Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1871-04-05

: corner. separated himself from them
came with rush and terrific roar il
font of lie, aud seemed to spring a
pe with open jaws.
} What | did upon that is such q thing
as one does not Try twice in ones life
take my word for it--not if one is in
ones sound senses. You demur to it.
but utterly deny to such men as Alfred
: Vaggass that they are in their sound
senses. Never enrsge yourself over il
at this time of day, you say; but what
will you cay if | tell you that | did not
wait to get out of the way of the Ii
ons before | began telling Vaggass as
much as out now said to youa
Yet so it was. / had accomplished
what had set myself 10 do. what on
certain words lightly spoken, I, with a
kind of sense, of the wild hunor of it,
had said in my heart would do, had
done-in liters! fact had put my head
in the jaws of the lion; and now it was
no citation that felt. but q degree OF hor-
rlble anger and distaste of my act.
Vaggass's urgent direction bad been,
Once free of tho lions mouth, make
for the other side of the door, Vag
gass came on the instant with one Of his
stage bounds, from where he had stood
at the further part of the csCe, into the
melee again. | did not give way to
him; took him roughly by the arm
| said, as though in fury of anger.
You must be beast yourself to do
this every night of your life as you dor
| have only one explanation of i'll
was possessed by fear. My first exata
ton of spirit did part of it probably in
reaching on my imagination, but there is
one thing certain out of it had got
thorough scare, aud that was what nv
| fury meaut.
suspect from the very little show Of
resentment made by Vaggass, consider
ing the form it took of personal attack
on him, it was not so much unlike what
he knew, from experience, might be in.
| cluded in his bargain. For that matter,
only the danger of the situation forbade
it play, it was, l believe, qualification
rather than resentment that it produced
in him qualification thai at last he
should see al overthrow to that exasper
ating equanimi ty OF mine.
But he was not such fool as to be
ensnared for one single moment by my
strange contentious mood, or to have a
thought now for any thing but how to
get through with what was before him
He did not waste word on me; he for
bade himself the luxury of more than a
muttersd oath; he threw me from him
and toward the door with the one hand;
with the other be piled bis whip. PEG.
pie by this time had come 10 the compre
hension of the astounding fact that there
were two persons in the cage; thew be-
gan to excaim it on all sides-that it
was not the Lion King, but some un
known, who to nigh. had done the
browning feat of all. There was a rush
toward the van Of the other performers;
the bnbbub momentarily increased -
One thing the excitement outside holped
TO do-to send homo TO me the madness
of my own. But another also it helped
to do, that was not so we'll
The Zig oil lion, Theodore, still
crouched in the corner-the further cor
ner on the same side a. the door had
thought quite enough about him in the
course of the evening. The fact, too,
that Vaggsss was leaving him to himself
had taken quite sufficient place in my
thouohts but once, in The thick Of it, he
apart and inactive. and all these fierce
lesping creatures about me-he went
quite out of my mind But Vaggass
told me afterward that he saw what was
threatening, and all along that corner
had more of bis attention than even the
half dozen at their perilous antics with
me. He had lost none of the signs of
the old lions gathering rage-his kind
ling eyes, his bristling msne, the lips
drawn back until the cruel teeth eazed
white. He knew it then to be a aues
ton of moments. He said his whip
would have solved it, one way or the 9th
er. in second. 1t might have, although
be did not think it, kept him the mastery
over the brute, as on former nights; only
there WAS another solution, and to gain
every possible moment on that was what
he aought, and not to preciptste it. But
then there were the vocferations. half of
fear, half of amazement, of the audience
and the impetuous movement toward
the van; and the lions rage rose TO
frenzy, and we had it full on us at last.
l followed the impulse Vaggsss had
! given me toward the door; Mainstrong
opened it quickly. That WAS my saliva
ton; for even then, before ] could be
quite through, and just as | heard my
name called amidst the din, the monster
drew himself together, anil giving
short, swapping, snarling, blood thirsty
bark rather than roar, hurled himself on
me, struck me sideways with one paw,
ripping open my arm from shoulder to
elbow, and carrying away the whole
| flap of my coat. by good fortune sgsin
was that fell outward instead of inward,
for the brute was mad for blood now
! out Of bis reach, without any apprecis
BILE interval he turned and sprang full at
Vaggass, rending the air second time
with bis awful voice. Vaggsss just con-
contrived to ellude him, gave sort of
gasp, they said, drew pistol from his
belt-kept in reserve for such an event
as tbis-shot the monster through the
brain. dead, and was standing at last,