The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-08-25

neighborhood for every now and theI
ne would look sharply in the direction o
the wagons. On such occasions I coulC
feel my heart beat violently, and thu
perspiration would start to my skin"
And no wonder. "But did the lion,'
| asked, "remain perfectly quiet through
out the whole day I"
"No, unluckily he did not" answered
the trader. "His restlessness kept me il
constant anxiety. Once atroop of zebras
came suddenly by us. When they saw
the lion they wheeled quickly about
snorted, and dashed off furiously in an
other direction, The lion rose to his feet
in sn instant, turned half round, and look
ed hard at them. Lions are particularly
fond of the flesh of the zebra, and l has
strong hopes that he would leave me and
go after them. But l . the Gun.
ming rascal reflected that q bird in the
hand was worth two in the bush for he
turned back and lay down again, grum.
bling, and staring harder than ever al
me, as though he meant to say, You see
my fine fellow, l have lost a zebra through
you; and now l mean to make sure OF
you You may believe that in my heart
/ bestowed q few witch's blessings on the
beast but l thought 1t best to keep
silence.
"The next alarm came from the direc
tiOn of my wagons. saw the lion look
earnestly in that direction, as he had
done once or twice before, and then rise
to his feet and utter an angry grOwl, rs
though he saw something that did not
please him, / learned afterward that my
men, urged on by Apollo, had armed
themselves to the teeth, and advanced to
the top of the hill. Standing there, with
their wonderfully keen sight, they could
perceive the lion keeping guard over Inc
but no sooner did they see the brute rise
and turn toward me than they al scam
pered back to the wagons and jumped
into them, frightened almost out of their
wits.
After a little while, the lion crouched
down again before me, stretched out his
paws, yawned and winked, and | thought
seemed to be growing tired of his watch.
But 1t was clear that he had made up his
mind to remain there till night, other wise
he would have settled my account with
out further delay.
Toward evening / heard a low a
ing, which seemed to be at q great dis
tance. 1t appeared to disturb my lion q
good deal. From the sound l knew it to
he the roar of q li0ness and l thought 1t
! likely That the old fellows mate was
looking about for him. He got up and
lay down again two or three times, NOV
ing about uneasily and shifting the ground
AS though he was troubled IN his mind /;
but he remained silent, and at last the
voice of the Ii mess passed gradually out
of hearing. This, l think, was the most
anxious moment of the whole day to me.
For if the lion had answered his mate
and called her to him, she would most
likely have been hungry, and in that case
would not have delayed an instant in
seizing upon the Lice supper which her
husband was keeping for himself. l dare
say the cunning old rascal was OF the
same opinion, and so thought il best to
keep his own counsel.
"At last the night came. The stars were
bright, but there was no moon. l could
see objects i~ndistinctly at a short distance,
and could Just discern the outlines OF the
hills to the eastward. The lion lay quiet,
in a shaggy mass, a teT yards from me. l
knew that he was wide awake, and that
Occasionally | could see his eyes turned
toward me, shining like two Goals OF ire
My last hope Low was that by remaining
perfectly silent and motioIless | might
Tire MN OUT OF keep nlln lIOln ASIoSAiAS
me until something happened, as IN the
case OF the lKttentot We were speaking
of, to draw him off.
For this purpOseit was necessary that
l should remain awake, and this was real
ly a matter of the greatest difficulty to me.
| was completely worn out, as you may
imagine, after being forty-eight hours
without foOd or sleep, n my mind most
l nf Tho fivna Uvnunht nm IN tho hIObpCt
pitch of anxiety. The night was chilly,
feel sleepy Everything about me was
as silent IS the grave, and ] had to make
continued efforts TO keep my eyeIids
open.
Every now and then 1 caught myself
| nodding, and would awaken with a sud
den start of terror st the thought that the
lion might be just preparing 10 spring
upon NE. That was really a horrid time,
l hardly like to think of it even now ]
was like a condemned prisoner who
awakes from a nightmare to remember
that he is to be executed in a few hours
/ don't think l could have held out in thai
condition through the night. 1t was toe
much for human nature.
Two or three hours after the darkness
had set in, | could hear the animals com.
ing to the water to drink. Some of them
passed at a little distance from me, but
did not get a sight OF any. The lion saw
them plainly, but he only moved his head
a little as they Irotted by. There was Nc
chance of his L. wing me and going after
them as l had bbped. All at once he lift
ed his head, locked toward me and began
to grow1. Now, L thought, the time is
come! lie rose On his feet and growled
louder, 81 the while looking hard at me
ss / thought.
Il braced myself up for q struggle, with
my gun in my left hand and my handker.
| chief IL my right. / had d notion eff en-
d~savOring TO thrust the gun crosswise into
hns mouth, and then getting my right
hand down his throat. 1t was a very poor
chance, but the only INT lett, and | meant
to die game.
I'm TACT, I had given up all hope. But
in a few minutes the lion, 10 my surprise
became quiet again and sat down.. He
did not lie down, as before, but kept bis
head stretched forward toward me, like 8
cat inteatly examining some object. Al
last he lay down again as though he was
satisfied about the matter that had dis
turbed him. But in another ten minutes
or SO he rose up once more TO his feet and
growled more fe~rociously han ever.
ut struck me then that smother lion
might be cautiously approaching ME be
hind, and that my particular friend was
Directing to any division of the spoil II
this were the Case my fate would soon be
settled. Then | thought it just possible
that my men might be making some at
teIapt to save me under cover Of the dark.
ness; but there was little likelihood OF
their mastering courage enough To dc
anything e6ectual. l was now fully awake
as you may suppose. The lion was stand
ing up, growing continually, and NOV
ing from side To side as he felt uncertain
what to do. A. last he crOuched and
saw clearly that he was getting reaoy for
a spring.
AT that moment l heard a loud vel
behind me-, and saw everything around
lighted up by a blaze Of fire. The vel
was kept up constantly for a minute or