t having brought
his little charge home, stood in the road and purred quite loudly for
some time.

But none of the neighbours, who heard the deep sound echoing through
the quiet road, thought of looking out of the window. They merely
believed the sound proceeded from some powerful motor car which had
stopped in the vicinity.

Then the Pleasant-Faced Lion jogged home to his pedestal in Trafalgar
Square, well pleased with his night's work.

CHAPTER II

BY ORDER OF THE LION

"Hullo, Lal!" said Ridgwell, as he looked up at the Lion the following
evening.

"Hullo!" rejoined the Lion huskily. "Who is that you have brought with
you?"

"This is Christine," said Ridgwell.

"How do you do?" said the Pleasant-Faced Lion, and he seemed to look
even more pleasant than usual. The Lion stretched himself, descended
from his pedestal, and held out his paw to shake hands with Christine:
Christine responded to these greetings shyly.

Ridgwell really thought the Lion was one of the most amiable creatures
he had ever met.

"If you do not mind," the Lion observed to Christine, "you might walk
upon the other side of Ridgwell and not next to me."

"Oh, Lal, why?" asked Christine.

"Who asked Christine to call me Lal?" inquired the Lion, as he lifted
his head up with an intensely comical air of self-importance.

"I did," said Ridgwell; "you told me always to call you Lal."

"Quite right," replied the Lion. "But do you always do exactly alike,
you two?"

"Yes, always," said Ridgwell.

"Humph!" grunted the Lion. "Suppose there is only one apple and you
both want it, what happens?"

"We exactly divide it," said Ridgwell.

"Mathematically correct," said the Lion. "Good."

"But please why can't I walk next to you, _Mister_ Lion?"

"Ha!" shrieked the Lion, "there she goes, Mister Lion. You taught her
that too, I suppose."

"Hush, Lal," said Ridgwell, "don't get excited. Christine will soon
get out of the habit and call you Lal, directly she knows how pleasant
you are."

"You haven't answered my question, Lal," objected Christine.

"Well, little Christine, it is like this," and the Lion pondered deeply
for awhile. "If you walked _next_ to me and rested your hand upon my
mane as you are doing now, anybody who saw us might take us for Una and
the Lion, otherwise Beauty and the Beast, and oh! my dear child,"
implored the Lion, "you surely could not wish me ever to be called a
_beast_."

"Of course not," s