A TALE OF THREE LIONS
Page: 14

thoughtfully rubbing his antennæ against each other.

"Suddenly, the beetle gave such a jump that he nearly pitched headlong
into the fire, and so did we all--gave jumps, I mean, and no wonder,
for from right under the skerm fence there came a most frightful roar
--a roar that literally made the Scotch cart shake and took the breath
out of me.

"Harry made an exclamation, Jim-Jim howled outright, while the poor
oxen, who were terrified almost out of their hides, shivered and lowed
piteously.

"The night was almost entirely dark now, for the moon had quite set,
and the clouds had covered up the stars, so that the only light we had
came from the fire, which by this time was burning up brightly again.
But, as you know, firelight is absolutely useless to shoot by, it is
so uncertain, and besides, it penetrates but a very little way into
the darkness, although if one is in the dark outside, one can see it
from far away.

"Presently the oxen, after standing still for a moment, suddenly
winded the lion and did what I feared they would do--began to 'skrek,'
that is, to try and break loose from the trektow to which they were
tied, to rush off madly into the wilderness. Lions know of this habit
on the part of oxen, which are, I do believe, the most foolish animals
under the sun, a sheep being a very Solomon compared to them; and it
is by no means uncommon for a lion to get in such a position that a
herd or span of oxen may wind him, skrek, break their reims, and rush
off into the bush. Of course, once there, they are helpless in the
dark; and then the lion chooses the one that he loves best and eats
him at his leisure.

"Well, round and round went our six poor oxen, nearly trampling us to
death in their mad rush; indeed, had we not hastily tumbled out of the
way, we should have been trodden to death, or at the least seriously
injured. As it was, Harry was run over, and poor Jim-Jim being caught
by the trektow somewhere beneath the arm, was hurled right across the
skerm, landing by my side only some paces off.

"Snap went the disselboom of the cart beneath the transverse strain
put upon it. Had it not broken the cart would have overset; as it was,