The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-23

INV II 10 water. Bat now he's hampered
ana eaged lis there anything worse than
Gagged liont) and kept from the life he
loves and was made for''-just here the
tanner spoke sharply to him, and his eyes
, ana crest drOOped-'and ruled overN
concluded Toppan, shy some one who is
not so great as he, who has spoiled what
was best in him and has turned his pow
ers TO trivial. resultless uses-sOme one
weaker than he. yet stronger. All. well.
olo brute, 1t was yours once, we will re-
member that"
THEY WHEELED OUT.
A clumsy velocipede built expressly for
him, and, while the lash whistled and
snapped about him, the conquered king
heayed himself upon it and went around
and around the ring, while the band
! played quickstep, the audience broke
into applause, and the tanner smirked and
| bobbed his well-oiled head. | thought of
| Samson's performing for the Philistines
| and Thusnelda at the triumph of Ger
manicus. The great beasts, grand though
! conquered, seemed to be the only dignitied
ones in the whole business. l hated the
/ audience who saw their shame from be-
| hind iron bars; l hated myself for being
one of them and l hated the Snug, snIg-
! gering TAM
This latter had been drawing out vari-
| Gus stools and ladders, and now arranged
a
! pyramid, with himself on top.
Then he swung himself up among them,
| with his heels upon their necks, and
taking hold Of the jaws of one, wrenched
them apart with a great show of
strength, turning his head to the
audience so that all could see.
And just then the electric light abov e
him cracked harshly, guttered, and
dropped down to a pencil of dull red,
then went out and the place was absolu-
tely dark.
The band stopped abruptly with q dis
cord, and there was an instant of silence
| Then we heard the stools and ladders
Gathering as the lions leaped down; and
straightway four pair of lambert green
spots burned on the darkness and
Travelled swiftly about here and there,
crossing and recrossing one another
| like the lights of steamers in a storm
| Heretofore the lions had been sluggish
and inert; now they were aroused and
alert in an instant, and we could hear the
swift pad-pad of their heavy feet as they
| swung around the arena and the sound Of
their great bodies rubbing against the
bars of the cage as one and the other
passed nearer to US.
l don't think the audience at all appre-
ciated the situation at first, for no one
moved or seemed excited, and one shrill
voice suggested that the band should play
When the Electric Lights Go Out"
keep perfectly quiet, please" called
the tanner out of the darkness, and GER.
tain peculiar ring in his voice was the
first intimation of possible danger.
But Toppan knew and as we heard the
tanner fumbling for the catch Of the gate,
which he somehow could not loose in the
darkness, he said, with a rising voice:
He wants to get that gate open pretty
quick"
But for their restless movements the
lions were quiet; they uttered no sound,
which was a bad sign. Blinking and
dazed by the garish blue-whiteness of a
few moments before, they could see per-
fectly now where the tanner was blind.
Listen said Toppan Near to us and
on the inside Of the cage, we could hear a
sound as of some slender body being
whisked back and forth over the surface
of the floor. In an instant guessed what
it was; one of the lions was crouched
there,
WHIPPING HIS SIDES WITH HIS TAIL.
"When he stops that, he'll spring." said
Toppan exeitedly.
"Bring light, Jerry-quick ~ came
the tamer's voice.
People were cIambering to their feet by
this time, talking loud, and we heard a
woman cry out.
please keep as quiet as possible, ladies
| anu gentlemen, ~ CRIED bn6 tanner; III
won't do to excite"
From the direction of the voice came
the sound Of heavy fall and a rush that
shook the iron gratings in their sockets.
Hes got himl" shouted Toppan.
And then what a scene! In that thick
darkness every one sprang up, stumbling
over the seats and over each other all
shouting and crying out suddenly stricken
with a panic fear of something they could
/ not CO. hnt hOVs ant ftsarl
every lion suddenly gave tongue at once,
until the air shook and sang in our ears.
We could hear the great cats hurting
| themselves against the bars and could see
their eyes leaving brassy streaks against
the darkness as they leaped. Two more
sprang, as the first had done, toward that
quarter of the. cage from which came
sounds of stamping and struggling, and
then the tanner began to scream.
l think that so long as l shall live
shall not forget the sound of the tamer's
screams. He did not scream as woman
would have done from the head, but from
the chest which sounded so much worse
that | was sick from it in a second with
that sickness that weakens one at the pit
of the stomach and along the muscles at
the back of the legs. He did not pause
for second Every breath was scream
and every scream was alike, and one
heard through it all the long snarls OF
satisfied hate and revenge, mutied by the
mans clothes and the rip, rip of the cruel
claws.
Hearing it all in the dark as we did
made it all the more dreadful. l think
for a time / must have taken leave of my
senses | was ready to vomlt for the
sickness that was upon me, and | beat my
hands raw upon the iron bars or clasped
them over my ears against the sounds OF
the dreadful thing that was doing behind
them. remember praying aloud that ii
might soon be over with, so only those
screams might be stopped.
1t seemed as though il had gone on for
| hours, when some men rushed in with a
lantern and long sharp irons. A hundred
voices cried Here he Is, over here ~
and they ran around outside the cage and
threw the light of the lantern on a place
where heap of gray, gold-laced clothes
writhed and twisted beneath three great
bulks of fulvous hide and
L.. BRIsTLING BLACK NAME.
The irons were useless. The three
furies dragged their prey out Of their
reach and crouched over it again and re-
commenced. No one dared TO go into the
cage, and still the man lived and strug-
gled and screamed.
| saw Toppan's fingers go to his mouth,
and through that medley of dreadful
noises there issued a sound that, sick as
was. made me shrink anew and close my
ewes and teeth and shudder as though
| ,H,,,a GOLD slime had been DOured through