New-York tribune., 1886-02-14

ana II not tiil he passing within iow lect
of II that | cOult get decent shot at him. Then
pnlled, aud caught him halfway dOTn the spine:
over he wcnt deA1 rs dooI-n@ll. and pretty snot
it was, Though Opght not to y. This litt!e
incident put INTO rather better temper
es, eeial TIE hT" hai rolled RIGHT against
the afto"-Va't Of the wasou, so ! hId only to gut
him, iN 4 ICim IOuud - legs and haul him up. by
the time ha1 done TINS the SIN was dow H. and the
full moon was up. ami beautiful moon it was
And then there came down that wonderful hash
that sometimes falls over the Afrlcln bash in the
early hours of the night. No beast moving
and no bird called Not breath Oi air stirred the
quiet trees, and the shadows did not even quiver:
they only grew. 1t was very oppressive and very
lonely. lor here was not sign OF the cattle the
boys WAS quite thankful for the society OF old
kaptein, who was lying down contcntedly agajnst
the dl,seIboOm chewing the ,ud with a gOJ, con
science.
Presently. however KGptejh began to get rest
less. First hc snOTtCl then he got up and sa0r;rd
again. could not MAKE IL out, ~ like lO1 got
down OF the waEon-j.ON to have loo; rouud think
ing 1t might be the lost oxen coming.
Next instant regretted It, for all Of u sud len
heard an AZ lul roar ana saw something yellow fash
past me and hight on pUcr Kaptcn. Incn came a
noilow oI agony rom lh' on, ana Crhrh as tie
hon put his teeth through thc poor brdtc's neck
dnI began TO realize What had happened. My
rifle was III the wagon, and my first thought was 10
get hold of it, and turned and made u D III for H.
got my foot Oh the wheel and flung my body forward
on to the wagon and there stopped If were
frozen. and no wonder. Tor rs | was about to spring
mp heard the lion behind me, and nest second
felt the brute ay, plainly as c1n feel this table
! felt hin. say. shifting at my left leg that
n.
"My word did feel queer; | don't think that
ever felt queer before. | dared not move for the
life OF me, and the odd thing WAS that | seemed to
lose power my leg which had an insane sort of
inclnat OH 10 kick out OF its own mere uoton-just
hystercal people want to laugh when they
ought TO lie particularly solemn. We'll. the hon
sn,fed and Sulhed, beginning at my ankle aud
slowly uosng away up 10 lay thigh thought that
he was going 10 get hold then. bat he did not lie
only grOwlcd softly and went back TO tho OK.
Shifting my head little got Il full view of him.
lie was the biggest lion ever saw ana have seen
n great many, and he had most tremendous black
name. What his teeth were like yOu can sec-lOOi
there, pretty big ones amt they? Altogether he
a magnificent animal and as lay there
sp1awling on the forc-t0ngue of the wagon il oc-
curred TO me that lie w3uld look uncommOnly well
in cage. He stood there by the carcase of poor
kaptein. and deliberately diAelnDo weled him as
neatly as a butcher could have done. All this while
dare not move. for he kept lifting his head and
keeping an eye on me as he licked his bloody chops
When he had cleaned kaptein ont he opened his
mouth and roared, and am not exagg"rat ing when
| say shat the sound shook the wagon. Instantly
there came back an answering roar
a. Heavens y thought = there is his mate.
Hardly was the thought out of my head when
canght sight in the moonlI ght of the Oncss bound
ing along through the long grass, apd after her a
couple of cubs about the size of mastils. She
stopped thin few feet of my head, and stood and
waved her tail, and fixed me with her glowing vel
low eyes but Just as thought that 1t all
she turned, and began to feed on kaptein, and 50
did the cubs. There were the four of them witAin
eight feet OF me, growing aud quarrelling, rcndng
and tearing and cruuching poor kapteIns bones;
and there ! Law shaking with terror, and the cold
perspiratiOn pouring ont of me- feeling ike another
Daniel come 10 judgment IN a new stusc of the
phrase Presently the cubs had eaten their fiji, and
began to get restless one went TOund to the back
of the wagon, and pulled at the l,npala buck that
hung there, and the other came round my way and
began the smiling game ut my leg. Indeed. he did
more than that, Tor, my tronser being hltchcd up
little. he began to lick the bare skin with bis rough
tongue The more he licked the more he liked it, t.
