420 THE LION KILLER. 



" ' Oh !' said the lion, in a voice that made the horse take 

 to his heels. The perspiration started under his mane, and 

 he began to think he had not looked before he had leaped. 

 However, it was too late to doubt, and he pushed on. 



" The plain was passed, and a forest rose before him on the 

 side of a purling brook, and from time to time, like the 

 call of a bell-bird, he heard the clear sound of a woodman's axe. 



" Entering the woods, guided by the noise, he saw before 

 him the wood-chopper. 



"'This fluttering jay bird may tell me something about 

 what I am seeking,' muttered the lion, * though he is so tat- 

 tered and poor, he may not even have heard of the great ones 

 of earth.' 



" ' God help you, my poor creature. I have been all day 

 hunting after the seed of the woman ; can you tell me where 

 I must go to find him ?' 



" ' Good gracious ! most noble sir, he's not hard gettin' at ; 

 I'll go and fetch him. But, please sir, while I am gone, 

 this log I am splittin' won't stay open unless you will 

 hold it for me. Just put your paws in this crack ; I won't be 

 gone a minit." 



The lion, with a gracious condescension, inserted his paws 

 in the crevice, when the wily woodman knocked away the 

 wedge that held it open, and the log springing together, held 

 the lion's paws with a gripe like a vice. He struggled and 

 growled in vain. 



" The woodman then cut a dozen stout cudgels, and taking 

 the lion by the tail with one hand, administered with the 

 other such an awful bastinado, that the poor creature's back 

 was beaten softer than his belly. At length, when strength 

 and sticks were all worn out, he released his prisoner by dri- 

 ving in another wedge, telling him to go home and relate to 

 his family that if they would come there, the seed of the 

 woman would give them all the same lesson. 



