The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-06-28
HORSE AGAINST LION.

"HowI came to be sitting, in very good
ing i'll the little mOonlighted garden of
the hotel at Algicrs is neither here nor
there.'
The story-teller was Il good-looking
man Of so, with beard graycr than his
head, and Il merry twinkle in his eve.
What he said shalt repeat, for the sake
Of clearness. in the first person, Just as
he told the story himself:
"The adventure of which am going
to tell you, gentlemen, happened to me
a good many years ago. 1t was my
first serious interview with q lion. Like
most serious things, it had Il comic side,
too.
II was Il young man then, and had
been some half dozen years in Constan-
tine, farming i'll partnership with Il
friend, an old colonist, whose acQuain-
tance made on board ship coming out
from Marseilles
Our business was corn and cattle
raising, and we did very well together
until my partner died Of a fever, and
after that | took q dislike to the place.
| thought l would Shift my ground into
this province, Algiers, push toward the
frontier, and get grant of government
land and make farm of it. So, getting
a neighbor to give an eye to things in my
absence, started on my prospecting ex
pedition.
I 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 Barb
sire and an English mare belonging to
the Colonel of chaSseurs, OF whom I
bought him in town when his regiment
wasgoing home. He stood about fifteen
hands two, carried the Barb head, and
the rest Of his body was all bone and
muscle. His temper was as good as his
courage was high; me he would follow
about like a dog; but he had one failing,
and that was an nSuperaDle object ION to
the close proximity of arVthing, except
one thing, that stood OF. "r legs. We
all have our pecullaritips nd this was
his. Bipeds were all elJ 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 faith
fullest, the most honest, the oldest, and
the wickedest little dog the world ever
saw. He was more like a terrier than
anything else, with short yellow coat,
fox's head, very long ears, and a very
short tail. The shrilmcss of his bark
pierced your ears like knife, but the
awfulness of his howl-he always howl.
ed if left alone-baflies description.
During the fourteen years l had him he
seldom left me day or night On a
journey he would run beside me, and
when tired get mp and sit III my wallet.
The great pleasure OF his life was to steal
behind people and secretly bite their
legs;
"By some mysterious affinity he and
Marengo were friends from The first.
They now sleep undcr the same tree.
"Well, we started, and after going
over a good deal Of ground / thought
had decided on location, and turned
my face homeward. My direction was
by Alma, to strike tho great road that
runs under the Atlas eastward into Con
stantine. .......
cit was about O'Clock one. morning
when l had been some two hours in the
saddle, that I emerged from narrow
valley, or ravine, through which the
road ran, on to a sandy plain dotted with
UttSllCS dlll SCIuD.
81 had just laid the rcins on Marengo' $
neck when suddenly he gave a tremend.
Gus shy that pitched me clean Of.
"The next minute, with horrible
roar, a lion sprang right at his head.
81 made sure he was on the top Of him,
and SO he would have been, but as Maren-
60 wheeled short round like lightning
on his hind legs the streaming reins
caught the brute's fore paw and, as it
we've, tripped him, so that he fell side
ways 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
wayside.
$50 intent was the lion on the horse
that he paid no attention to me lying
defenceless before hlm.
"Crawling swiftly along the ground.
he pursued Marengo whom l gave up
Tor lost-for his chance against the 1.-THE
brute among the trees seemed hopeless.
"IIowever. as luck would have it,
there was an open space about dozen
yards across. In the center Of this
MarGngO took his stand with his tail
toward the lion and his head turned
sharply back over his shoulder, watching
him.
she stood quite STILL except for the