Bill Chambers brought the news
first, 'aving read it in the newspaper while 'e was 'aving his tea. He
brought out the paper and showed us, and soon after we 'eard all sorts o'
tales of its doings.
"At first we thought the tiger was a long way off, and we was rather
amused at it. Frederick Scott laughed 'imself silly a'most up 'ere one
night thinking 'ow surprised a man would be if 'e come 'ome one night and
found the tiger sitting in his armchair eating the baby. It didn't seem
much of a laughing matter to me, and I said so; none of us liked it, and
even Sam Jones, as 'ad got twins for the second time, said 'Shame!'
But Frederick Scott was a man as would laugh at anything.
"When we 'eard that the tiger 'ad been seen within three miles of
Claybury things began to look serious, and Peter Gubbins said that
something ought to be done, but before we could think of anything to do
something 'appened.
"We was sitting up 'ere one evening 'aving a mug o' beer and a pipe--same
as I might be now if I'd got any baccy left--and talking about it, when
we 'eard a shout and saw a ragged-looking tramp running toward us as 'ard
as he could run.
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