Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-09-12
MIDNIGHT WATCH FOR A
LION.
Give P. Woollcy.

Give P. Woolley.
AS I thought it possible that the
lion might not come back until
after the moon had set, when i!
would be intensely dark, l was de-
termined to be as close to him as
possible. There being only one
lion to deal with, I was not much
afraid of his interfering with me,
at any rate before he was fred at,
and 30 made my shelter as small
as possible, in order That it should
not attract his attention. We first
chopped a few straight poles, and
leant them together at the back
of the tree, and then covered them
with some leafy branches.
That evening I had dinner with
DR., Edgelow, and about half-past
seven, just as night was closing In,
took my rifle and blankets aid
crawled into my shelter, in which
L had only room to sit upright.
John then closed the entrance be-
hind me, and I prepared for long
vigil. As the moon was now within
two nights of the full, it would
have been a lovely moonlight night
had it not been that the sky was
overcast with clouds; but these
clouds were light and heecy, sothat
the moon gave a strong light
through them. Looking through
the side Of my leafy shelter, Il
could very distinctly see John and
the two Kafir boys sitting by their
fire at the side of the wagon, as
we'll as the head of my old horse,
which was tied to the forewheel on
the further side; my oxen, too, I
could clearly distinguish, so clear
ly, indeed, that I could make out
their colors, and see the raw-hide
thongs with which they were tied
to the yokes. Some were standing
up, and every now and again one
of these would move about and
rattle the iron trek-chain as hedld
so, but the greater part of them
were lying down chewing theycud
contentedly, after q good days
feed.
AS the shooting-hole between the
diverging branches of the tree be-
hind which I sat only allowed me
to get view directly over the car
cass of the OK, 1 arranged another
opening to the right, which gave
me a good view up the wagon road,
along which I thought the lion
would most likely come, and 1
placed the muzzle of my rifle in
this opening when I entered my
shelter. AS the night was SO light,
I thought it very likely that my
vigil might be long one; for even
if he did not wait until the moon
had set, I never imagined that the
lion would put in all appearance
until after midnight, when the
camp would be quite quiet. Under
this impression I had just finished
the arrangement of my blankets,
placing some behind me, and the
rest beneath me, so as to make N.Y.
self as comfortable as possible in
80 confined a space, and was just
leaning back, and dreamily won
dering whether I could keep awake
all night, when, still as in a dream,
1 saw the form of magnificent
lion pass rapidly and noiselessly
as a phantom of the night across
the moonlit disc of the shooting
hole I had made to the right of the
tree stem. In another instant he
had passed and was hidden by the
tree, but a moment later his shaggy
head again appeared before the
opening formed by the diverging
stems. Momentary as had been the
glimpse I had of him as he passed
the righthand opening, I had marx
ed him as C magnificent black
named lion, with neck and shoul-
ders well covered with long shaggy
hair. He now stood with his fore
legs right against the breast of the
dead OK, and with his head held
high, gazed fxedly toward my
wagon and oxen, every one of
which he could of course see very
distinctly, as we'll as my boy John