The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-09-02
CAPTURED BI \ LION.
An Adventure With a King of the
Indian Jungle.

Among the crowd that gathered about
the lions cage in the Geological gar
dens one tine day recently the writer
observed q middle-aRed gentleman hold
ing Gy the hand TWO children Of about
eight or teB years Of age. The gentle
mans erect and soldierly bearing be
trayed at once has calling. even had not
the Victoria cross he wore on his breast
done so.
Was the lion yon killed. grandpa, as
big as this one?" asked the boy.
.'Well.to my frightened eyes, Arthur,
lie seemed three times the size. but can
-truthfully say hc was quite - large a.
this one" replied the Did soldier, - the
children led him 10 seat near by and
IuIJios-ed that the story be told them
where the big lion couid Illustrate it a.
NO words could DO; and, Interested by
what j had already heard, ] took the
liberty of seating myself on the same
bench and listening To the Test The
gentleman savv me and understood INV
desire. but ouis smiled benevolently
and went on.
You two have heard all about It
many times, but j suppose there l.
nothing for me 10 do hat tell il again.
Well then. in 1873 | obtained 4 fur
Rough OF a month. which. with three
osIler friends l meant 10 >I,cnd IN :.
grand hunt in the great forest ikat lay
zyithin half i mir of the station whrr~
we Hzvere camped- had been in In
dia nearly. year. aud was beginning
10 get 16l,ed OF the inquiries that came
IN every letter from England as to
whether had vet killed a tiger. So
now i resolved To Kill one OF know the
reason why. But day after day We
went further and further into the iun-
gle without meeting any big game that
we thocght worth pursuinE We had
native with Us named Ram Hat. who
occasionally warned us that We were
getting into Il dangerous aud unfrr-
quented part II the country which.
hunter h. WAS, he had never pene-
tratvd: but tpis was the very thing w'
wanted, 80 pushed on. thinking we
Inust surely run across tiger soon.
one day, Il very hot one. that even ia
rhr 'orest nearly prostratcd IA. Hr
were canped oD thr bank II = little
river Haiti called the Nh, and tow ard
the afternoon my friends proposed -
take a swim an the strrIm- l was feel
ing rather unweil, - did not Join
them. but remained lying beneath III"
trees and doing Al intervals. Ram
liati went with the others, and 50
/ MAS left alone. 1 had dOzcd longer
than usual when J was awakened by
feeling something warm and damp
touch NV hand, lhat WAS Thrown uut
beside me.
Opening nav eyes. Ia my aStDnish-
ment 1 saw a huge beast standing over
me, snniiing at NV clothes and limEs-
Here il my tiger at last 1 said. Bu;
one glance at the creatures taWny
skin. and al the splendid maue that
swept the grDund told me that ny
visitor was not tiger. but Lon,
and i magnificent male At that. lie
DaS evidently trying To sec il Was
dead, for he krpI sticking his nose ia
my face in a way that ! might have
found comical hut for the gravity of
the situation. l continued to eye
him through my haif-shut lids and
hoped thai lac would presently decide
To go away. But Just here { heard the
voices of my companions returning
from their bath. and one-a light
headed subaltern was singing some
camp ballad at the top Of his voice.
The lion paused and listened, and then,
in sudden panic. >prang towards the
jungle. and / was congratulating my
self on this swift and pleasant
termination DI my adventure Nncn
the royal beast glanced back and our
eyes met
lie gave a roar and then leaped to-
ward me, as if he meant 10 have me in
defiance of the approaching enemy. /
closed my eyes at once, but II was too
late and the next moment the lion had
fastened his teeth in the sleeve Of NV
coat and was dragging me after him
into the thickct There was no use
struggling with the now frightened
brute, who would turn and rcnd me in
a moment, 80 ! allowed him To carry
Inc whittier lac would, for l did not
doubt that my friends would be ON his
trail as soon as they missed me. |
helped myself on all | could, for
found that if / lay inert the effort
! Of the animal 10 drag me over the un-
dergrowth. thorns and fallen boughs
would soon rake away every inch of
skin from of my body. SO ] assisted
him ali | could in getting myself over
these obstacles without arousIng hi
! ire by being too active.
/ lin a few minutes he had reached
part Of the woods entirely unfamilia
! 10 me 1t looked as if il had one,
been the scene of an earthquake o
some violent behavior OF some sort oi
the part of nature, for the ground wa
torn up in some spots a. al by gian
blow, and In others rose heaps Of rocl