The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-05-23
AN ALGERIAN LION STORY.


AN ALGERIAN LION Story.
How I came to b sitting, in very
good company, cne glorious Septem-
Der evening, in the little moonlight
ed garden of the hotel ct Algiers is
neither here nor thsie. q 7a@asis
Ny companipu. about the round
table, which Wa gArnished with
slim bottles, glasses md pilss Of ci.
garettes, were all Ftenchmsu-three
old Algerian colonisb, the fourth, an
ex.Lieutsnant of the naxyywho had
exchanged alife on the ocean wave
for that of . hunterin three quarters
of the globe. tsasa +
Before dinner / had picked up in
the salon Du Bhaillu's gorilla book,
which I had never seen before, and
saying something about this turned
the conversation in the garden upon
wild beasts and the hnnting of
them.
Some wonderful stories were told,
especially by the ex.sailor, though
not bit more wonderful than many
one hears from old Indian sports
men.
For the matter of that the most
extraordinary sporting story | ever
heard was told by-of allnhen in the
world-a hare hunter, who capped
Herewith a snake and elephant mar
rative, quite unique of its kind.
Presently short silence, caused
by the uncorking and tasting of q
new bottle of Hermitage, was broken
by the eldest of the party, who had
not said much before. He was a
good looking man of fifty, with a
beard grayer than his head, and a
merry twinkle in his eye. What he
said I shall repeat, for the sake Of
clearness, in the first person, just as
he told the story himself:
"The adventure of which / am go
ing to tell you, gentlemen, happened
to me good many years ago. 1t
was my first serious interview with
a lion. Like most serious things it
had a comic side, too.
IL was a young man, then, and
had been some half dozen years in
Constantine, farming in partnership
with friend, an old colonist, whose
made on board ship
coming out from Marseilles.
"Our business was corn and cattle
and we did very well togeth-
er until my partner died of fever,
and after that took a dislike to the
place. 1 thought l would shift my
ground into this province, Algiers,
push toward the frontier, and get
grant of government land and make
a farm of it. So, getting neighbor
to give an eye to things in my abb
sence. / started on my prospecting
expedition.
Il say 1, but l should say we, for
there were three of us, sworn COM
rades as ever were. 1
First, there was your humble
servant; secondly, there was my
horse Marengo, and q better never
looked through . bride. He w3s
bred befWeen . BGi6 5fe'and dn1
English mare belonging to the Col.
of Chasseurs, of whom / bought him
in town when his regiment was 60
ing home. He stood about fifteen
hands two, carried the Barb head,
and the rest of mis- body was all bone
and muscle. His temper was as
good as his courage was high; me,
be would follow about like dog,
but he had one failing. and that was
IN insuperable objection to the close
of anything, except one
hing, that stood on four legs. We
ali have our peculiarities, and this
was his. Bipeds were all very well,
put multiply the legs by two, and
ne let fly Immediately, and never
missed his aim.
"Such was Marengo.
Thirdly, there was COgnac, the
aithfulest, the most honest, the odd
st, and the wickedest little dog the
world ever saw. He was more like
! terrier than anything else, with a
,hort, yellow coat, q fox's head, very
one ears, and very short tail. The
,hriIlness of his bark pierced yopr
sars like q knife, but the awfulness
If his howl-he always howled if
let alone-baffies description. Dur
ing the IA years l had him he seldom
eft me day or night. On ajourney a
he would run beside me, and when
Eired get up and sit in my wallet.
The great pleasure of his life was to
steal behind people and secretly bite
them in their legs.
"By some mysterious affinity he
and Marengo were friends from the
frst. They now sleep under the
same tree.
swell, we started, and after going
over q good deal of ground l
thought | had decided on a location
and turned my face homeward. My
was BY Alma, to strike the
great road that runs under the Atlas
eastward into Constantine.
at was about eight o'clock one
morning, when had been some two
hours in the saddle, thai l emerged
from a narrow valley, or ravine,
through which the road ran, on to a
sandy plain dotted with bushes and
scrubs.
II had just laid the reins on Ma
rengo's neck when suddenly he gave
q tremendous shy that pitched me
clear of.
"The next minute, with q horrible
roar, q lion sprang right at his
head.
81 made sure he was on the top
of him, and so be 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, 30 that he fell sideways on the
road.
sThe heavy jerk nearly brought
the horse down, but the throet latch
broke. the bride was pulled over his