The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1869-11-03
Tho Death Bed of O. Lion.

ifOiy oho huJ hop W eClcuUluC !,
but every one may at least be close
! observer of nature animated and ma
ture inanimate. If plain people with
good eyes and open hearts would but
keep notebook for their original
. observations, and jot down in few
words the simple facts Of life among
Gods lower creatures, tho great men
Of tho day would always have good
! store of fac material to deal with
The philosopher would stand at ease
on the grand platform of truth, and
build with stones ready hcwn to his
hand, instead of having to send his
thoughts wide over tho land in search
Of straw whcrewith to make brick for
the house of his wisdom, or perhaps,
to gather oissrs for the wattled wig.
warm Of nomadic theory.
"Do animals understand what death
is? d. the recognize its coming
signs2" asked the uninitiatcd. emo"
says gifted philosopher of our ac-
quaintance, "you never see animals
apprehcnding the meaning of DEATH"
Very well ; then here i, fact.
The writer once strayed into
menagerie in the north of England,
which had campcd for day or two
in little mountain metropolis. A
large elderly lion was making an in
voluntary tour of the country in COM
pany with his wife aud fine family
Of young people. What an insult to
put the desert monarch into such a
vulgar clap-trap travelling carriage as
this! The name caravan may sound
fine enough out on the pathless sands !;
but here it is thing of creakipg
boards, groaning wheels, and red and
yellow paint. No group of palm
trees here; yet the caravan stops, and
the camp is pitched in the form of
hollow square, amid such desert talk,
loud roars of satisfaction, growing
comment, or shrill protest. One does
not know what it all foreign
tongues all Of them. But one may
guess at the subjects under remark {;
for great numbering bones are sorely
aching with jolting over rough roads !;
long limbs arc tired of being cramped
III narrow cells; soft sides are bruised
With humping over the stones of civ
ilizcd travel; the Baiezets of the
wilderness arc chaGng within their
bars; strength aud ferooity are fer
menting for want Of space; and the
dinner hour has long ago passed away
without "a diuner. Tue, thore are
strong signs Of supper in one of the
carriages, whose little pipe of a CHM
ney has been smoking all day, but
which is fierce now. There is an ag-
gravatlng afflatus of frying bacon per.
vading the place and women in jack
cts, short Aounced dresses, and laced
leather boots, are gathering among
tea cups; while bold children with
uncombed hair arc talking low ira !.
veled wit to the gaping boys aud girls
who surround tue stcp-ladder which
acts as Stair case to lofty door. A
platform is now thrown out from the
front Of the square prodi.
gious portraits of impossible monsters
are unrolled and affixed and, as if
stimulated by unheard of dangers
with which they theaten society,
crowds are daring enough to mount
the steps. We slip with vague feel
ing of awe behind the arras, and look
around. An elephant with a hill of
dun-colored forehead, and with legs
like pillars of Hercules, is swaying
his significant trunk this way and that,
over stockade of bars. But what is
the matter with that grand old lion
lie Is in pain; surely he is in pain.
His breathing is short, and is drawn
with effort; nostrils are spread wide,
lips drawn back, and that great shag.
gy chest heaves uneasily. He is suf-
fering from bronchitis, for he evident.
ly cannot bear the keen air of the
North. lie is couchant, but now he
lifts his head high, and looks round
and round the show into the hundred
faces of that unfeeling crowd, as if
searching for sympathy. But no;
they cannot read his eye of mute ap.
! peal be is nothing to them but 5,
! great tawny lion with shaggy name
and tuftod tail. Suddenly he rears
himself up to his full statue, throws
back his grand head, utters tremen-
dous desert roar, and falls down heavi-
ly on his side-dead. Dead: but
with an imperial gesture, suoh as
C@sar's when he fell.
Look at the widow! She has beon
taking short and stately turns up and
,, down the den--a very j ano In her
gait, and in her temper too. But she
stops, looks inquiriDgly at the pros.
trate figure, draws nearer, bends her
head with an anxious, bewildered
look; and then, as if at last receiving
the great idea, she throws herself
down upon the dead monarch with
grand abandonment. Presently UP
j comes the heir; crown prince he waa
---he is tho young king now. He
stops short in q fierce, brusqae atti.
tude, spreads his nostrils, fashes his
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