Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-05-18
AN ALGERIAN LION STORY.

AN ALGERIAN LION STORY.
How / came to be sitting, in very good
company, one glorious September evening,
in the little moonlghted garden Of the hotel
at Algiers is neither here nor there.
My companions about the round table,
which was garnished with slim bottles
glasses, and piles Of cigarettes, were all
Frenchmeu-three old Algerian colonists,
the fourth an cx-Lieutenant of the navy
who had exchanged life on the ocean wave
for that Of hunter in three.quarters of the
globe.
Before dinner | had picked up in the salOH
Du Challu's gorilla-book which had never
seen before, and my saying something about
this turned the conversation in the garden
upon wild beasts and the hunting of them
Some wonderful stories were told espe-
cially by the ex sailor, though not bit more
wonderful than many one hears from old In
dian sportsmen.
For the matter OF that the most extraordi.
nary sporting story ever heard was told by
of all men in the world-a hare hunter,
who capped Herewith snake and elephant
narrative, quite unique of its kind.
Presently short silence, caused by the
uncorking and tasting of new bottle Of
Hermitage, was broken by the eldest of the
party, who had not said much before. He
was good looking man Of fifty, with beard
grayer than his head, and merry twinkle in
his eye. What he said l shall repeat, for the
sake of clearness. in the first person, Just as
he told the story himself:
The adventure of which l am going TO
tell you, gentlemen, happened to me a good
many years ago. 1t was my first serious in.
terview with lion. Like most serious things
it had a comic side too.
~ was a young man then, aud had been
some half dozen years in Constantine farm
ing in partnership with a friend, an old col
onst whose acquaintance | made on board
ship coming out from Marseilles.
Our business was corn and cattle raising
and We did very well together until my part
ner died of fever, and after that took a
dislike to the place | thought I would shift
my ground into this Province, Algiers, push
toward the frontier. and get grant OF gov
ernment land and make IA farm of it. So
getting a neighbor to give an eye to things in
my absence, | started on my prospecting eX-
pedtion.
Il say |. but | should say We, for there
were three of US, sworn comrades as ever
were.
First there was your humble servant :;
secondly there was my horse Marengo, and
a better never looked through a bride. He
was bred between a Barb sire and an Eng
lish mare belonging TO the Colonel OF chas-
seurs, OF whom bought him in town when
his regiment was going home. He stood
about fifteen hands two, carried the Barb
head, and the rest of his body was bone and
muscle. His temper was as good as his cour-
age was high; me he would follow about like
a dog but he had one failing, and that was
an insuperable objection to the close prox-
unity Of anything, except one thing, that
stood on four legs. We all have our pecul.
iarities, and this WAS his. Bipeds were all
very well, but multiply the legs by two, and
he let fly Immediately, and never missed his
aim.
Such was Marengo.
Thirdly there was Cognac, the faithful
est, the most honest, the oldest, and the
wickedest little dog the world ever saw. He
was more like terrier than anything else,
with a short yellow coat foX's head very
long ears and very short tail. The shrill-
ness of his bark pierced your ears like a
knife, bat the awfuiness of his howl-he al
ways howled if left alone-baffles descrip.
tion. During the fourteen years had him
he seldom left me day or night. On jour
ney ne would run beside, and when tired get
up and sit in my wallet. The great pleasure
of his life was to steal behind people and Sc.
cretly bite their legs.
by some mysterious affinity he and Ma
rengo were friends from the first. They now
sleep under the same tree.
"Well We started, and after going over
good deal of ground l thought had decided
on a location, and turned my face home
wGrd. My direction was by Alma to strike
the great road that runs under the Atlas east
ward into Constantine.
a,I,, -, -,
when had been some two hours in the sad
die that emerged from narrow valley, or
rsvine, through which the road ran, on to a
sandy plain dotted with bushes and scrub.
II had just laid the reins on Marengo's
neck when suddenly he gave tremendous
shy that pitched me clean off.
The next minute, with horrible roar, a
lion sprang right at his head.
81 made sure he was on top OF him, and
so he would have been, but as Marengo
wheeled short round like lightning on his
hind legs the streaming reins caught the
brute's fore-paw and, as it were, tripped him,
so that be fell sideways on the road.
The heavy jerk nearly brought the horse
down, but the throat-lash broke, the bride
was pulled over his ears, and, recovering
himself, he darted away among a grove of
trees that stood by the waysde
80 intent was the lion on the horse that
he paid no attention to me lying defenseless
before him.
Crawling swiftly along the ground, he
pursued Marengo, whom gave up for lost
for his chance against the 1.-THE brute among
the trees seemed hopeless
However, as luck would have it, there
was an open space about dozen yards across
In the centre of this Marcngo took his stand
with his tail toward the lion and his head
turned sharply back over his shoulder, watch
ing him.
'He stood quite still, except for the slight
shifting of his hind feet and lifting of his
quarters, which knew meant mischief
''The lion probably thought so too, for he
kept dodging to try and take his opponent by
a flank movement But the old horse knew
his game, and pivoting on his fore legs still
brought his stern guns to bear on the enemy.
'Soon with roar the lion made his spring,
but Marengo lashed out both heels together,
with such excellent judgment of time and
distance that, catching him full in the chest,
he knocked him all of a heap to the ground,
where he lay motonless. Then with a neigh
of triumph and a flourish of his heels away
he galloped through the grove out on to the
plain and was safe.
THE lion lay so still that l thought he was
dead, or at any rate quite hOrs de combat, and
was just running to pick up the bride and
follow MaTengo, when he sat up on his
launches. This made me stop.
"As he sat there with his head wagging
from side to side, and mouth half-open, he
looked quite vacant and idiotic.
Suddenly his head stopped wagging, he
pricked his ears, and by the flash of his eye
and changed expression, knew he had Geer
me.
"Only one thing was to be done, and l die
it. The outermost tree was large and low
brauched. To it ran and up it l scrambled
and had just perohed in fork about tifteer
feet above terra frma, as the lion arrived a