ins attached to stakes driven in the ground. The big beasts
knew something was wrong.

Monkeys in a cage next to the broken one from which the lion had
escaped were wildly leaping about and chattering. They had caught sight
of the tawny beast, and knew him for one of their jungle foes, though
there was little danger now that the simians would be injured.

The Siberian tigers were spitting and snarling in their cage, and
another lion began to roar till he seemed to shake the ground. All the
captive animals appeared to know that one of their number had gained
its freedom and it was as if they were eager to congratulate him.

"Keep the crowd out! Don't let 'em in here!" cried Jim Tracy, as he
came running in, word having reached him of what had happened.

"No danger of any of that crowd coming in," said Joe, as he nodded
toward the throng that had passed out of the tent. "You couldn't drag
'em in."

"Come on, boys!" called Senor Bogardi. "We must get him before he runs
out of the big tent."

He led the throng of animal men and others in the chase. The men
carried ropes, sharp iron prongs and other weapons, while the
lion-tamer had sent to the cook wagons for a big chunk of raw beef with
which to placate Prince, in case he should come close enough.

And then, in the big tent, there began a lion hunt. The place was
cleared of spectators now, but there were many nooks under the
thousands of seats or behind some of the apparatus that was left in
place for the evening performance, where a beast could hide.

The lion had disappeared. Under the direction of Jim Tracy and the
beast's tamer the big tent was gone thoroughly over but no lion could
be found.

"He must have gotten out," declared Joe.

"If he has there'll be trouble--not now maybe, but later," said the
ring-master.

"We can't move on and leave him behind very well," he went on. "Prince
will probably go into hiding until he gets up an appetite, and then
we'll have bills of damages to settle from farmers whose calves and
sheep are disappearing. I almost wish we didn't have any cats in the
show, but I s'pose we must."

The search went on in the tent, but was unavailing. Prince seemed to
have run in and run out again, though the circus folk and others on the
outside of the tent, on being questioned, said they had seen nothing of
the beast.

"Well, we've got to find him, that's all," decided Jim, "and before
dark if we can. Get a crowd of men, Bogardi, and s