HON. J. F. 



TWO PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE. 

 JOHNSTON, GOVERNOR OF HON. J. H. WALLACE, 



ALABAMA. 



MEMBER 

 ALABAMA LEGISLATURE. 



OF THE 



A FOREST MEETING. 



E. W. PERRY. 



Two foolish ones met in a tropic forest, 

 none other being there to see. One was 

 native to those cool, dim aisles; the other 

 was from a far country. One was a hunter 

 of deer and other game ; and the stranger 

 hunted bugs and other things that are not 

 good for man to eat. 



She had been out late at night, and was 

 now content with a stomach full of young 

 pork, borrowed from a Sumo village. No 

 ear had heard a sound to cause alarm. One 

 blow prevented outcry from that pig, and 

 it was borne away as a cat carries a mouse. 

 Now 'twas time for ease, and she slept 

 in a spot ilecked by shadows, as her 

 own tawny skin was flecked with shining 

 black. 



A butterfly drifted that way on wings of 

 brilliant blue, and the hunter followed 

 eagerly. He stepped almost on the sleep- 

 ing beauty, and in a sudden fright he 

 kicked her in the ribs. She arose and wiped 

 the sweat from the brow of the intruder. 



Bright streams started from forehead and 

 from lip. yet there was no twinge of pain. 



She laid one broad paw on the shoulder 

 of the man, but he pressed a muzzle of cold 

 steel against her breast. A tiny crimson 

 stain spread on her snowy bosom, and a 

 quiver shook her frame. Her claws fell 

 from their hold, and she tore at the leafy 

 carpet. She clutched at roots that clung to 

 the earth, and clawed at palms that stung 

 her with cruel thorns. 



The hunter watched, with eyes no clearer 

 for the blood which flowed into them. 

 Deathly faintness held the jaguar for a mo- 

 ment, and a bullet struck her brain. It 

 shocked her into one mighty leap, and she 

 lay still. Her spots glistened in the sun- 

 shine filtered through the leaves high 

 above. 



Some are fated to disappointment: so 

 'twas that hunter lost a butterfly, and had 

 only an incident where a luckier man 

 might have found adventure. 



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