Year: 1870

! of mile of a lion, and besides, there
was the probability that the brute, if
he should see Them approaching, would
/ spring upon me and put me out of sus-
pense at once"


his gun?''


"Cf course I did, y he answered "but
/ at the first motion / made, the old
| scoundreI lifted his head and grOwled,


as much as to say, None of that, my
| hoy. or. if you do i-If had persisted
/ it was clear he would have been upon
| me before the powder was in the bar
rel He was huge old felIow-I think
| the largest lion ever saw; with a long
| gFizzled name, and very knowing look.


''These experienced old lions are
amazingly cunning. He knew perfect
/ ly well that my gun was a weapon of
| some kind or Others and 1 have no
doubt he knew too, Of my people being
| in the neighborhOOd; for every now


and then he would look sharply in the
| direction of the wagons. On such oc-


casions could feel my heart beat vio-
lently, and the perspiration would
start to my skin"


And no wonder. ssBut did the lion,'
asked, ''remain perfectly quiet
throughout the whole day ?''


mo, unluckily he did not.'' answer


ed the trader. "His Eestlessness kept


me in constant anxiety. Once a troop


of zebras came suddenly by us. When
they saw the lion they wheeled about
quickly, snorted, and dashed of furi-
| ously in another direction. The lion
rose to his feet in an 5zastant, and look
/ ed hard at them. Lions are particular
ly fond of the flesh of the zebra, and
| had strong hopes that be would leave
me and go after them. But suppose
! the cunning rascal reflected that a bird
in the hand was worth two in the bush;
for he turned back and lay down again,
grumbling, and staring harder than
ever at me, as though to say, You see,
nv fine fellow, I have lost a zebra
through you; and now mean to make
sure of you.' You may believe in my
heart bestowed few witch's bless
| ings on the beast but I thought it best
| to keep silence.


f'The next alarm came from the di-
rectiOn of my wagons. I saw the lion
look earnestly in that direction, as he
| had done once or twice before, and


then rise to his feet and utter an an
CRY growl, as though he saw some
| thing that did not please him. I learn
ed afterward that my men, urged on
by Apollo. had armed themselves to
the teeth, and advanced to the top of
the hill. Standing there, with their


perceive the lion keeping guard over
me; but no sooner did they see the
| brute rise and turn toward me than
they all scampered back to the Wag-
ons and jumped into them, frightened
almost out of their wits.


CATER little while, the lion crouch


ed down again before me, stretched
out his paws, yaw ned and Winked, and


thought seemed to be growing tired of
his watch. But it was clear that he had


made up his mind to remain there till
! night, otherwise he would have settled


my account without further delay.


Toward evening heard low roar
! ing, which seemed to be at a great dis
tance. It appeared to disturb my lion
a good deal. From the sound I knew


it to be the roar of lioness; and I
] thought it likely that the old Fellows


mate was looking about for him. He
| got up and lay down two or three
times, moving about uneasily and


shifting the ground as though he was
| troubled in his mind but he remained
silent, aud at last the voice of the lion
ess passed gradually out of hearing


This, think was the most anxious mo-


ment of the whole day to me. For if
| the lion had answered his mate and


called her to him, sheWould most like
| ly have been hungry, and in that


case would not have delayed an instant


in seiZing upon the nice supper which


her husband was keeping for himself.


1 dare say the cunning old rascal was
of the same opinion, and so thought 1t
7 best to keep his own gunsel.


'tAt last Che night came. The stars


were bright, but there was no moon. [


could see objects indistinctIy at short
| distance, and could just discern the out
/ lines of the hills to the eastward. The
lion Law quiet, in shaggy mass, a few


yards from me. I knew that he was
! wide awake, and that he saw distinctly


every motion I made. Occasionally I
/ could see his eyes turned toward me,
! shining like two Goals of fire. My last
/ hope now was that by remaining per-
! fectly silent and mOtionless I might


tire him out or keep him from attack


ing me until something happened, as
j in the case of the Hottentot we were


speaking of to draw him off.


'For this purpose it was necessary


that should remain awake, and this


was really a matter of the greatest diff
| ficulty to me. I was completely worn
out, as you may imagine, after being
! forty-eight hours without food or sleep,
| and my mind most of the time wrought


up to the highest pitch of anxiety. The


night was chilly, which alone would
have caused me to feel sleepy. Every
/ thing about me was as silent as the
/ grave, and had to make continued eff
! forts to keep my eyelids open.


"Every now and then caught my


self nodding, and would awaken with


a sudden start of terror at the thought


that the lion might be just preparing
| to spring upon me. That was really
! hOrrid time. hardly like to think of
/ it even now. was like condemned


prisoner who awakes from nightmare
/ to remember that he is to be executed
/ in few hours. don't think I could
have held out in that condition through
the night. 1t was too much for human
nature.


'Two or three hours after the dark


ness had set in, could hear the ami


mails coming to the water to drink.
Some of them passed at a little dis
| tance from me, but I did not get a


sight of any. The lion saw them
! plainly, but he only moved his head a
| little as they trotted by. There was no


chance of his leaving me and going


after them as / had hoped. All at


once he lifted his head, looked toward


me and began to growl. Now, Thought


the time is comel He rose on his feet


and growled louder, all the while look
/ ing hard at me, as thought.


~ braced myself up for a struggle,
! with my gun in my left hand and my


handkerchief in my right. I had a
notion of endeavoring to thrust the
gun crosswise into his mouth, and then
! getting my right hand down his throat.
| It was a very Door chance but the on
ly one left, and meant to die game.


''In fact, I had given up all hope.
But in few minutes the lion, to my
surprise, became quiet again and sat
| down. He did not lie down, as before,
but kept his head stretched forward to-
| ward me, like cat intentlY examining





again as though he was satisfied about
the matter that had disturbed him.
But in another ten minutes or so he
I rose up once more to his feet and
grOwled more ferociously than ever,
''It struck me then that another lion


might be cautiously approaching me
behind, and that my particular friend
was obiecting to any division of the


spoil. If this were the case my fate
\ would soon be settled. Then thought
,nf
making some attempt to save me un-


der cover of the darkness; but there


was little likelihood of their mastering
courage enough to do anything effect


ual. / was now fully awake, as you
may suppose. The lion was standing


up, growing continually, and moving


from side to side as if he felt uncertain


what to do. At last he crouched, and
1 saw clearly that he was getting ready


for a spring.


cat that moment I heard a loud yell


behind me, and saw everything around
lighted up by blaze of fire. The yell