CHASED BY A LION.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 73, 27 March 1922, Page 7

CHASED BY A LION.

ok so it s__ivr__. "" FAST TIME IN THE DARK. Ther wa_, a travelling circus in the neighbourhood. it a very dark nigut and the two counlry-iolk —it happened up iv the district lamous ior its lertile hill aud astonishingly early potatoes —were probably iv mat frame of mind which induces tne 'belated small boy to whistle loudly when he comes to the most lonely part oi the road. A roar from one ol tue lions sounded as though the king oi ibeasls were annoyed, or troubled by a nocturnal attack of indigestion 'brought on 'by some particularly tough 'bit oi Potatoville ''beef. Then he roared again. "That seems mighty close," said one of the late travellers, "do yuu think it could have es— .".

Before he could finish his dread fear there was a quick aud: ominous rustic the other side of the hedge. And the comfbined effect of the combined roar (horribly near it sounded), aud the suspicious rush the other side of the hedge was magical. It was a case of "two ! eouls -with 'but a single wish, two hearts that thumped with fear." Any man on . the cinder track who could start as rapidly as this couple did would make : a fortune, and it is a pity that no time i was taken for .the first hundred yards. Had their been a stop watch on the .pair ' the district would have had something more than early potatoes with which to break records. Horrible to relate the "rustle" also got up speed, and coming to a capacious culvert the two men in a hurry made a sudden dive, crawled as far up the drain as they could, and waited for the coming of the escaped lion. Apparently the king of ibe_-ts hadn't got the scent, for nothing happened, and the last man in the drain gradually lost that feeling ■which Kipling's friend Mulvaney describes as "'creeping wid invijius apprehension." Silence reigned supreme, and the hunted two ventured out of their restricted lair. Feeling that the road .was not too safe they made off across country for their homes, and as speed was the essence of the contract they did not study the order of their going even when they came to a prick hedge or barbed wire. At last they reaiched the safety of walls j and doors, and then the torment of (body | gave place to a torment of mind. Should they once more brave the hor-1 rors of the night, tell the circus man and ■ warn Potatoville? Discretion and dTOW- i einess -won the argument and the two citizens sJept the sleep of the utterly exhausted. Next morning they were j up 'betimes, half fearing to come across j the gory track of the escaped beast. The | famous hill and the potatoes were still j there. The morning smoke rose leisurely \ as U3ual from the settlers' chimneys. | And the show had its full complement of lions. : Then they came on the only stranger in the neighbourhood—a large black | lady-pig with friendly tendencies, which j had found the sale yard uninteresting, ■ broken out. and gone off en a midnight i stroll. —> doubt hearing voices and i human footsteps she had wished to '"get | into touch," as they used to say in the > army, and the la-ck of reciprocity must i have sorely tried her porcine patience. ' If you ever go to Potatovilln it is just ' as "well to ascertain to whom you are speaking before you mention lions, ladypigs, and midnight adventures.