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HE
awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed
upon him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke,
and from a swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted
energies of the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his
senses, remembered all that had passed, and comprehended his present
situation. He returned the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce,
and scrutinising, as his own. For a moment, their flashing orbs
vied in regal rivalry; but at length the spirit of the mere animal
yielded to the genius of the man. The lion, cowed, slunk away, stalked
with haughty timidity through the rocks, and then sprang into the
forest. |
