New Iberia enterprise and independent observer., 1911-10-21
RIJRIED ALIVE BY A LION.

Out from the reeds, close to
where the bull had first been
standing came an animal. cary
inc in it's mouth what appeared
to me to be a tree. This was
enough for the bull; he threw up
his tail and dashed away. | was
too much interested IN the new
arrival to think of shooting nm,
and so he made good his escape.
Meanwhile the strange animal
came little closer. and presently.
laying down its burden, it let out
a terrific roar, then picked the
thing up again and once more
drew nearer.
could now see it quite clear
". and saw. to my horror, that 1t
was a lioness carrying a man,
seemingly wrapped in a blanket,
for | could see a part OF 1t drag
ing. Now ! was in fix indeed.
was sorely tempted to shoot the
brute. but if fired and only
wounded her she would immed-
lately maui the poor wretch she
was carrying, and for all | knew
he might still be alive | decided
that ! would not risk It, so |
stopped where ] was, with the
lioness getting closer at every
step.
Well. the lion came slowly
along till she was within hun
dred yards of me, when she
laid the man down. and
roared again. The noise was tre-
it seemed to fairly
shake the earth, and it made me
feel decidedly nervous. for l
thought she was calling to her
mate. She was now. as ! have
said. about hundred yards from
me, but | was between her and
the river. | could now see that
the man she was carrying was
a white; all I could see of the
poor fellow was his hand, and
what I had thought was a blanket
turned out to be cavalry cloak.
If was a dead shot | would have
fred and killed the beast, but ]
was nervous of only wOunding
her. in which ease the poor beg
gar she had hold of would suffer.
All this time | was lying full
length. raising my head a few
inches now and then to watch, l
could see her shifting at him, and
presently she started to dig away
with her fore-paws like a eat. ex-
little trench. Next
she picked up the man and laid
him in the hollow
"Great ScOtt!" | thought.
She means to bury him!" There
was some more shifting, while |
with straining eyes.
Then she started to cover him up,
raking sand over him with one
paw. Every now and then she
would stop and sniff at the poor
beggar again. / was mad with
impatience, wishing she would
move off. so that [ could get at
the unfortunate fellow. for | had
an odd feeling that he was still
alive. She finished at last. with
the man fairly well covered. save
for his boots and hands, which
were stretched out.
The liOness now moved off
about five yards; then turned and
came back. stepping very lightly,
FOR all the world like an enor-
nous cat. She had another sniff,
which apparently satisfied her,
fOr she went off again. this time
l little farther. but only to repeat
he process. / could see her OBJ
ect now. She evidently had her
,ubs somewhere near. and was 60
ng to bring them to dinner. but |
Wished to protect her prize mean
while.
The brute's next journey took |
Ter about a hundred and fifty |
ards from me, so I determined |
o fire, trusting to luck to get In
cartridge I'm case of a
Mss. So. just when she turned
o come back for another look at |
Ter prey, / pulled The trigger.
lined just behind the shoulder.
loping to fix her in one shot. The
moment I fired, out of the corner
t my eye ] saw the fellow in the
verc0at roll over, rise to his feet.
nd stagger towards me. Then |
urned my attention to the lion
ss. l could see she was hit, for
he was sitting on her haupches,
caring like ten lions in one.
My shot had just caught her
ackbone, and she was helpless. I
ave her one more through the
cad and killed her.-Captain g.
}. Haiuh in the Novpmhar W;1o