San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-12-07

lion passed it by, went down to the plain and
killed an OK, and on his way back to his den
about daylight, stopped and killed the sheep
and passed on. He did likewise on the third
night, seeming to have lost his taste for NUT
ton, but stopping to kill for the pleasure Of
it, We furnished fourth and fifth. and
each was killed in rotation. 1t was easy to
imagine the scene The sheep was tied to
small tree beside the path about twenty
feet from the pool The lion must pass
him to get to the water. He issued from his
lair at sunset, as we knew by his roaring,
and with head high in the air and stately
tread he took his way down the path. The
poor sheep heard and scented him, and after
a vain struggle to get away became terror
stricken, and could only use its eyes The
lion came slowly down the path, growing
and lashing his tail, and when fifteen feet
away halted and uttered a roar which shook
the hills. The sheep was frozen with fear. A
man, tied and helpless, would have tainted
away. The lion enjoyed the terror of his
puny victim. A sheep was but small potar
toes to beast who could kill an 800 pound
OK with one blow Of bis mighty paw, but yet
it was an occasion not to be neglected. With
slow step, and with those great yellow eyes
seeming to burn into the head Of the victim,
the lion advanced, and by and by he stood
over the sheep. The poor thing shivered and
sank down, and for two or three minutes the
lion shifted and snuffed and playfully touched
1t with his paw. Then he passed on and the
sheep was left to struggle and shiver and die
dozen deaths before the big beast returned
to finish him.
We dug our pit early In the forenoon, when
we knew the lion must be asleep, and about
fifteen feet above the point where the sheep
had been tied The excavation was four feet
wide by eight long and fourteen deep, and
was so carefully covered that the sharpest
eyed native could not have told that the
ground had been disturbed In addition to
the sheep, we sprinkled some fresh OK blood
on the path, and below the victim we placed
several pieces of fresh meat. Just before
night three of us took our stand in a tree
about quarter of a mile from the pit, and
to windward of the los, and the sun had not
yet entirely disappeared when we heard the
the lion mutter. His slsabers were broken
and he was stretching himself and making
ready for the usual night foray. Pretty soon
his mutterings changed to a roar, and then
we knew he had started down the path. We
could hear the sheep bleat in terror, and our
hearts beat faster as we wondered if our trap
would be a success The lion was ten minutes
going 200 yards. AS soon as he saw the sheep
and got the scent of blood he said to HIMSELF
"So-hol These cowardly natives not only
bring me fresh mutton every evening To gain
my good WILL but tonight they have added
dessert | smell fresh blood, and if that isn't
beef hanging to the limbs of the tree then my
eyes deceive me- Poor fools! Do they think
| will be content with this cheap supper when
there are full grown cattle on the plains
However, will make closer investigation,
and"-
And we knew by the smothered roars that
he had fallen into the pit. His establishment
passed away in few minutes, and then his
rage was something awful While we knew
that be could not leap out of the pit, having
no room to gather for spring, we dared not
go near him in the darkness. Next morning,
accompanied by about a hundred natives,
and, taking a cage and ropes along, we made
our way to the pit. The sheep was stone
dead-killed by fright alone. The lion had
not yet reached him, but his near presence
had been sufficient He heard us coming,
and all the rage i'll his royal breast began to
boil Had the pit lacked foot of its depth
he would certainly have escaped. CraInped
as he was in the spacs he had leaped up
unti his paws had almost touched the sur,
face He growled, roared. clashed his teeth.
bruin fer ten mile, an come up him in his
den long lords night Sile Civ him tn
slugs, and tn bar tackled him, but were
wounded too bad t. git away with tn boy,
but chawed him up tol'ble handsome fore he
gin up thu ghost Sile jest curled down
longsde tn bar an slep' till mornin, an
49, ~
inside O. him hum wen me an Sam Ward
kim along onter him a restin' in tn swamp
Eff th't want grit somebody tell me what it
weres
81 could set here an tell We yarns all night
bout Sile Reeves" continued the Old Settler,
sadly, IAN any one on 'em d be better n any
story book We ever read; but haint got the
heart t. do it, T. think of a man th't started
out like him turnin' of his toes up huntin'
coonsl I'm burned f it don't make me feel
like buttin' my OF brains out agin that stovel
If he hednt he'd so many fus' class chances o
peggin' out t'h't d ha' ben a comfort and
consolation t. his friends, 'twouldt set on me
so durn hard, but ez it is I'm cut ur wus'n
hog in KILN time"
The Old Settler fell into a mournful re
verie Suddenly be jumped up and shouted
"l'm thumpin' son of roebuck eff it
hain't my fault th't OF Sile went back on his
self an went a cooninr
The Old Settler had never been seen in such
a state of mind before. He had suddenly re-
called some incident that seemed to fill him
with remorse He strobe to and fro across
the floor, swung his cane until it buzzed, and
at every step resigned himself to regions en-
tirely remote from the happy hunting ground
where all good hunters are supposed to go
eventually. The coincidence of the boys and