RACE FOR LIFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3052, 6 February 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

RACE FOR LIFE.

Cassoll's Magazine for July),

" \Yi: must bolt," said Captain Angus at ray elbow ; " that lion means mischief by tho manner in which it is dancing towards mo, n.nd mark you how rns'.ive tho horsos aro! Their instinct is Iceoner than ours ; they can seont clangor in tho air. The instant wo move to fly, depend upon it the lion will start in tho chase, and our only ehauco will Ho in out-running him, for, unarmed as wo are, what could wo do to defend ourselves against such a bruto ?" " Look you, Angus ; yonder is a mounted orderly riding across country. You have good eyes; see what you make of him." Captain Angus shaded his sight with his hand, and starod towards the retreating figure. " It is a Lancer trooper," said he presently; "Icansoe tho plumes in his head-dress, and I can also see the pennon fluttering from the lace."

" He is armed, then ?" "He is carrying his lace," replied the captain. " Good !" I cried. " Now, if we can roach that soldier before the lion catches us, we shall bo all right. It will not take him long to'touch the heart of the brute with the keen steel head of his spear.

Fortunately, we have not been working our horses hard ; but thoy must go now if ever they did for their very lives. Are you ready ?" "Yes," said he, drawing his hat on firmly, and planting himself upon the saddle. " Come noTV !" We turned our horses about, and with shouts and slaps gave them rein. The intelligent creatures, as though conscious of their danger, started off like frightened deer along the sandy valley. 1 let the newly-lighted cigar drop from my mouth, and setting my knees firm against the sleek sides of the mare, grasped the reins with a grip of steel. A low sullen roar reached my ears and turning for an instant to glance over iny shoulder, I caught a glimpse of the lion flying after us in pursuit, its lithe form bounding like a flash of light from ridge; to ridge, and its whole shape a mere fleeting vision of flowing mane, flashing eyes, an'] distended jaws. 11 Iley-on ! Hey-up ! It was like a dead heat with the order of the hunt reversed. The horses' hoofs thundered over the sand, raising a smoke-like column of dust as they swept with the velocity of the wind towards the figure of the soldier every instant growing more defined. My cap new off; I tried to catch it, but it whirled away astern like a bit of chaff. Our speed was pi-o-

digious. I felt my horse tremble beneath me, and the steam rose from her reeking hide in a warm mist. I lay forward to whisper in her ear, although, breathless as I was, T rather" hissed than spoke the syllables of encouragement which came from my lips. My companion and I kept our stations abreast of each other with wonderful precision. We occasionally exchanged a few hurried words, but it was no time for talking; the whirl and tumult, and above all, the sense of danger, were too great for coherence and almost for articulation.

Five minutes passed, although so much of sensation was packed into them that the time might well have been an hour. Once I turned again to see whether we still maintained our station ahead of the lion, and perceived that the creature was slowly but visibly gaining upon us. Yet the speed of our hordes was prodigious 1 could feel the heart of my mare beating with a violence that sent a thrill through her whole frame to each throb of it, but she kept bravely on, with no signs of flagging. Whether the soldier had perceived us or not as yet it was impossible to say. I could now clearly make him out even to the glitter of his accoutrements. He was heading transversely away from us, his horse going at a moderate trot. Several tiines we united our voices in a shout, but he was apparently still too distant for our confused halloos to reach him, for he kept steadily on.

Presently, however, I saw him turn his head in our direction. 1 ( raised my arm and flourished it wildly, hoarsely calling to Angus to do the same. He snatched off his hat, which still adhered to his head, and waved it violently. The soldier continued looking our way, growing plainer to the view even as he did so ; then, apparently noticing our gestures and interpreting them into signals, he drew rein and brought his horse to a standstill. Now that he had stopped, we swept down upon him like a whirlwind. As we approached we alternately shouted and pointed behind us, but he apparently made nothing of these signs—as indeed, what suspicion should he have ot the real motive of our headlong flight towards him? Suddenly, however, he rose nearly erect in his saddle, and 1 saw him hastily release his lance from the sling which confined it to his aim, aiuf lower the long glittering weapon down to the trail. I then know that he had caught sight of the lion, and remember amidst all the huny and tumult of my thoughts at that moment admiring the prompt presence of mind of the fellow, staggered as he must have been by the unexpected apparition of our wild and fierce pursuer. Then what followed took place, as it seemed to nie, all in a breath. Ourselves, panting like a hare in its final spurt, and our horses reeling

and spout, we darted past the soldier, crouching with his spear pointing low, and came to a standstill, wheeling round to sec what would now happen. The trooper's liorso reared up on its hind logs till it seemed as though the man would slide From ofT the saddle. In a Hash the lion was upon the creature, leaping upwards at its throat at tho very moment that the soldier, like St." George slaying the dragon, plunged his lance with all his might into the qimering yellow body of the beast. The creature gave a loud deep roar, and a moment after the trio' of man, horse, and lion rolled over into the clnsl with a dull dead thud. Captain Angus vaulted clean out of his saddle, and in an instant

gained the side of the struggling group. The lion was doubtless badly wounded, but it was tearing the shoulders of the horse cruelly with its claws, and the soldier, who lay pinned to the ground by the weight of the animal's carcase, was in danger of being mutilated by the ferocious brute. The pole of the lance stuck out from its side, buried high as its penon in the flesh. With the rapidity of thought my companion seized this and withdrew it, the lion giving a prodigious howl of pain as he did so. Then stepping back a few paces, and gripping the spear with both hands, the captain poised it for an instant, and rushed full tilt at the prostrate creature, plunging the gore-stained head of the lance into the body with such force that 1 looked to see the barbed point appear on the other side. The lion sprang into the air, doubling itself nearly up in the rigour that ran through its frame, then fell with a flop upon the sand, tumbling over on i f s side with the lance sticking straight up into the air, as though it pinned it to the earth. A few silent struggles convulsed its form, and then it stiffened out, its tail rigid as a spike—dead as a nail!