CHAPTER XXV
DICK AND THE LION
When poor Dick came to his senses he was lying in a heap on thedecayed leaves at the bottom of the hollow between the rocks. Thestuff Josiah Crabtree had thrown down still lay on top, of him,and it was a wonder that he had not been smothered.
"Where in the world am I?" was the first thought which crossed hisconfused mind. He tried to sit up, but found this impossibleuntil he had scattered the dead leaves and tree branches. Eventhen he was so bewildered that he hardly knew what to do,excepting to stare around at his strange surroundings. Slowly thetruth dawned upon him--how Josiah Crabtree had struck him downon the lake shore.
"He must have brought me here," he murmured. "Perhaps he thoughtI was dead!"
Although Dick did not know it, he had been at the bottom of thehollow all evening and all night. The sun was now up once more,but it was a day later than he imagined.
The hollow was damp and full of ants and other insects, and assoon as he felt able the youth got up. There was a big lumpbehind his left ear where the stick had descended, and this hurtnot a little.
"I'll get square with him some day," he muttered, as he tried tocrawl out of the hollow. "He has more courage to play the villainthan I gave him credit for. Sometime I'll face him again, andthen things will be different."
It was no easy matter to get out of the hollow. The sides weresteep and slippery, and four times poor Dick tried, only to slipback to the bottom. He was about to try a fifth time, when asound broke upon his ears which caused him great alarm. From onlya short distance away came the muffled roar of a lion.
Dick had never heard, this sound out in the open before, but hehad heard it a number of times at the circus and at the menageriein Central Park, New York, and he recognized the roar only toowell.
"A lion!" he thought. "My gracious! I trust he isn't coming thisway!"
But he was coming that way, as Dick soon discovered. A fewseconds of silence were followed by another roar which to, thealarmed youth appeared to come from almost over his head. Thencame a low whine, which was kept up for fully a minute, followedby another roar. Dick hardly knew what was best--to remain atthe bottom of the hollow or try to escape to some tree at the topof the opening. "If I go up now he may nab me on sight," hethought dismally. "Oh, if only I had my--thank Heaven, I have!"
Dick had felt for his pistol before, to find it gone. But now hespotted the glint of the shiny barrel among the leaves. Theweapon had fallen from his person at the time Crabtree had pitchedhim into the hollow. He reached for it, and to his joy found thatit was fully loaded and ready for use.
Presently he heard the bushes overhead thrust aside, and then camea half roar, half whine that made him jump. Looking up, he saw alion standing on the edge of the hollow facing him.
The monarch of the forest was holding one of his forepaws up andnow he sat down on his haunches to lick the limb. Then he set upanother whine and shook the limb painfully.
"He has hurt that paw," thought Dick. "Wonder if he sees me?"
Yes, he did see, just at that instant, and started back inastonishment. Then his face took on a fierce look and he gave aroar which could be heard for miles around.
Crack! It was the report of Dick's pistol, but the youth wasnervous, and the bullet merely glanced along the lion's body,doing little or no damage. The beast roared again, then croucheddown and prepared to leap upon the youth.
But the wounded forepaw was a hindrance to the lion's movements,and he began to crawl along the hollow's edge, seeking a betterpoint from which to make a leap.
Then Dick's pistol spoke up a second time.
This shot was a far better one, and the bullet passed directlythrough the knee-joint of the lion's left forepaw. He was nowwounded in both fore limbs, and set up a roar which seemed tofairly make the jungle tremble. Twice he started to leap downinto the hollow, but each time retreated to shake one wounded limbafter another into the air with whines of pain and distress.
As soon as the great beast reappeared once more Dick continued hisfiring. Soon his pistol was empty, but the lion had not been hitagain. In nervous haste the lad started to re-load only to findthat his cartridge box was empty.
"Get out!" he yelled at the lion, and threw a stone at the beast.But the lion was now determined to descend into the hollow, andpaused only to calculate a sure leap to the boy's head.
But that pause, brief as it was, was fatal to the calculations ofthe monarch of the jungle. From his rear came two shots in rapidsuccession, each hitting him in a vulnerable portion of his body.He leaped up into the air, rolled over on the edge of the hollow,and then came down, head first, just grazing Dick's arm, andlanding at the boy's feet, stone dead.
"Hurrah! I reckon I hit him!" came in Tom Rover's voice.
"And so did I," came from Randolph Rover.
"But he has disappeared."
"This way, Tom!" cried Dick, with all the strength he couldcommand. He was shaking like a reed in the wind and all of thecolor had deserted his face.
"It's Dick!" ejaculated Tom. "I told you that I had heard severalpistol shots."
Soon Tom and Mr. Rover presented themselves at the top of thehollow, followed by Aleck and Cujo. The latter procured a ropemade of twisted vines, and by this Dick was raised up without muchdifficulty.
The Rover Boys in the Jungle; Or, Stirring Adventures in Africa Page 25