of the houses of the
village. As the hunter knew from experience that the tiger has a
particular relish for goat-venison, he had no fear but that the voice of
the animal would attract him to the spot, provided he came near enough
to hear it. In this the villagers assured him he would not be
disappointed.

He _was not disappointed_; neither was he kept long in suspense. He had
not been more than half-an-hour in his buffalo disguise, before a loud
growling on the edge of the forest announced the approach of the dreaded
man-eater, and caused the goat to spring wildly about in the enclosure,
uttering at intervals the most piercing cries.

This was just what Ossaroo wanted. The tiger, hearing the voice of the
goat, needed no further invitation; but in a few moments was seen
trotting boldly up to the spot. There was no crouching on the part of
the terrible brute. He had been too long master there to fear anything
he might encounter, and he stood in need of a supper. The goat that he
had heard would be just the dish he should relish; and he had determined
on laying his claws upon her without more ado. In another moment he
stood within ten feet of the cage!

The odd-looking structure puzzled him, and he halted to survey it.
Fortunately there was a moon, and the light not only enabled the tiger
to see what the cage contained, but it also gave Ossaroo an opportunity
of watching all his movements.

"Of course," thought the tiger, "it's an enclosure some of these simple
villagers have put up to keep that goat and buffalo from straying off
into the woods; likely enough, too, to keep me from getting at them.
Well, they appear to have been very particular about the building of it.
We shall see if they have made the walls strong enough."

With these reflections he drew near, and rearing upward caught one of
the bamboos in his huge paw, and shook it with violence. The cane,
strong as a bar of iron, refused to yield even to the strength of a
tiger; and, on finding this, the fierce brute ran rapidly round the
enclosure, trying it at various places, and searching for an entrance.

There was no entrance, however; and on perceiving that there was none,
the tiger endeavoured to get at the goat by inserting his paws between
the bamboos. The goat, however, ran frightened and screaming to the
opposite side, and so kept out of the way. It would have served the
tiger equally well to have laid his claws upon the buffalo, but this