The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-09-03
SAVED BY PLUCKY SAM.
AN AMERICANS LUCKY ESCAPE
FROM A LION.
II Sometimes Pays to Take Negro At
tendsnts All the Way to the Indian
Junglcs, for the Native
May Prove OF no Use.


terrorized by u huge Iona monster
OF his kind Repeatedly he had
dragged away oxen and yearlings
and OF late he had taken to prowling
about the village at night once he
had killed a goat that was tied at the
very corner OF the house and the last
night he had rushed upon some chill
dren that were playing In the street
and had dragged away a little boy In
spite OF the shrieks and cries OF his
companions
The last attack had driven the p go.
pie wild. and It was utterly impossible
to get them to listen to reason. The
bearers OF my palanquin were panic
stricken. and they trembled and their
teeth chartered whenever any one
mentioned the lion. As to me- bust
ness cares were pressing upon me
heavily. and found myself consider
ably bored by all this unreasoning
terror. / was anxious to start so
that / could get as far as possible on
my journey before the day was far
advanced. But found myself con-
fronted by an unexpected obstacle.
The good-for- nothing rascals posi-
lively refused to start In vain l al
ternately coaxed and threatened, Of
fered them double wages and spent
hours in trying TO pursuade them. In
vain | went out and tried 10 hire
other carriers The lion, the Lion
that was all heard 1t was late in
the afternoon at last when. at the Of
fer OF four times the usual wages they
sulkily motioned me into the palan-
quin. picked it up and trotted out OF
the village. II they would hurry
knew that they still had time to reach
bungalow where lived an English
man to whom had letter OF intro
duction. But instead OF hurrying
they went dragging along in such an
unwilling fashion that my hopes sank
very rapidly.
Sam, my American negro. bitterly
indignant kept muttering to himself:
Never you mind you pizen. lazy ras.
calls; l jest wish had you in good
ole Mississippi cotton patch; you bet
I'd larn you to move little pearter'n
what you's n movin now" l was
little surprised at last when / saw
that we had made only about five
miles and the sun was low. / knew
how rapidly dark comes In that coun-
try, and must confess that felt
somewhat depressed. But that de-
preston amounted to nothing. CON-
pared to what l felt few moment lat
er. when the bearers suddenly depos-
tied the palanquin on the ground. and
one OF them said. with a profound sa-
laam: I'VE not go on. Night come
No place sleep. We go back" PICK
up this machine. you rascals" l
shouted. but with one accord the fleet
footed heathens went flying down the
road toward the village we had left
In moment we could hear nothing
but the sound of their footsteps. and
in moment more even that had died
away and everything was still.
We'll Sam. we're in a pretty
mess " l said anxiously, for l really
could see no way to turn. l had
noticed as we came from the village.
that there was a perfect network OF
roads and l was quite sure that we
could not have found our way back in
the daylight while after dark the at.
tempt would have been absurd. At
last we made a fire and agreed to
take turns watching out the night l
examined my gun carefully. good.
plain double-barreled shotgun. which
had been thoughtful enough to bring
with me. and saw that my pistols were
all right too and then placing them
handy. curlod myself in the palan-
quiu. and in about five minutes was
sleeping the sleep OF the just.
! walked once In the night and
looking drowsily out discovered Sam
stretched on the ground near the fire.
snoring happily as though he were
hack on the old plantation. was
too nearly asleep to realize how great
the danger was. / merely settled
myself into a more comfortable posi-
ton and went on with my last dream
where l had left of. What walked
me the next time was wild. piercing
scream that made my heart stand
still. tumoled out OF the palanquin.
grasping my gun as went and was
just in time to see the lien dragging
Sam across the little space by his
left arm. fired. but was too much
agitated to aim we'll. and gave him
only wound which enraged him
without injuring him fatally With
roar that echoed over the hills. he
dropped his prey and came at me.
His onslaught was with such rush
that stepped backward involuntarily
and in so doing I struck my foot
against one OF the poles OF the palan-
quin and fell headlong. my gun flying
from my hand. In an instant the
great beast was upon me- his forefeet
planted on my breast the open mouth
against my face. and was as near
fainting as man ever comes. He
was evidently satisfied that l was
dead and that he could drag me away
Mt his leisure. In the mean time the
wound in his neck was paining him.
and he sat down on his launches
presently and began trying to lick it.
And while lay there. knowing that
II / should move even an inch no
would be upon me- looked up. and
there In clear space between the
trees was the constellation OF Orion.
shining as peacefully as 1t used to at
home when we watched 1t every