The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1888-12-07

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Of such game.
The hills toward which it had fed
rose in broken and scantily wooded
| masses about a mile beyond. Still
farther, above the slopes and crags Of
| those spurs, rose other slopes and
| crags, with vapOrOus chasms and YER
! durOus crests, peak beyond peak, to
the snowy scalps of the Sierras; which
in the distance. to my boyish eyes, re-
| sembled delicately-tin mountains of
| ice-cream.
galloped of, keeping within sight
Of the stream and following it up
into the gorge, through which it is
sued from the foothills. was soon
| in the cool shadows of the cliffs, with
the torrent plunging over its rocky
| bed beside me, twenty feet below.
| CottOn-wOods, willows, birches, and
other forest trees grew wherever they
could get a foOthOld among the rocks;
| and the loveIiest wild flowers imagina-
BILE smiled up at me from the natural
pathway, at the base of the cliffs,
along which I rode.
The gorge was full of powders and
broken blocks, among which / looked
cautiously for game as I proceeded. A
few Rocky Mountain jays screamed in
the tree-tops. A red-shafted wood
pecker-the same birds as your East
ern gOlden-shafted species, except that
it has red markings where the other
has yellow-hitted before me; and a
jack-rabbit invited my shot from the
/ E TQr,k
reserved my lead for larger game.
The gorge, which was perhaps a
hundred yards wide at the entrance,
brOadened farther on into glen of
wonderful wildness and beauty, and
then narrowed again to a canyon cut
through the very heart of the hills.
l had been in the glen before with my
uncle; but now for the first time 1
pushed farther on up into the canyon.
1 was glancing down at the tumbling
torrent, or up at the broken pine
| crowned slopes-all the time keeping
| sharp lookout for game-and my
sure-footed pony was picking his way
at viii over the stones and among the
blocks and powders that strewed the
! bank-of the stream, when suddenly he
pricked up his ears, gave a frightened
snuff, and stopped.
let 60 the reins, and poised my
gun, trembling at the sudden prospect
of game. the scent of which had no
doubt alarmed Roland.
Still I could see nothing; and his
mysterious conduct filled me with a
vague terror. He was snorting and
backing; and l was about resuming
the reins, to head him away from the
danger, down the gorge; when all at
once, stealthy, silent, crouching, a
wild animal appeared on a ledge of the
cliff, less than twenty feet before me.
l knew the creature at a glance. It
was an American lion, or rather lion
ess, and one of the very largest size.
A heap of rocks had hidden her from
view until she was in the very act of
preparing for spring.
/ can think of no word to express
what | felt at that terrible moment.
1t was no ordinary fear; it was a sort
of paralysis, which so froze and be-
numbcd me that l could neither take
aim with my gun nor effect a retreat
photographed on my memory; and
now, shutting my eyes, I can see again
the monsters softly gliding approach,
the quick, nervous movement of her
Misunderstanding paw on the rocks,
her great catlike eyes, her writhing
tail, even the beautiful white of her
| breast!
1t could have been but a moment,
when I recovered myself to raise my
gun. But before I could fire, Roland.
who had already backed half around,
suddenly gave wild snort and side
ways leap, and darted from under me.
l remember making an Intellectual
| clutch at name and saddle; then all is
| a blank to me, for l know not how
many minutes.
In falling l must have struck my
| head upon a stone, and become insen-
/ sible for that blessed interval. On
| opening my eyes again, the first thing
! 1 consciously saw was an inverted tree
moving past me, against the back
| ground of n cliff, where there were
more moving, inverted trees. l was
! wondering vaguely at this, when ]
perceived that it was my own body
that was in motion. l was being
! dragged along the edge of a bank, over
| which my head was helplessly hang
/ ing. Strange as it may seem, | no
| longer felt the deadly fright which had
! so appalled, me at first. l knew that
was in the clutch of the most ferocious
of our wild beasts; one that had been
/ known to kill even the enormous griz-
Fly bear in open fight. But remained
| passive, powerless, almost recOnciled
to my fate.
| l expected nothing less than that l
should be dragged TO some spot that
/ suited the creatures ideas of conven-
| fence and safety, and there eaten at
| her leisure. And when once she
| snarlingly laid me down, and lifted
| her head to look around, said to my
self quietly: My time has Gomez
She had been carrying me by tho
4 folds Of my hunting-jacket which was
OF strong velveteen, fitting loosely, I
/ couldn't feel that I was seriously in
/ jured as yet; and that discovery re-
/ vived in me a desire to live.
/ I thought Of my mother and friends
with an indescribablo rush of emo
tions fear and longing despair; and
! made a movement, to learn if | still
/ had the use of my limbs.
That movement was instantly an
| swered by so deep and savage a growl
/ from the lioncss that I did not venture
to make another She clapped a paw
upon my shoulder, while her fanrs
met again in the folds OF my jacket;
\ crouching over me i'm am attitude
which convinced me that l was i'm