How far I had traveled I do not know, for I had gone at a brisk pace and
the way had been so winding and twisting and turning, when there came to
my ears the low growl of an eager lion. I hailed the sound with joy, for
I was satisfied the road leading to victory would be a very dangerous
one and most difficult to travel, and I had gone such a distance without
an obstacle I was beginning to be doubtful. The muffled roar of the
beast reassured me and I pressed onward.
[Illustration]
I came to where the road branched in three directions. I was thankful I
possessed a keen ear, for by its aid was I enabled to take the one which
led to the lion, and I soon saw him stretched on the ground gnawing a
bone which was probably all that was left of some suitor.
The lion raised his head and looked at me long and steadily, as if to
say: “What! Another?”
Now, I had heard if a lion meets an unflinching gaze he will take
himself off without attempting to injure the gazer. I walked within a
few yards and set my glance on his eyes. He seemed slightly astonished
after a few minutes, and I persisted. Then his tail began to sway from
side to side with great force. His next movement was to fix himself for
a spring. Perhaps he had had so much of that gazing business he was used
to it; in any event, it was not working like a charm, and I resorted to
other tactics.
I must pass that lion, and the path was so narrow his body completely
filled it.
I stood my ground and saw his muscles set as his body grew closer and
closer to the ground. Then his fibers began to tremble, and I knew the
time was near at hand.
With a terrific roar that almost unsettled me, he sprang into the air. I
stooped low and ran with great speed, passing under him as he flew to
the spot I had just quitted. Nor did I slacken my speed until I reached
a river flowing with surging force down a channel fifteen or twenty feet
across. Hearing the lion coming, I cast about me, knowing if I could
cross the stream the lion would not, for lions hate water, like all the
cat tribe.
I repeated the rules so many times as I came along I knew them by heart.
“Thou shalt not pluck any leaf, blossom, twig, or limb that is alive,”
one of them said.
Now, I saw a dead vine which hung from the top of one of the trees, and
which was broken off a few feet from the ground. This last I did not
discover until I had made an examination, for the end was hidden in the
foliage. The lion was coming with more speed as my tracks were so fresh.
I seized the end of the vine firmly in my hands and swung backward and
forward until by an extra effort I reached the other side just as the
lion reached the spot I had swung from. By carefully gauging the
distance I sent the vine back to its hiding place in order that I should
leave nothing by which I might retrace my steps, to comply with another
of the rules.
I thought I heard an exclamation near by, but could not discern from
whence it came. As night was approaching I hastened on in the hope I
might find some safe place for the night.
I had proceeded some space by devious paths, keeping to the right when
there was a fork in the roads, until I stood at the top of an incline,
down which the narrow way went on. About half way to the bottom I saw a
huge serpent lying with his great mouth directly toward me, the balance
of him meandering among the trees and shrubs on both sides, leaving no
possibility of my passing him.
Again I was delighted at this new evidence I was on the right road, and
devised a plan by which I circumvented the snake. Since my boyhood
experience I had taken great joy in outwitting reptiles, and had been
always successful; therefore I had no fear in this case.
As my enemy appeared half asleep, having probably been gorged by other
suitors, but not in the manner following, I took that much advantage of
him.
The top of the hill was well supplied with large round boulders. I
loosened one of them, and it was a prodigious one, and put it in the
center of the path. I went for another and another until I had quite a
stock of stone cannon balls.
Then I sighted one of them most carefully and sent it spinning down the
hill. It went true as a die and entered the serpent’s mouth, holding it
firmly, for a moment, to the ground. Then I opened my fusillade in dead
earnest, and such a dinner no scaly fiend ever had, for by the time I
got to the coffee and cigars he was so full the last few hit against
those lodged in his mouth and rolled on harmlessly. His condition must
have been indeed awkward, for him, for he now lay as straight as a
kite-string in a gale, and he could but emit a hoarse hiss as I passed
him by, wishing him success in recovering from his indigestion.
