ld state, having hunted him in Africa. He had captured Brutus there
when the animal was two years old; he was then ten, but always retained
something of his wild nature. He was secured in a pit with his mother,
the mother being shot.

In another menagerie with which he had been connected his principal
performance was "the happy family," in which he brought together in the
same cage two lions, several wolves, a couple of bears, a sheep, a small
elephant with a monkey on his back. The crowning feature of this was the
introduction of the sheep's head into the lion's mouth, which he held
open by the upper lip with a strong grip. The sovereignty of the lions
was acknowledged by the other animals, who looked at them with fear,
getting as far away from them as the cage would permit. He had to pull
each one into the cage by force. He compelled a bear to stand with his
nose in close proximity to that of a lion; he called this the kiss of
friendship; the bear had to be kicked and pushed into position, looking
at the lion with terror; the lion did not deign to look at the bear, but
kept his eye fixed on his master, whom of course he obeyed under
protest. When the sheep was brought forward, and its head was put
between the lion's jaws, it was almost in a swooning condition, and
excited general pity. He had to get a new sheep every month, the daily
fear causing them soon to decline unto death.

The foregoing, in substance, was a portion of the talk with which
Brinton gratified himself as well as his listener, the appreciative
Rounders.

The trick of pulling away the meat from under the jaws of Brutus was
technically known under the canvas as the "meat-jerk." It continued to
remain uppermost in the mind of the new keeper.

The nomadic life had pleasures for Rounders, aside from the fascination
of the "meat-jerk." He drove a gayly colored wagon in the caravan, as it
moved through the country. At night, like the Arabs, they folded their
tents and stole away, and at dawn they were on the march. Perched on his
seat, Rounders's eyes dwelt on the landscape with its purple tints of
the morning, and his nostrils sniffed the sweet odors of Nature while
she was still in deshabille. Silently, like a variegated serpent, the
caravan crept around the hills and through the valleys. The musicians,
clad in gold and scarlet, rode through the country in their magnificent
chariot, and gave out no sound, their breath being reserved for the
towns and