? ? ? ? He beat furiously upon the heavy portal.
? ? ? ? "Esmeralda! Esmeralda!" he shrieked. "Let me in. I am being devoured by a lion."
? ? ? ? Esmeralda thought that the noise upon the door was made by the lioness in her attempts to pursue her, so, after her custom, she fainted.
? ? ? ? Mr. Philander cast a frightened glance behind him.
? ? ? ? Horrors! The thing was quite close now. He tried to scramble up the side of the cabin, and succeeded in catching a fleeting hold upon the thatched roof.
? ? ? ? For a moment he hung there, clawing with his feet like a cat on a clothesline, but presently a piece of the thatch came away, and Mr.
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