pepper him with slugs and bullets. Regardless of the shower of balls the
lion bounded forward, and in an instant turned the chase upon them. All
took to their horses or their heels. One huge fellow, not nimble enough
to mount his horse in time, was left in the rear, and was speedily run
down by the rampant lion. He had the prudence to fling himself flat on
the ground and lie quiet as a log. The lion sniffed at him, scratched
him with his paw, and then quietly sat down upon his body. His routed
companions, collecting in a band, took courage at length to face about;
and, seeing the lion on the prostrate body of the hunter, they imagined
that their comrade was killed, and began to concert measures for
avenging him. After a short pause, however, the lion resigned of his own
accord his seat of triumph, relieved his panting capture, and retreated
towards the mountains. The party, on coming up, found their friend
shaking his ears, unharmed, except what he had suffered from a very
ungentlemanly piece of conduct on the part of the lion.

[Illustration: THE LION SITS DOWN ON THE HUNTER.]

PURSUED BY INDIANS.

Two young men who had been attached to an exploring party, out West, but
had unwisely strayed away from their companions, were leisurely riding
along the prairie, trying to track the footsteps of their friends, when
they saw on the brow of a hill in their rear about a dozen Indian
warriors, who were rapidly approaching them. There was not a moment to
lose. The white men were unarmed, save for their hunting-knives, while
the lances of the red men gleamed in the light of the afternoon sun.
Putting spurs to their horses the two young men tried to escape by
flight, but the derisive cries of the enemy showed that the distance was
rapidly lessening between them. Nothing could have saved them had it not
been that, just at the most critical moment, they reached a "windrow," a
strip of ground upon which a storm had hurled down the trunks of trees
in wild confusion. Hastily abandoning their horses to their fate, the
two friends got in among the thick fallen timber, where they concealed
themselves, and listened breathlessly while the Indians with shouts
pursued, and attempted to capture the coveted animals. But they did not
succeed. A cloud of dust heralded the approach of a party of men, who
with shouts and cries galloped into the midst of them.

It was the exploring party, whose opportune appearance saved their
companions