iud gc from his increased vgor ana the loud purrug
noise ho made. Then knew that the en- had come,
for in another second his fe-likc tonguc would
have raSped through the skin of my eg-which was
luckily pretty tough-and have got to the blood;
aud then there would be TO chance tor me. so
Just lay there and thought of ny and prayed TO
the Almighty. and thought that after all lfo was
very enjoyable thing
sand then all of q sudden ! heard q crashing Of
bushes and the shouting and whlstilng ol men. and
there were the two boys coming back Ith the
cattle which they had found trckKng along all To-
gether. The lions lifted their heads aud listened,
and then without sound bounded oh-and
tainted.
the next morning my nerves had got pretty Straight
again but was full of wrath when ! thOugnt of
all that had gone through at the hands. or rat her
noses. of those four lions. and of the fate OF NY
after-OX Kapten. lie was a splendid OK. and was
very fond of him. So wroth WAS that like a fool
determined TO 60 for he whole family Of them. It,
v as worthy Of greenhOrn out On his first hunting
trip; but did it nevertheless Accordingly after
breakfast. having rubbed some oil upon my les
which was very sore from the cubs tongue ! took
the driver Tom, who did not half like the Job. and
having armed myself with ordinary double No.
II smooth hbOre the first brccchOadcr ever bad.
started took the smOothbOre because n Shot a
bullet very we'll: and NY experience las been that
a round bullet from smooth is quite as
effective against a lion as an express bullet. The
lion is soft and not diicult animal 10 finish if You
hit him any NhcTc III the body. buck takes lar
more killing
"WcIl ! started. aud the first thing ! st to work
to do WAS to try 10 make ont whereabouts the
brt"s lay up for the day, About thr"r hundred
yards from the wagon WAS the crest Of is" covered
with single mimO,I trees. dotted about 10 park
4 Ike fashion and beyond this stretch OF open
rIain runuin. down TO a dry pan. or water hole.
"a N.
dcnSelv clothed with reeds, now IN the rr'c and y,
low leaf. From the further cd-" oi tn rln the
ground ,lop"d mp again to = great cirli. 81 uulI1h
which had brrh ,ut oar bL ihc dct'ph &" ''.I' ma
was pretty tIrk!" spr'nkIcd with bush. among
which grew some large trees. fof-rt o! what sort.
1t at one" struck me mat the dry pm would be
likely place to find my friends in. tLcic moth
ing lion IS fondrr nl than lying MP ln reeds
through which he can see things without hIng sccH
himself Accordingly thitacr went and
pYo,pactod Before | got halfway round IN" pan
found tie remains of blue N,G, rbccsto that hu3
evidently been killed within the last three four
days and partially deyou.cd by lions: ahi ttpm
other indications about ! Wa- -)o! red tha; 4
the family were MOI IN thc pan dat lay 'hcy sp'at
q good deal oi Their spare I'm. fHrIe. fuI II mere
the question was bow 10 g't tLcn out; for u WIS
clearly impossible to think OF gong ~ al rf them
unless one WAS quite determined - commit AuIciac
.iow there was strong WmJ blow ~ rom tAe
direction Of the WAGON, acro', the rrcF pan toward
the hushclad kioOi Ur dou"l, and tas iIsi give
me the IDEA of firing the reeds, winch, as tEuh
told yOu were pretty dry. A""Ordiu2'y ipm took
some matches and BEGAN starting ijit.r Tires 10 10"
lett and did the same to the right. Hut the reeds
were still green at tine bottom. and Wc ,uO4Id never
have got them well alight had It not hrcn for the
wind, which got stronger and STRONGER as tn .uh
got higher. and forced the tire into them. ~ Iisl.
after half an hours tTOLbc, tine flame, got hold.
and began to spread ont like fan, Wherein on got
rOuud to the further side Of the pan TO walt Tor the
ions, standing well out III the open, rs we stood at
the cOp~c to-day where yOu shot the wOCdCpch. II
was rather risky thing 10 d. bat used 20 be 50
sure of my shooting III those days that did not 50
much mind the risk. Scarcely had ! got round
when heard the reeds parting before the onward
,f NAL h,,fg far D
came. | could see that it was yellow. and prepared
for action, when instead of lion out bounded a
beautiful rcit box which had been lying IN the
shelter of the PAN IL must, by t,c way. have been
q rnLt box OF n necullnrlN nnmIllnn nalLIe. 10 my