Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1883-06-28

A@36AY. #8
With low gr0wl and rulRing
mana. the beast charged at the little
Back went 0ognac int his caxs As
: quick ab rabbit. and stormsd &C him
from inside.
Thrusting his great paw right
down the hole. the lion tried to claw
him out Oh. how I trembled for
Cognacl.
= But he kept up such . osasslsss
fafwsul 9napping and snaFling that il
was plain BE was either we'll round E
corner or that the hole was deep
enough for his safety.
Al the same, to see the great cow
ardly beast digging away 1t my poor
Little dog Ike that waa mora than T
anuld skailil. Coshsng n pinsbl. i
shouted. and as be looked up l fred
at his blood-shot eye. He shook his
head. and ! gave him the other bar
rel.
With scream of rage he bounded
back
Cognac immediately shot sorth his
head and insulted him with jeering
barks.
Bat he was not to be drawn again,
and after bit he he Law down fur
ther of and pretended to go to sleep.
Cognac barked at him till he was
tired, and then retired into his cas-
tie.
'Reloading, I found had only
three bullets left, and concluded to
reserve them foi a crisis.
1t was now past noon. To beguile
the time. smoked q pipe or two,
sang song, and cut my name, Cog
macs and Marengo's on the tree, Ieav-
ing space for the lions, which I de-
termined should be Wellington. I
wished he would 90 away. Having
some milk in my bottle, took a
drink, and should have liked to give
some to Cognac. The lion began to
pant, with his red thorny tongue
hanging foot out Of his mouth. He
was a NANCY and disreputable-look-
ing brute as ever / saw. By-and-by
he got up and snuffed the air ail
round him, and then, without as much
as looking at me walked off and went
deliberately down the road.
Slipping TO the ground, I caught
up Cognac, who had crept out direct
ly, and after looking carefully around
for the lion, was smothering me with
carresses. The lion was turning to-
ward bushy clump in hollow about
two hundred yards off. That light
green foliage-willows, waterl Had
the cunning brute shifted it out?
Anyhow, it was q relief to stretch
ones legs after sitting six mortal
hours on a branch. The lion disap-
peared round the bushes. strained
my eyes over the plain, but could see
nothing moving. Then l gave Cog
nae drink of milk and few bits of
bread-cake, for which he was very
grateful: Of course it was no use
beginning a race against a lion with
only two hundred Yards start in any
number Of miles. The tree was bet
ter than that.
All the same, he was long time ;
perhaps he was really gone for good.
Bah ] there came his ugly head round
the corner again, making straight for
US
When he was pretty near kissed
Cognac, and threw bit of cake into
the hole. Then / climbed again to
my perch, Cognac retired growing
into his fortress, and the beast of a
lion mounted guard over US as be-
fore.
He looked quite cool and comfort
able, and had evidently had a good
drink.
Another hour and lie was still
there.
While / was wondering how long
he really meant to stay, and il / was
destined to spend all night on a
bough like a monkey, and on very
short commons, he got up. and walk
ing quietly to the foot of the tree,
without uttering q sound, sprang VI
at me with all his might.
He was quite yard short, but
was SO startled that nearly lost my
balance.
His coup having failed, he lay
down right under the branch / wal
on, crouching his head on his paws al
if to hide his modification.
Suddenly the thought came into
my mind: Why not make devil and
drop it on his back? dismissed il
as ridiculous, but it came again. Al
we have all, including our English
friend, been boys, you know what
mean-not a fallen angel. but ths
gunpowder devil.
Good Well, it seemed feasible
would try it.
i had plenty of powder in my lit
tie flask, so pouring some into my
hand moistened it we'll with spittl,
and kneaded away until it came ou
tiny Vesuvius Of black paste. TheI
/ formed the little crater. which
filed with few grains Of dry powder
and set it carefully on the branch.
NY hands shook SO with excite
ment / could hardly hold the fin
and steel; but / struck and struck
the tinder ignited-now Vesuvius
Whit. whlzzl The lion looked al
directly, but I dropped it plump OF
the back Of his neck. For an instan
be did not seem to know what haC
happened; then with an angry grow
mp he jumped and tore savagely a
the big fiery flea on his back, whicl
sent q shower Ofsparks into his mOutl