I was now quite positive I heard a suppressed laugh, but could discover
no one by peering into the foliage, as I was not permitted to leave the
path on any pretense.
I continued my journey and had barely reached the bottom of the incline
when there came shooting after me such a torrent of boulders I had to
run for it to save my life, and I am quite sure I should have been a
goner had the path continued straight; but, to my great joy, I came upon
an abrupt turn and lost no time in getting around the happy corner.
The poor snake’s stomach must have troubled him. I fear the effort
required to relieve his overcharged condition quite put him out of the
running, for I saw and heard no more of him.
I came next to a chasm, several yards in width and exceedingly deep.
There was nothing but shrubbery on either side, and it was impossible to
scale this or the other side. Neither was it possible for me to jump it,
and I am no mean jumper.
There was nothing that could be of any possible assistance but a bare
pole. I tried to push this across, but could not manage it. I endeavored
to let it fall over, but in length it was a trifle short of the width of
the chasm, and I almost lost it.
I had about concluded to camp there for the night, though I shivered
when I thought of the serpent and that he might give chase when he had
recuperated somewhat. The more I thought of that venom-spitter, the more
reluctant was I to remain on that side of the gorge during the whole
night, unarmed as I was and unprotected in any way from a thing that
could follow me anywhere I might go.
With joy I finally saw a crack in the edge of the rock. I quickly
grasped the pole and rammed one end into that, wedging it tightly. This
left it in a perpendicular position, and I lost no time mounting to its
top. When there it seemed such a short distance across I felt inclined
to chance a jump for it; but my sense came to my rescue, and getting a
secure grip on the very end of the pole with both hands, I started it to
falling across. When I was well under way through the air, I gave my
body a twist and lengthened the pole in that manner by my whole length,
which brought me sprawling but happily on the other side, the pole
tumbling into the stream. Thus I had again left nothing by which I could
retrace my steps.
I was mightily well pleased to find a snug house before I had gone half
a mile, for I was bent on putting as much space between that snake and
myself, for that chasm did not seem such a terrible thing for him to
cross when I remembered his horrible length—it would have been no trick
at all for him to have spanned it with but a kink or two.
So, as I say, I was delighted at the sight of the habitation.
On the steps sat an old woman, and I paid her a pleasant time of day.
She said not a word, but arose and entered the house.
My nose told me there was that within which would quiet the pangs of
hunger now giving me much discomfort, and I followed her.
There was a table with one chair at it and she was busy at the fire. I
stood by the chair and she looked at me with every kind of astonishment.
This confused me so that I sat in the chair and she went on with her
cooking.
I could not resist the tempting meal that lay before me, and as she made
no protest when I had taken one mouthful, and I eyed her closely as I
took it, I took another, and another, until I had finally eaten a hearty
meal, and felt nice and smooth and very much pleased with everything.
I arose and gazed about me. She went to a ladder which led to an upper
floor, looked up it and then passed out the door. When she returned,
which she did after a few minutes, I was in the very same place.
She went to the ladder again, looked up it, and again passed out. When
she again returned I was still there. Again she went to the ladder,
looked up it a third time, and a third time passed out.
What she meant now began to percolate through my brain. You see, I had
eaten so heartily and felt so comfortable my brain had got to sleep
before my body had, and I had really not been thinking. But now I went
to the ladder and looked up, and was so doing when she again returned to
the door, glanced at me and went away.
Then I climbed the ladder and I was almost asleep all over before I
could get to it; for there before my very eyes was the softest bed
conjurable. So, I do not remember anything more, whether I just tumbled
onto the cozy thing and was in slumber before I struck it, or whether I
went through the usual routine.
Anyhow, my repose was pleasant, for it was filled with dreams of the
beautiful princess I was soon to see, as it seemed to me the
difficulties I had already overcome were greater than any that could
possibly present themselves. Alas, how mistaken was I!
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