them. "Yes!" she said, "he'd want me fust thing, sure."

"Why?" whispered Matilda.

"Likes the dark meat best," said Norton. "Fact, Pink; they say they do."

Matilda gazed with a new fascination on the beautiful, terrible
creatures. Could it be possible, that those very animals had actually
tasted "dark meat" at home?

"Yes," said Norton; "there are hundreds of the natives carried off and
eaten by the tigers, I heard a gentleman telling mother, every year, in
the province of Bengal alone. Come, Pink; we can look at these fellows
again; I want you to see some of the others before they are fed."

They went on, with less delay, till they came to the Russian bear. At
the great blocks of ice in his cage Matilda marvelled.

"Is he so warm!" she said. "In this weather?"

"This room's pretty comfortable," said Norton; "and to him I suppose
it's as bad as a hundred and fifty degrees of the thermometer would be
to us. He's accustomed to fifty degrees below zero."

"I don't know what 'below zero' means, exactly," said Matilda. "But
then those great pieces of ice cannot do him much good?"

"Not much," said Norton.

"And he must be miserable," said Matilda; "just that we may look at
him."

"Do you wish he was back again where he came from?" said Norton; "all
comfortable, with ice at his back and ice under his feet; where we
couldn't see him?"

"But Norton, isn't it cruel?"

"Isn't what cruel?"

"To have him here, just for our pleasure? I am very glad to see him, of
course."

"I thought you were," said Norton. "Why I suppose we cannot have
anything, Pink, without somebody being uncomfortable for it, somewhere.
I am very often uncomfortable myself."

Matilda was inclined to laugh at him; but there was no time. She had
come face to face with the lions. Except for those low strange roars,
they did not impress her as much as their neighbours from Bengal. But
she studied them, carefully enough to please Norton, who was making a
very delight to himself, and a great study, of her pleasure.

Further on, Matilda was brought to a long stand again before the wolf's
cage. It was a small cage, so small that in turning round he rubbed his
nose against the wall at each end; for the ends were boarded up; and
the creature did nothing but turn round. At each end of the cage there
was a regular spot on the boards, made by his nose as he lifted it a
little to get round the more easily, and yet not enough to avoid
touching. Yet he