When He Found That I Had
Not Returned By Nightfall, Spooner Had Become
Nervous About Me, And Fearing That I Had Met
With Some Mishap, Had Come Out With A Number Of
The Workmen In Camp To Search For Me In The
Direction I Had Taken In The Afternoon.
He
was delighted to find me safe and sound and
with a lion's skin as a trophy, while I was equally
glad to have his escort and company back to
camp, which was still over a mile away.
When we had settled down comfortably to
dinner that night, I fired Spooner's sporting
ardour by telling him of the fine pair of lions who
had watched us skinning their companion, and we
agreed at once to go out next day and try to
bag them both. Spooner and I had often had
many friendly arguments in regard to the
comparative courage of the lion and the tiger, he
holding the view that "Stripes" was the more
formidable foe, while I, though admitting to the
full-the courage of the tiger, maintained from lively
personal experience that the lion when once roused
was unequalled for pluck and daring, and was in
fact the most dangerous enemy one could meet
with. He may at times slink off and not show
fight; but get him in the mood, or wound him,
and only his death or yours will end the fray -
that, at least, was my experience of East African
lions. I think that Spooner has now come round
to my opinion, his conversion taking place the next
day in a very melancholy manner.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 197 of 247
Words from 54331 to 54599
of 68125
