TO-MORROW. 1. In the downhill of life, when I find I'm declining, Than a snug elbow-chair can afford for reclining, With an ambling pad-pony to pace o'er the lawn, And blithe as the lark that each day hails the dawn 2. With a porch at my door, both for shelter and shade too, As the sunshine or rain may prevail; And a small spot of ground for the use of the spade too, With a barn for the use of the flail : A cow for my dairy, a dog for my game, And a purse when a friend wants to borrow; I'll envy no nabob his riches or fame, Nor what honours await him to-morrow. 3. From the bleak northern blast may my cot be completely Secured by a neighbouring hill; And at night may repose steal upon me more sweetly By the sound of a murmuring rill : And while peace and plenty I find at my board, 4. And when I at last must throw off this frail covering On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering, But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey, And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow; For this old worn-out stuff, which is threadbare to-day, May become everlasting to-morrow! ADVENTURE WITH A LION. [Spell and write] attacked, encouraged, marauders, circle, partially, chloroform, operation, annihilated, peculiar, benevolent, buffalo, paroxysm. It is well known that if one in a troop of lions is killed, the others take the hint, and leave that part of the country. So the next time the herds were attacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length, and covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. Being down below on the plain with a native schoolmaster, named Mebálme, a most excellent man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the now closed circle of men. Mebálme fired at him before I could, and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; then leaping away, broke through the opening circle, and escaped unhurt. The men were afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in witcheraft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in it, but we were afraid to fire, lest we should strike the men, and they allowed the beasts to burst through also. If they had acted according to the custom of the country, they would have speared the lions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill one of the lions, we bent our footsteps towards the village. In going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, but this time he had a little bush in front. Being about thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out: 'He is shot, he is shot!' Others cried: 'He has been shot by another man too; let us go to him!' I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger behind the bush, and turning to the people, said: 'Stop a little till I load again!' When in the act of ramming down the bullets, I heard a shout. Starting and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier-dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebálme, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels; the lion immediately left me, and attacking him, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebálme. He left him, and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysm of dying rage. Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth-wounds on the upper part of my arm. [Write from dictation] The lion bravely attacked the men, who, encouraged by Dr Livingstone, had come out to attack the marauder of their flocks and herds. Partially wounded, he seems to have sprung on the circle of his foes in a paroxysm of pain and rage. The effect of the shaking here described is very peculiar, and is described as partially causing insensibility, as chloroform does when given before an operation. THE ELFIN PLOUGH. A Tale. [Spell and write] consecrated, seized, transformation, mischievous, disagreeable, abhorrence, favourite, generally, consequence, particular, possessed, proprietors, gratification, successively, conferred, nobility, congratulate. There once lived a peasant in Rodenkirchen, who was extremely poor, but an honest, pious man, and every morning, as he went to his work, he would kneel down before a stone-cross that stood on his road, and say his prayers. One day, while performing his usual devotions, he perceived a very brilliant worm, such as he had never seen before, running up and down the cross, as if it wanted to get away, or was frightened. The peasant took no further notice of it the first time, but when, on the two following mornings, he saw it wriggling about after the same fashion, he began to be half uneasy, and said to himself: Can this be a little elf? He runs about, for all the world, as though he had a bad conscience, and would fain get away, yet could not.' For he had heard his father tell, that whenever one of the little underground people touch any consecrated object, they are held fast, and cannot escape from it. So he seized the worm between his fingers, and in spite of its resistance, he pulled it away, when he found he was holding, by one lock, an ugly elf, scarcely six times the height of one's thumb, who screamed and struggled as hard as he could. The peasant, though horrified at this sudden transformation, |