The San Francisco call., 1905-01-08

1uuSs tHcil, lIley entered lue river,
which many might have feared to do
at night. and. although once or twice
the water rose to their saddles and the
mules were stubborn in the swift
stream, in the end gained the farther
bank in safety. Thence they pursued
their path through mountains till al
length the sun rose and they found
themselves in a lonely land where no
one was TO be seen. Here they halted
in a grove of oaks, off-saddled their
animals, tethered and fed them with
barley which they had brought upon a
mule, and ate of the food that Masou-
da had provided. Then, having secured
the beasts, they lay down to sleep, all
three of them. since Masouda said that
here there was nothing to fear; and,
being weary, slept on till the heat of
noon was past, when once more they
fed the horses and mules, and having
dined themselves, set forward upon
their way.
New their road-if road it could be
called, for they could see none-ran
ever upward through rough, mountain
Gus country, where seemed to dwell
neither man nor beast. AT sunset they
halted again and at moonrise went for
ward till the night turned toward
morning, when they came to place
where was little cave. Before they
reached this spot Of a sudden the si-
lence of those lonely hills was broken
by sound of roaring. not very near to
them, but so loud and so long that it
echoed and re-echoed from the cliff. AT
it the horses Flame and Smoke pricked
their ears and trembled, while the
mules strOve to break away and run
back
What is that?" asked wulf, who had
never heard its like.
Lions" answered Masouda. 1--WE
draw near the country where there are
many of them and therefore shall do
we'll to halt presently, since it Is best
to pass through that land in daylight"
So when they came to the cave, hav-
ing heard no more of the lion, or lions,
they unsaddled there, purposing to put
the horses into it, where they would
be safe from the attack of any such
ravening beast. But when they tried
to do this, Smoke and Flame spread out
their nostrils and setting their feet be-
fore them refused to enter the place,
about which there was an evil smell.
Perhaps jackals have been here"
said Masouda. Let US tether them all
in the open."
This then they did, building a fire in
front of them with dry wood that lay
about in plenty, for here grew somber
cedar trees. The brethren sat down by
lUlS lIC, Duly Tic night OcIIlS llOl, Md
SCUBA laid herself down about fifteen
PAGES away under a cedar tree, which
grew almost in fDont Of the mouth of
the cave and slept, being tired with long
riding. Wulf slept also, since Goodwin
had agreed to keep watch for the first
part of the night.
For an hour or more he sat close by
the horses and. noted that they fed un-
easily and would not lie down. Soon,
v.<lw haa IA0A To- 1,el
thoughts. and, as he heard no more of
the lions, fell to wondering over the
strangeress Of their journey and of
what the end Of it might be-. He won
dered also about Masouda, who she
was, how she came to know so much,
why she befriended them If she really
was a friend, and other things-for in
stance, of that leap over the sunken
stream, and whether-no, surely he had
been mistaken, her eyes never looked at
him like that. Why, he was sleeping
at his post and the eyes in the darkness
yonder were not those Of woman.
Women's eyes were not green and gold;
they did not grow large, then lessen
and vanish away.
Goodwin sprang to his feet. AS he
thought, they were no eyes. He had
dreamed, that was all. So he took ce-
dar boughs and threw them on to the
fire, where soon they fared again close
to Wulf, who was lost in heavy SUM-
ber
The night was very still and the ST.
lence so deep that 1t pressed upon him
like a weight. He could bear 1t no
longer, and rising, began to walk up
and down in front of the cave. drawing
his sword and holding 1t in his hand as
sentries do. Masouda lay upon the
ground, with her head pillowed on a
saddlebag and the moonlight fell
through the cedar boughs upon her
face Goodwin stopped to look at 1t and
wondered that he had never noted be-
fore how beautiful she was.
Goodwin turned aside; it seemed not
right to watch her thus, although in
truth he had only come to know that
she was safe. He went back to the
fire, and lifting a cedar bough, which
blazed like a torch in his left hand,
was about to lay 1t down again on the
center of the flame, when suddenly he
heard the sharp and terrible cry Of a
woman in an agony of pain or fear,
and at the same moment the horses
and mules began to plunge and snort.
In an instant, the blazing bough still
in his hand, he was back by the cave,
and 10! there before him, the form Of
Masouda hanging from It's jaws, stood
a great yellow beast, which, although
he had never seen its like, he knew
must be lioness. 1t was heading for
the cave, then catching sight of him,
turned and bounded away in the direc-
tion of the fire, purposing to re-enter
the wood beyond.
But the woman in its mouth cum
bered 1t, and running swiftly, Goodwin
came face to face with the brute just
opposite the fire. He hurled the burn
ing bough at 1t, Whereon 1t dropped
Masouda, and rearing itself straight
upon it's hind legs, stretched out it's
claws and seemed about to fall on him.
For this Goodwin did not wait. He was
afraid indeed, who had never fought
lions, but he knew that he must do or
die Therefore he charged straight at
1t, and with all the strength of his
strong arm drove his long sword into
the yellow breast, till 1t seemed to him
that the steel vanished and he could
see nothing but the hilt. Then shock,
a sound Of furious snarling, and down
he went to earth beneath something
soft and heavy, and there his senses
left him.
When they came back again some
thing soft was still upon mis- face: but
this proved to be only the hand OF
MasoudaN who bathed his brow with a
cloth dipped In water, while Wulf
chafed his hands. Goodwin sat UP, and
in the light of the new-risen sun, saw
g dead lioness lying before him, its
breast still transfixed with his own
sword.
$50 saved you," he said family.
ssVos Won saved me-" answered Ma