The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-01-30
..The Zulus had formed sort a

"'The Zulus had formed sort "a
procession, and were marching toward
. clump of trees about 500 yards in
land, where they proposed to leave
the children to be devoured. was
armed with my repeating rifle, very
fine, weapon ,of 4s caliber, a cutlass,
and very long and strong Zulu spear.
Skirting the wood with great caution,
I was rapidly approaching the trees
where the procession had now arrived,
when I found must make along de-
tour to avoid . swampy mud hole, into
which came very near falling. When
I succeeded in reaching the spot where:
the children had been left It was very
dark, and the Zulus had gone; Tho
poor little things were tied to tree,
which stood apart from the clump
about IS feet. They were . boy and .
girl. The boy was gagged, and tho
poor !iHlegirl was in a dead faint from
fright. HI was about to cut them loose,
when asthundering roar, sc, near that
tho ground trenbled, made me clutch
my spearin Mortified surprise. dared
not fire my heavy rife. except Is e last
resort, for the report would surely
bring thesZulus. Hooked toward the
brush and saw two eyes, which glowed
ominously in the darkness. I placed
my spear against the tree, and hold
ing the point in the direction from
which the lion must spring,I awaited
the attack.
He evidently saw the point OF the
spear, for he moved uneasily from side
to side, as if seeking chance to jump
by it. followed his motions, till, with
an angry snarl, he sat upon his
launches, thus showing his intention
to jump over it For q moment he was
motionless, and then, good heaven! he
came Ashe went into the air, Imoved
the spear quickly under him. He came
down upon it. breaking it in an instant.
His great paw struck me'-he put his
finger on the queer scar on his cheek
and 1 fell with awfnl force against the
little girl. The lion lay motionless, for
the spear had entered his heart.
81. with some difficulty, extricated
myself from under his heavy body,
which lay across my legs. I found the
girl stone. dead, but the boy was I'M
hurt, and could see by his staring eyes,
which showed white even in that dark
ness, that he appreciated his terrible
position. III ~ n Il, rs$ h. & w.
"I cut him loose, but left the gag in
his mouth, for fear he might cry out. I
placed the little fellow on my back and
set outforH tho boats. WhenI reached
the edge Of the mud hole,pI heard the
bushes cracking aud knew at once 1
must face a new danger, and second
growl told me it was the other lion. I
FASTENED on, and had just reached
narrow strip of dry clay between the
bushes and the mud hole, when saw
the tell-tale. eyes. I got as near the
edge of the Shiny swamp as possible,
and began to have some hopes of es-
cape, when she sprang at me with ter
rife force. sprang down and towards
her, hoping she would jump over me.
She did, and not striking me as she ex-
;pected, she hit her, nose on the hard
clay, and turning completed somer-
sault fell upon her back into the mud
hole. In an instant dealt her blow
with my cutlass, which added to her
confusion. I struck her again, but'she
dashed the weapon from my hand, and
turning over, began to struggle through
the soft mud. I knew she would be out
and upon me in an instant. I had no
recourse but to use my rife. took
quick aim, fred, and she fell dead, but
whether from the shot or the tremen-
dous blow had dealt her with the cut
lass, Icould not say, s'@
"'1 picked up the boy. who had
fallen in the struggle, and fairly ran
toward the boats. could, however,
make but slow progress in the dark
ness, and besides my wounded face
caused me great agony. I had almost
reached them, when a tall Zulu loomed
up in my path, and the moment be
saw the boy he sprang before mo.
There was no time for hesitation now.
I raised my rifle and fred. He gave q
frightful yell, and in a moment found
was pursued. rushed on and down
the bank, just as the foremost Zulu
reached the top. I sprang into tho
boat, which was pushed OIL at onco,
and amid a shower of spears we made
our escape. left the boy at villaR-
er's where knew he would be we'll
treated, and soon returned to America
Having finished his remarkable sto-
~, my friend excused himself and went
upstairs.
II went to the hotel clerk and asked.
"sWhat is that gentleman's nameT
"'Smith.' he replied.
"'Who is hep
"'He is the steward of the house,
was the answer.
"'But he has been a great traveller,
has he not?' asked.
"'Oh, no, he came here green coun-
try boy IS years ago and has not been
away q week since
"'How did he get that SCARF !
queried,