IN A DILEMMA WITH A LION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 272, 7 June 1889, Page 3

IN A DILEMMA WITH A LION.

*~ * A LANCASHIRE STOEY. (Pall Mall Budget.) In three parts. Part H; During the terrible seconds o' time that followed, two men with blanched faces rose- with one brave \ inipulfe afid : rushed to the man-

hole — too late. Too late to arrest the rush of hurrying feet along the fata! plank, too late to warn the wcmaa who had begun to make the hardworking life of Dick Rogers a thing -worth striving for, wovth iving for, "Aye, worth dying for," he cried within himself, as he clambered out— a life he would have exchanged with no one on earth since he had grown to hope for Jenny's love. With the fatal knowledge of what must happen what they almo.-t strargely waited for, the men had hastily aimed themselves. Eogers. with a crowbar, was first up, and then — a dull roar, one wild, heart rending cry, and after that the deep silence again. With calm deliberation but undaunted courage Rogers paused a minute, ■while Fitt- n fixed the lantern on the safety-valve. The lion was standing over the j body of the prostrate girl, where she had fallen, in the hollow formed where the top of the boi ers met. And then both men confronted the animal. 'Now! Tom' tried Eogers 'tegitber.' With their crowbars uplifted they sprang together, one at each side of the brute s head. What would ha >c happened Avith a forest-bred lion may be readily conjectured — this was but a cage reared beast i j one to terror, and accustomed to quail beffore the resolute action of man. The sudden savage onslaught, the light that dazzled its vision, the - fury and cries of the men as they encouraged each other, and the rapidity of tbe blows all served to beat the brute off, and though it swerved and {struck an angry paw at Fitton, that tore the slee c from his jacket, nevertheless, it suddenly turned, and with one bound regained the corner where the carcass lav,

over which it crouched, half angry half terrified, but apparemly wholly prepared to defend its spoil. Jen nys eyes were open when Rogen lifted her up. ' God love thee, lass ' cried th< man, with a sob in his voice * Keep thy courage np yet awhile.' ' Into thp. boiler, quick," said Fitton, standing before them. But it was no easy matter to get a nearly helpless woman through tht small aperture. The l'on stood snarling and crushing itself againsl the wall, just as it was accustomed to do in the cage during performances. Jeimy was slowly climbing down the man hole. 'Go in next, Dick,' said Fitton, turning rourfd. 'Nay,' exclaimed Dick, stepping up to him ; • thee go first.' There was no need nor time to dispute the

matter, so Fitton descended and Rogers follow d The lantern bei> g still on the valve, it was as dark aa pitch inside, til one of the meu struck a light. 'Poor lass, ehe swounded,' exclaimed Fitton. Jenny had indeed fainted and lay there, her dark head soon pillowed against Dick's shouJder, hor sweet face upturned to his, while he waited in sad anxiety for the lonelashed eyes to lift from her colourless cheeks. In spite of the peril just undergone Tom Fitton, with an odd sense of being in the way, was busy lighting candles and tinkering at a bit of tubing between whiles. 'An' thou'rt not hurt, lass ?' said Dick presently. 'I dinna think I am,' she answered slowly ; ' but l'se feeling stiff-like tell me, Dick, "wh t wer it ?' 'It wer just a bad accident lass -• naught else.' ' jAyp,' she murmured dreamily, and closed her eyes again. « To think,' whispered Rogers to his companion, 'tha' little lass shou.d ha* coom to meet me.' ' "Well," responded Fitton gravely — he had knr-wn of the young man's feelings this long time back— ' didna she coom once afore, during overtime, to walk whoam wi' thee ?' 'No,' returned Rogers, 'that were on account of her brother being sick an' lonesome, an' fancying my company.' ' Aye,' said the elder man, smiling and shaking his head in the profundity of his wisdom, ' thee can have it so, an' thou wilt.' Fitton "wns looking up through the man hole as he spoke, 'theer,' he exclaimed, * lantern's gone out.' As Jenny was no means a delicate city-bred woman with a consciousness of nerves and all that they involve, bnt just a simple, healthy girl full of vitaH y and pood spirits, when j she had recovered the two men told i her of the presence of the animal ! over their heads, bhe shuddered ' said, ' But it could not get in here?' ' 'It shall no ,' said Dick, and the ; two" men fell discussing a means of i escape. It was imperative at lea^ t it seemed to them to be so. that one of themshould leave their place of I safety; and at last their plan -was j made. At four o'clock they found what they had waited for, the gorged , beast was asleep ; 'I've neither .wife cor childer,' j snid Rogers turning his head away, 1 as Fitton offered to try, <an I'll do ' it.' m I A short silence, and then involuntarily the jtwo men looked at the . girl. | ' Aye, Dick, if it n:un be, it inun be,' and then, t vromai-l k i, burs into tears,- and' litsed him. j (To be continued.) !