A TALE OF THREE LIONS
Page: 27

brute, clearly ignorant of the cause of his hurt, sprang right at the
throat of his companion, to whom he evidently attributed his
misfortune. It was a curious sight to see the astonishment of the
other lion at this most unprovoked assault. Over he rolled with an
angry snarl, and on to him sprang the black-maned demon, and began to
worry him. This finally awoke the yellow-maned lion to a sense of the
situation, and I am bound to say that he rose to it in a most
effective manner. Somehow or other he got to his feet, and, roaring
and snarling frightfully, closed with his mighty foe.

"Then ensued a most tremendous scene. You know what a shocking thing
it is to see two large dogs fighting with abandonment. Well, a whole
hundred of dogs could not have looked half so terrible as those two
great brutes as they rolled and roared and rent in their horrid rage.
They gripped each other, they tore at each other's throat, till their
manes came out in handfuls, and the red blood streamed down their
yellow hides. It was an awful and a wonderful thing to see the great
cats tearing at each other with all the fierce energy of their savage
strength, and making the night hideous with their heart-shaking noise.
And the fight was a grand one too. For some minutes it was impossible
to say which was getting the best of it, but at last I saw that the
black-maned lion, though he was slightly bigger, was failing. I am
inclined to think that the wound in his flank crippled him. Anyway, he
began to get the worst of it, which served him right, as he was the
aggressor. Still I could not help feeling sorry for him, for he had
fought a gallant fight, when his antagonist finally got him by the
throat, and, struggle and strike out as he would, began to shake the
life out of him. Over and over they rolled together, a hideous and
awe-inspiring spectacle, but the yellow one would not loose his hold,
and at length poor black-mane grew faint, his breath came in great
snorts and seemed to rattle in his nostrils, then he opened his huge
mouth, gave the ghost of a roar, quivered, and was dead.

"When he was quite sure that the victory was his own, the yellow-maned