by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER XI.
THE DEATH OF THE LION.
Yes, the fierce brute was fairly in the trap. The three hunters breathedfreely.
But how was the affair to end? Both door and window-shutter fittedstrongly and closely; and, although it was possible to glance throughthe chinks, nothing could be seen inside--since, both being shut, it wasquite dark within.
Even could the lion have been seen, there was no hole through which tothrust the muzzle of a gun and fire at him. He was just as safe as hiscaptors; and, so long as the door remained closed, they could do him nomore harm than he could them.
They might leave him shut up, and let him starve. He could live for awhile upon what the jackals had left, with the carcasses of the twodogs, but that would not sustain him long, and in the end he would haveto give up and miserably perish. After all, this did not seem so certainto Von Bloom and his companions. Finding that he was caged in earnest,the brute might attack the door, and with his sharp claws and teethmanage to cut his way through.
But the angry field-cornet had not the slightest intention of leavingthe lion such a chance. He was determined to destroy the beast beforeleaving the ground; and he now set to thinking how this could beaccomplished in the speediest and most effectual manner.
At first he thought of cutting a hole in the door with his knife, largeenough to see through and admit the barrel of his roer. Should he notsucceed in getting a view of the beast through that one, he would makeanother in the window-shutter. The two being on adjacent sides of thehouse, would give him the command of the whole interior--for the formerdwelling of the field-cornet comprised only a single apartment. Duringhis residence there, there had been two, thanks to a partition ofzebra-skins; but these had been removed, and all was now in one room.
At first Von Bloom could think of no other plan to get at the enemy, andyet this one did not quite please him. It was safe enough, and, ifcarried out, could only end in the death of the lion.
A hole in both door and window-shutter would enable them to fire at thebrute as many bullets as they pleased, while they would be quite securefrom his attack. But the time that would be required to cut theseholes--that was why the plan did not please the field-cornet. He and hisparty had no time to spare; their horses were weak with hunger, and along journey lay before them ere a morsel could be obtained. No,--thetime could not be spared for making a breach. Some more expeditious modeof attack must be devised.
"Father," said Hendrik, "suppose we set the house on fire?"
Good. The suggestion was a good one. Von Bloom cast his eyes up to theroof--a sloping structure with long eaves. It consisted of heavy beamsof dry wood with rafters and laths, and all covered over with a thatchof rushes, a foot in thickness. It would make a tremendous blaze, andthe smoke would be likely enough to suffocate the lion even before theblaze could get at him.
The suggestion of Hendrik was adopted. They prepared to fire the house.
There was still a large quantity of rubbish,--the collected firewoodwhich the locusts had not devoured. This would enable them to carry outtheir purpose; and all three immediately set about hauling it up, andpiling it against the door.
One might almost have fancied that the lion had fathomed their design;for, although he had been for a long while quite silent, he nowcommenced a fresh spell of roaring. Perhaps the noise of the logs,striking against the door outside, had set him at it; and, findinghimself thus shut up and baited, he had grown impatient. What he hadsought as a shelter had been turned into a trap, and he was now anxiousto get out of it.
This was evident by the demonstrations he began to make. They could hearhim rushing about--passing from door to window--striking both with hishuge paws, and causing them to shake upon their hinges--all the whileuttering the most fiendish roars.
Though not without some apprehensions, the three continued their work.They had their horses at hand, ready to be mounted in case the lionmight make his way through the fire. In fact, they intended to take totheir saddles--as soon as the fire should be fairly under way--and watchthe conflagration from a safe distance.
They had dragged up all the bush and dry wood, and had piled them infront of the door. Swartboy had taken out his flint and steel, and wasabout to strike, when a loud scratching was heard from the inside,unlike anything that had yet reached their ears. It was the rattling ofthe lion's claws against the wall, but it had an odd sound as if theanimal was struggling violently; at the same time his voice seemedhoarse and smothered, and appeared to come from a distance.
THE LION IN A FIX.]
What was the brute doing?
They stood for a moment, looking anxiously in each other's faces.
The scratching continued--the hoarse growling at intervals--but thisended at length; and then came a snort, followed by a roar so loud andclear, that all three started in affright. They could not believe thatwalls were between them and their dangerous enemy!
Again echoed that horrid cry. Great Heaven! It proceeded no longer fromthe inside--it came from above them!
Was the lion upon the roof?
All three rushed backward a step or two, and looked up. A sight wasbefore them that rendered them almost speechless with surprise andterror.
Above the funnel of the chimney appeared the head of the lion; hisglaring yellow eyes and white teeth showing more fearful from contrastwith the black soot that begrimed him. He was dragging his body up. Onefoot was already above the capstone; and with this and his teeth he waswidening the aperture around him.
It was a terrible sight to behold--at least to those below.
As already stated they were alarmed; and would have taken to theirhorses, had they not perceived that the animal was stuck fast!
It was evident that this was the case, but it was equally evident thatin a few moments he would succeed in clearing himself from the chimney.His teeth and claws were hard at work, and the stones and mortar wereflying in all directions. The funnel would soon be down below his broadchest, and then----
Von Bloom did not stay to think what then. He and Hendrik, guns in hand,ran up near the bottom of the wall. The chimney was but a score of feetin height; the long roer was pointed upward, reaching nearly half thatdistance. The yaeger was also aimed. Both cracked together. The lion'seyes suddenly closed, his head shook convulsively, his paw dropped looseover the capstone, his jaws fell open, and blood trickled down histongue. In a few moments he was dead!
This was apparent to every one. But Swartboy was not satisfied, until hehad discharged about a score of his arrows at the head of the animal,causing it to assume the appearance of a porcupine.
So tightly had the huge beast wedged himself, that even after death hestill remained in his singular situation.
Under other circumstances he would have been dragged down for the sakeof his skin. But there was no time to spare for skinning him; andwithout further delay, Von Bloom and his companions mounted their horsesand rode off.
