Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-08-27

| was awakened at sunrise the follow
ing morning, and, rubbing my eyes
sleepily, found the darkness and the lion
had faded away together, while the
wadi was alive with the notes Of birds
and wild fowl. After hasty breakfast
filled my jacket pocket with cartridges
and, accompanied by the Somal guide,
Juno (who was an unusually expert
tracker and hunter), started on the
spoor of the lion. At the end of mile
we came upon the half-eaten carcass o.
the donkey. lying at the edge Of small
thicket A little careful accommodating
convinced Us the lion was not in the i'm
mediate neighborhood, and after a little
we found his trail leading away from
the thicket It had rained lightly dur
ing the early morning, and we found it
exceedingly difficult to follow the spoor
over the sand. which was covered with
a thin growth Of grass. When we had
followed it for a mile or more, it finally
led toward large thicket, some 200 or
more yards in diameter, which was sur
rounded with margin of tall, dry
jungle grass.
Lion there. sure. sahibw whispered
the Somai, who had been following the
(to mel obliterated spoor with all the
caution and skill Of bloodhound. "One
of US must go to the other side, and the
other go on from the front, so he will
not pass through"
you may go around" l replied, and
after examining my rife to make sure
it was in perfect order, cautiously ap-
preached the thicket.
l could at first see no sign of the
lion, and was about to call to the Somal
when | suddenly made out the backs of
two large yellow animals nearly hidden
in the tall grass, and a moment later
discovered there were two cubs with
them. They wre evidently disturbed,
but were gazing in the direction taken
by the SOmal, not apparently having no.
ticed me. A moment later a fine lion
sprang out in the open, and, seeing me,
less than fifty PAGES distant, gave low
growl and disappeared into the thick
brush The other, a lioness, stood look
ing about, evidently reluctant to leave
her cubs. She was watching me closely,
giving me an occasional side view of
her teeth as she emitted kind of whin-
in growl.
A lions yellow eyes are singularly
impressive, especially if they happen to
be watching you, some fifty yards dis
tart, with only the open, level ground
between. They incline one to discretion,
and it was with the utmost caution I
approached nearer in order to get with
in shooting distance. her eyes following
my every move as l did so, and watch
ing intently on my part for the first sign
of a coming charge. When l had ar
riyed to within perhaps twenty yards,
she turned in the direction of the thick
ct, giving me an excellent view of her
side, and aiming at the point of her
shoulder, | pressed the trigger With
LOUD roar she sprang into the air and
seemed to fairly fly back through her
lair. | quickly threw in another cart
ridge and fired at her side just as she
disappeared into the thicltet. and a sec
Ond later heard the roar of the Somal'S
elephant gun on the opposite side. fol-
lowed by the roars of lion. Hasten
ing around came on the scene just in
time to see the old fellow on one knee,
in the act Of discharging his second bar
rel into the very mouth of the lion,
which was charging straight for him.
As he fred he sprarg quickly to one
side, while the beast turned a complete
somersault, but was on its feet in an in
slant and stood wavering, evidently too
sick to attempt another charge. | wa.
about to fire when it fell over on its
side and after several attempts to regain
its feet dropped back-dead After
making sire It was done for. we re-
traced our steps to the opposite side of
the thicket and cautiously approached
the place where the lioness had disap-
peared We had not proceeded far when
we came upon her, lying across a small
pool OF water formed by a feeble spring.
breathing her life out. so nearly dead
she was unable to rise at our approach
y ball between the eye and ear ended
her agony, and for a time | stood. lost
in admiration Of her graceful proper
tions, with the mighty muscles beneath
the glossy skin. when my attention wa.
attracted to the Somal, who was trying
to capture the cubs. Although they
were very small-not much larger than
kittens, in fact-there was much infan-
tile growing and scratching before he
finally succeeded in making them pris-
ouers. When he had at last bundled
one under each arm we started for
camp. meeting several of my men on the
way, who | sent back to remove the
peltS from the lions. When we arrived
at camp I fastened the young lions to
the center-pole of my tent, intending to
try to keep them alive on condensed
milk, Of which we had supply, | final
ly induced thin to drink this after di-
luting it with water and adding a flour
made OF pounded rice grains, and they
were both in good health on my arrival
ut Johannesburg a month later. l gave
them TO the wife of the manager of the
De Beers Company, who afterwards
presented them to the Royal Gardens at
Cape Town
Boon Fer London's Small Boy
Too long has the susceptible stomach