us. Pray, how did it end?"

"Why, the heat of the sun on the rock was so overpowering, that the man
was in great agony; his naked feet were so burnt, that he was compelled
to keep moving them, by placing one upon the other and changing them
every minute. The day passed, and the night also; the lion never moved
from the spot. The sun rose again, and the heat became so intense that
the poor man's feet were past all feeling. At noon, on that day, the
lion rose and walked to the pool, which was only a few yards distant,
looking behind him every moment to see if the man moved; the man once
more attempted to reach his gun, and the lion, perceiving it, turned in
a rage, and was on the point of springing upon him; the man withdrew his
hand, and the beast was pacified."

"How very strange!"

The animal went to the water and drank; it then returned and lay down at
the same place as before, about a yard from the man's feet. Another
night passed away, and the lion kept at his post. The next day, in the
forenoon, the animal again went to the water, and while there, he looked
as if he heard a noise in an opposite quarter, and then disappeared in
the bushes.

"Perceiving this, the man made an effort, and seized his gun, but in
attempting to rise he found it not in his power, as the strength of his
ankles was gone. With his gun in his hand, he crept to the pool and
drank, and, looking at his feet, he discovered that his toes had been
quite roasted and the skin torn off as he crawled through the grass. He
sat at the pool for a few moments, expecting the lion's return, and
resolved to send the contents of his gun through his head; but the lion
did not return, so the poor fellow tied his gun on his back and crawled
away on his hands and knees as well as he could. He was quite
exhausted, and could have proceeded no farther, when providentially a
person fell in with him and assisted him home; but he lost his toes, and
was a cripple for life."

"What makes this story more remarkable is," observed the Major, "that
the lion, as it is rational to suppose, must have been hungry after
watching the man for sixty hours, even admitting that he had taken a
meal but a short time before."

"I know many other very curious and well-authenticated anecdotes about
this noble animal," observed Swinton, "which I shall be happy to give
you; but I must look at my memorandum-book, or I may not be quite
correct in my story. One fact is very remar