spot in the edge of the
jungle, a dozen miles outside the town, where it was turned loose in an
enclosure of wire and bamboo hastily constructed for the purpose.

When the steamer bearing the American magnate dropped anchor in the
harbor, the local representative went aboard with the quarantine
officer. Ten minutes later, thanks to arrangements made in advance, a
launch was bearing him and his chief to the shore, where a motor car
was waiting. It is barely a dozen miles from the wharf at Singapore to
Woodlands, the ferry station opposite Johore, and the driver had orders
to shatter the speed laws. A waiting launch streaked across the two
miles of channel which separates the island from the mainland and drew
up alongside the quay at Johore, where another car was waiting. The
roads are excellent in the sultanate, and thirty minutes of fast
driving brought the two Americans to the zareba, within which the
tiger, guarded by natives, was peacefully breakfasting on a goat.

"He's a real man-eater," whispered the agent, handing his employer a
loaded express rifle. "We only located him yesterday. Lured him with a
goat, you know ... the smell of blood attracts 'em. You'd better put a
bullet in him before he sees us. One just behind the shoulder will do
the business."

The magnate, trembling with excitement for the first time in his busy
life, drew bead on the tawny stripe behind the tiger's shoulder. There
was a shattering roar, the great beast pawed convulsively at the air,
then rolled on its side and lay motionless.

"Good work," the local man commented approvingly. "It's only an hour
and forty minutes since we left the boat a record for tiger shooting, I
fancy. We'll be back at Raffles' for breakfast by nine o'clock and
after that I'll show you round the city. Don't worry about the skin,
sir. The natives'll tend to th