If Leo Dunbar was startled at the sudden appearance of this mighty
monarch of the forest, what shall be said of Daniel Hawkins and his
wife, Martha?
The farmer and his spouse gave one look and then stood, fairly paralyzed
with fear.
They were unable to utter a word, and, to tell the truth, they both felt
as if judgment was about to fall on them for ill-treating Leo, and that
the ends of their miserable lives were at hand.
The lion crouched low, moving his heavy tail slowly from side to side.
He had escaped from his steel cage but an hour before, and as yet hardly
knew what to do with his freedom.
From the road he had not been able to see the persons in the yard. But
he had heard their voices, and his brute nature had caused him to leap
the stone fence that he might rend some living creature limb from limb.
That the lion was in an ugly humor was easy to see. His mane was
ruffled, his immense claws unsheathed, and his eyes were full of
blood-curdling ferocity.
At first he gazed at Leo, but then swiftly turned toward Mrs. Hawkins,
taking a single leap that brought him at the woman's very feet.
"Oh! Daniel, save me!" she managed to gasp.
"Can't nohow, Marthy!" spluttered the old farmer.
And then, recovering just sufficiently to move, he made a wild dash for
the farmhouse, leaving his wife to her fate.
"You coward!" cried Leo, but Daniel Hawkins paid no heed to the remark.
It is likely that in his terror he did not hear it.
"Save me, Leo!" went on the woman. "The beast is goin' ter eat me up!"
The sound of her voice appeared to anger the lion still more.
His tail moved quicker, and Leo saw that he was on the point of leaping
on the woman.
The leap once made it would be impossible to do anything for Mrs.
Hawkins. The lion would simply rend and devour her.
Leo gazed about him for some weapon. He realized that if anything was to
be done it must be done instantly.
His eyes fell on the whip the old farmer had dropped. With a rapid
movement he picked up the article, and, whirling around, struck the lion
fairly and squarely across the eyes.
It was a telling blow, and, smarting with pain, the brute let out a roar
ten times louder than before.
Then he turned about and faced Leo.
"Run for your life!" sang out the youth to the woman. "Run, I tell you!"
She stared at him, but when he gave her a shove she realized what he was
saying, and made such a spurt as had never before been seen in that
dooryard.
The lion watched her go, but made no attempt to follow. His mind was on
Leo and on the blow the boy had given him.
He was an ugly brute, and around the circus was known to be the most
difficult to manage. Trainer after trainer had tried to break him in,
but without effect. Instead of getting more docile, he grew worse.
In his former days he had killed a man, and evidently he was longing for
a chance to repeat this bloody tragedy.
He took several steps and tried to get behind Leo.
But the boy was on the alert and ran backward toward the apple tree.
Then the lion crouched for a leap. His immense body was bent low, his
tail gave a quiver, and forward he shot toward the very spot where Leo
was standing.
But as the lion leaped so did the boy. He turned a graceful curve to the
left, out of the brute's reach, and caught the lowest branch of the tree
behind him.
The lion's nose struck the tree trunk, and he let out another roar of
mingled pain and disappointment.
"Didn't do it that time," muttered Leo. "What's the use of banging your
nose like that?"
Another roar was the only answer, and then the lion left the vicinity of
the tree and moved back several yards beyond the branch to which Leo
clung.
The boy knew what was coming, and immediately stood up on the limb.
He was none too soon.
Again the lion made a leap upward.
He reached the limb, but only to find that Leo had taken a spring to the
next above.
But now an accident happened which neither the boy nor the brute was
expecting.
The apple tree was old and somewhat rotted at the roots. The weight of
the boy and the sudden shock from the heavy body of the lion were too
much for it to stand.
There was a crack and a loud snap, and then the tree went over on the
ground, carrying Leo and the lion with it.
The lion was completely bewildered by the fall, and, moreover, he was
entrapped for the moment by several limbs which came down on his back
and neck.
As the tree went over, Leo turned around and landed on his feet directly
beside the lion.
He saw how mixed up the brute was amid the branches and this gave him a
sudden idea.
With a lightness of foot that was surprising in a mere farm lad, he ran
to the woodshed.
Soon he reappeared carrying a wash-line, a well-rope, and half a dozen
leather straps.
He fastened an end of the wash-line to one of the limbs of the tree and
then to another, and so on all around the lion.
Then he crossed the well-rope over the line, and even fastened it around
the lion's left hind leg.
Then making a noose of the longest strap, he watched his chance and
dropped it over the brute's neck.
Of course, the lion roared and struggled to free himself, but Leo was
too quick for him.
The noose around his neck, Leo tightened it considerably, and then
fastened the end of the strap to the tree trunk.
"Now, if you move you'll take the whole tree with you," thought the boy.