“O Tom, ain’t it awful?” gasped the new arrival, coming to a halt, still panting, and casting affrighted glances in the direction of Briggsville.

“Ain’t what awful?”

“Gracious! hain’t you heard the news?  I thought everybody knowed it.”

And the tired boy took off his hat and rubbed his sleeve across his steaming forehead, as though his expression of surprise at Tom’s ignorance communicated of itself the news to him.  Tom, as may be supposed, was on needles; for, as yet, he had not received the first hint of the occurrence, which certainly must have been of a stirring nature.

“Sam Harper, Jack Habersham, and Bill Dunham—­all killed before any one could help ’em!  Did you ever hear of anything like it?” continued Jim.

“I haven’t heard of that yet.  I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jim; if you can’t tell me, why, shut up!”

“So you hain’t heard the news?  I forgot; it scared me almost to death.  I thought everybody knowed it.  I must hurry home.”

And the bewildered youngster was on the point of dashing off again, after partially recovering his wind, when he seemed to awaken to the fact that he owed something in the way of enlightenment to his friend.

“I forgot, Tom; but I did think you knowed it:  guess you’re the only boy in a thousand miles that hain’t heard of it.  Well, you see the way of it was this:  there was the biggest crowd I ever seed at the circus,—­don’t believe any other circus in the country ever had so many people there.  Everything was going ’long all right, when what did Sam Harper do, but reach out with a stick and punch it in the eye of the tiger, Tippo Sahib?  The minute he done it, the tiger let out a yell that you would have heerd a mile off, and, afore Sam could get out of the way, the tiger smashed right out of the cage and was among the people, chawing them up.  He had his well eye on Sam, and crushed his head like an eggshell, with one bite!  Then he made a sweep with his paw, and knocked Jack Habersham clean out the tent.  He must have gone a hundred feet through the air, for he come down on top of the steeple, and is there yet with the spire sticking up through him.  Then he hit Bill Dunham such a clip that he sailed out through the same hole in the tent that Jack passed through.  When I left, Bill hadn’t been seed by anybody.  Guess he hasn’t come down yet.

“Then the tiger come for me!

“I seen him make a spring, and ducked my head.  He went clean over, and landed among the women and children, and begun chawing ’em up.  Why, Tom, the sound of their bones cracking and snapping in his jaws was like the fire-crackers going off on the Fourth of July.  Them as warn’t swallered or killed scattered right and left, and begun climbing trees, jumping through winders, and fastening the doors.  All this time the tiger kept on chawing.  He never took more than one bite at a man!”