The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-02-16

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ne entered camp. No one was ready
for him, and there was great scatter
ing. Some of Us sprang for trees. and
others diyed into the tents; and such a
row among horses and oxen you never
heard. The old lion stood in Il clear
spot in the center of camp. and rosred
and growled and switched his tail about
and babe us defiance. and before any
one Of us could make ready for shot
/ at him ne sprang upon a cow. rolled her
over, and then fastened his teeth into
her neck and drew her out of camp,
| passing 80 close to one of the fires rs to
drag the hind legs of the COW over the
Goals. As soon rs he was clear of the
cSmp a dozen of us sprang out with
oar guns and fired at him by sound. and
by great good luck two of the bullets
hit him in the head and finished him.
We had seen him drag the cow off as
easily rs man could draw the body of
n dog and to make comparison of
strength we ordered four natives to take
hold of the carcass. They could barely
move it. 1t took seven Of them to drag
it back to the fires, and they had hard
| tug at that.
The next adventure showed both the
bravery and fierceness Of the animal in
one. l had been out alone with my
rife, and was on my way back to camp.
| and at about five o clock in the evening
sIir:ed sink or water hole on the edge
Of dense wood. Suddenly a lion ut
tered terrific roar. and looked mp to
find big fellow facing me. He had
been creeping down the edge of the
wood. perhaps routed out of his lair by
some of our men, and while he was APP
preaching the pool from one direction
| WAS approaching from the other. He
was not over three hundred feet away,
and | knew ut first glance that he was
mad. His name was up. his tail switch
/ ing, and he meant fight. He could
have been under cover at jump, and
thus avoided NE altogether, and this
would have been characteristic of Il lion
disturbed ut that hour of the day.
brought my rifle down, aimed to hit
him between the eyes, and pulled the
trigger. The ball grazed his skull.
knocking him down and making him
crazy for a moment. | suspected from
his antics that he was only touched,
and knew that as soon rs he had gath
cred himself he would come for me-
He was whirling round and round and
rolling over, and there was no show for
fair shot. therefore made bolt for
the nearest tree, and l was Just off the
ground when the lion screamed out.
and | dropped my gun 20 get above his
reach.
1t was a close call for me. The
blood blinded him as he made his
spring. and the paw which struck at
me passed clear of my body. He went
to the ground in heap, rolled over
two or three times, and before he WAS
up | was ont of reach. | got seat
about twenty-five feet from the ground.
and the way that old fellow ragged and
raved for the next quarter of an hour
was circus 10 see. He had been in
ill-temper before raked his skull. He
was now so mad that he would have
faced regiment of men. From the
limb where sat to the next, ten feet
higher, the tree was smooth, and | did
not dare attempt to climb it. was
just safe and no more. The enraged
beast made all sorts of attempts to
reach me, even trying to climb. but |
was safe. Several times he ran back
on the plain few rods and then came
for me Hail Columbia. springing up to
within three or four feet of my perch
but never coming high enough. His
repeated failures angered him still
further, and if lion ever lost his head
and got mad from nose to tail that fell
low did. When he found he couldn't
get me he made circles about the tree.
rolled over and over. and his growls
and roars were enough to set me in
chill.
hsd mr. revolver, but it contained
ammunition. l should have to reach
his brain or heart To kill him, and he
would rot give ME an opportunity for
4 steady shot. soon saw that was
doomed to pass the night in the tree,
and thOn decided to save my bullets
for some other danger which might be
expected. The sur had hardly gone
down when darkness came on. The
lion gave up trying to reach me and
sat up at the foot of the tree. and as
the darkness grew deeper l could see
his ewes blaze like Goals. 1t WAS no
use expecting any help from the camp.
for no one would know which wav to
look for me, and after awhile | got
hitch around the tree with my scarf
and took such precautions as would
prevent me from falling off the limb
should | go to sleep. That was hor-
rible night. At IN early hour every
species of wild beast and night bril-
Was as;ir. and pandemonium reigned
through the forest. Twice before mid
night other lions approached The tree.
to be driven OFF by the sentry, and
troop of elephants on their way to the
pool passed within Il hundred feet
About midnight the lion took on at
great rate, scratching up the leaves
and switching his tail in defiance. and
heard fierce growing and snarling
from some beast which turned out to
be a panther, for | heard his claws rak-