The Washington times., 1919-12-21

oAuci tuiS SlcC ooN baoe sAS 49,
way was quite securely closed. |
started to go back, but had not
stepped more than two or three
PAGES when, in the bright moon
light, | saw the head Of my small
est OK suddenly appear over the
top Of the wall. About this there
would have been nothing particu-
larry astonishing had II not been
for the fact that this head belonged
to . dead animal
What in the name Of goodness" !"
l began to myself, when my reflec-
tons were cut short BY the appear
ance of another head, that Of one
Of the biggest lions ! ever saw,
which had the OK BY the throat, and
with enormous strength. was de-
nberately hoistins 1t over the wall.
There was the brute within twelW
feet Of me, and, what IL more, it
saw me a. / saw it and stopped
still, holding the OK by the throat.
Although. of course, was
startled for a moment, by the time
that had the rife to my shoulder
had little fear of the issue, unless,
of course, there was miss-1re,
especially as the beast was so AZ
tonished that 1T remained quite
stu.
Then the unexpected happened,
as it generally does in life. especf
ally In hunting. ! fred. but by mis-
fortune the bulNt struck the tip
OF he horn of that confounded OK,
which tip at that moment fell in
front Of the spot on the lions
throat whereat half-unconsciously
I had aimed. Result: the ball was
turned, and departing at an angle
Just cut through the skin of the
creatures neck. deeply enough to
make II madder than all the hat
ters in the world.
Dropping the OK, with a most
terrific roar 1t came over the wall
at mel remember that there
seemed to be yards of it-I mean
Of the Eon-in front of which there
appeared to be a cavern full Of
cleaning teeth.
skipped back with much agility,
also a little to one side, rejecting
that Zikali's Great Medicine was.
after all, not worth q curse. The
lion landed on my side Of the wall
and reared itself upon its hind
legs before getting to business,
towering high above me but little
to my left. Then I saw q strange
thing.
A shadow thrown by the moon
fitted past me-all ] noted Of 1t
was the shape Of q great lifted axe,
probably because the axe came
first. The shadow fell, and with It
another shadow, that Of hons
paw, dropped to the ground. Then
there was . most awful noise OF
roaring, and wheeling round ! saw
such q fray as never I shall see
again. A tall, grim. black man was
fighting the great lion, that now
lacked one paw, but still stood
upon its hind legs, striking at him
with the other.
The man, who was absolutely
silent, lodged the blow and hit
back with the axe, catching the
beast upon the breast with such
weight that 1t came to the ground
in q lopsided fashion, since It had
only one paw on which to light.
The axe flashed up again, and
before the lion could recover itself
or do anything else fell with a
crash upon its skull. sinking deep
into the head. After which all was
over, for the beasts brain was cut
In two.
81 am here at the appointed
time" said Umslopogaas, for 1t was
he, as with difficulty he dragged
the axe from the lions severed
skull, ito find you watching by
night, as it is reported that you
always do"
NO." I retorted, for his tone irri
tated me, you are late, Bulalio;
the moon has been up some hours
81 said that / would meet you
on the night of the full moon, not
at the rising of the moon"