lean and ugly
brute appeared the kitchen cat said, 'Hiss-phitz-witz!' whereupon the
lean animal retired in mortal terror, his mongrel tail tucked under his
mongrel legs.

The resemblance to Leucha was really so marvellous as to be laughable,
and all the girls had declared that they would not have allowed this
beastie to appear if Leucha had been expected to be in the school. But
Leucha had come back unexpectedly, and her conduct to Hollyhock had so
roused the ire of that generally good-natured girl that she made up her
mind that no change should now take place in the programme.

Besides the ordinary cat and dog, there was one ferocious-looking beast
managed with great skill, a lion. A very tall girl in the school took
this part. The lion's mane was magnificent, his growls such as to
terrify any one. These were produced in reality by a little toy
instrument concealed in the mouth. He growled and stalked about, and
looked so like the real thing that more girls than Leucha shrank back
in alarm as he approached the frail barrier which separated the actors
from the spectators.

Who _was_ this enormous beast? Could it possibly be a _real lion_?

Then there were the wild panther, the fierce tiger, a pony, an ox, a
sheep, a goat, a pig, a long, wriggling thing to represent a snake, and
finally a most enormous cock-a-doodle-doo, who seemed to fear none of
the awful forest beasts and reptiles, but sang out his lusty crow right
heartily with all the goodwill in the world.

But the three characters who excited most mirth or fear amongst the
spell-bound spectators were, first and foremost, the kitchen cat;
second, the timorous mongrel dog; and third, the lion with his mighty
mane and terrible roar. The mongrel dog gave faint yelps and howls of
anguish whenever he was approached by the lion or the kitchen cat. The
lion made a valiant attempt, growling savagely as he did so, to
demolish the cat; but the agile cat leaped on his back, stuck her
claws, which were really crooked pins, into his hide, and sent the king
of beasts howling to a distant part of the stage. She then proceeded
to torment the mongrel dog, and to draw out, as she well knew how,
Leucha's peculiarities in the dog.

Leucha sat in the audience, rather far back, nearly stunned with
horror. Oh, the cruelty of the whole thing! Of course she recognised
Daisy; of course she recognised the caricature of herself. Oh! it was
a wicked, wicked thing to do, and