The Opelousas courier., 1896-02-01

within about 10 feet she uttered a cry
and the lion made his leap. He had II
full 20 feet to go, and he covered it at
a bound. He rose from the ground like
a bird, and his movements were SO
rapid that we did not realize his action
until he landed on top OF the bear.
Two seconds later the lioness reached
the same spot, and then the three were
rolling over and over on the ground like
a great ball. Soldiers as we were, and
at a safe distance, with trusty weapons
at hand, the sounds Of conflict fairly
frightened us. There al d chorus OF
yelps, growIs, bowls, roars and scrcams,
and the ball continued rolling for about
20 seconds. Then it suddenly dissolved
into two lions and a bear, and the lions
sprang sway to a distance Of ten
yards. The grizzly had gotten the best
Of the fight. we could see that he had
been severely elawed and bitten, but
the lions were worse off. The lion
linped and seemed to have lost the
use of one hind leg, and his right side
was laid open from shoulder 6o>bip,
and the lioness was SO badly hurt that
she lay painting and whining like q
dog.
''That isn't the end OF it they'll try
it againl" whispered the guide az we
wondered if it was "O1e Eph
knows his gait and this is his fight"
There was a rest of five minutes.
| Then the lioness began growing and
switching her tail and her courage re-
| turned. She moved over to the lion as
| if she meant to attack HIM, and with an
angry srarl he leaped away and skulked
| to the real of the bear again. When he
had reached it the lioness began to adj
vance, and now she was n picture o:
fury.
"They'n do exactly as before" said
the guide, "and that's proof that they
| hain't got no sense in thar heads. If
thar wasn't but one of en- ole Eph
would stand up to it like a boxer, but
bein' thar's two his~game is to fight on
his back. Hes willin' the lion should
light down on him, bekase he'll flop him
under-side at the fust move. This yere
bout vii! end the row., and one O. them
lions will be left dead or the ground"
The lioness moved slowly, evidently
waiting for an opening, and this time
she was hardly ten feet from the beat
when she made her leap. There was no
signal to her mate, but he was hardly
a second behind her. 1t was the same
as before-a great hairy ball rolling
about-a chorus of growls and yelps
and roars to make the hair stand up.
When the ball ceased rolling about only
the bear and the lion were on their feet.
Strictly speaking, the latter was not on
his feet. He had been so badly bitten
in the other hip or leg that he dragged
his hinder-parts on the ground as he
moved away. He made directly for the
thicket end vanished from sight, with
all the fight taken out of him for days
to come, if not fatally injured and only
a few hours to live. The lioness lay
stretched On the grass, killed by the
awful claws of the bear. She was
smeared with blood until her general
color was as red as a beef-steak. The
bear sat up and gazed after the retreat
ing lion and painted until he got his sec
ond-wind. Then he lowered his head,
shifted at the dead lioness as if to make
sure that his work was finished, and
when satisfied on that point he lay
down AID rolled over and growled as il
congratulating himself on his victory.