124 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



been saved. As it was, after he had once thrown 

 his weapon he was helpless, for these people 

 carry only one spear, relying upon their kins- 

 men for help when needed. 



"A sixteen-year-old boy who chanced to be 

 tending cattle near by had been watching the 

 hunt and was only a few rods away when the 

 lion attacked the Masai. Seeing the plight his 

 comrade was in, he rushed to his assistance and, 

 with only a " knob-stick "* for a weapon, began 

 beating the great cat on the head. Three blows 

 were sufficient to make the shaggy-maned crea- 

 ture leave the man he was mauling and spring 

 upon the brave little herder. Only a few mo- 

 ments elapsed before a score of spearmen arrived 

 and riddled the animal with spears, but the poor 

 little fellow had been mortally wounded." 



Doctor Mearns made three trips from our 

 camp to the village in an effort to save the 

 lives of those two natives, but both of them died 

 of blood-poisoning. When the news reached 

 us that they were dead, the doctor said: "Lo- 

 ring, during my career as an army surgeon I 

 saw and heard of a great many cases of bravery, 

 but never have I known a boy so young to vol- 



*A three-foot stick with a knob the size of a baseball at one end. 



