pole, was proceeding--

"This is the jackal, from--"

"The Caribee Hielands, of which I'm a native mysel'," shouted a
gownsman.

"This is the jackal, or lion's provider," began again the much
enduring keeper.

"Who always goes before the lion to purwide his purwisions,
purwiding there's anything to purwide," put in Drysdale.

"Hem--really I do think it's scandalous not to let the keeper
tell about the beasteses," said the unfortunate matron, with a
half turn towards the persecutors, and grasping her bag.

"My dear madam," said Drysdale, in his softest voice, "I assure
you he knows nothing about the beasteses. We are Doctor
Buckland's favourite pupils, are also well known to the great
Panjandrum, and have eaten more beasteses than the keeper has
ever seen."

"I don't know who you are, young man, but you don't know how to
behave yourselves," rejoined the outraged female; and the keeper,
giving up the jackal as a bad job, pointing with his pole,
proceeded--

"The little hanimal in the upper cage is the hopossom, of North
America--"

"The misguided offspring of the raccoon and the gumtree," put in
one of his tormentors.

Here a frightful roaring and struggling at a little distance,
mingled with shouts of laughter, and "Hold on, Pat!" "Go it,
panther!" interrupted the lecture, and caused a rush to the other
side, where the long Irishman, Donovan, by name, with one foot
against the bars, was holding on to the tail of one of the
panthers, which he had at length managed to catch hold of. The
next moment he was flat on his back in the sawdust, and his
victim was bounding wildly about the cage. The keeper hurried
away to look after the outraged panther; and Drysdale, at once
installing himself as showman, began at the next cage--

"This is the wild man of the woods, or whangee-tangee, the most
untameable--good heavens, ma'am, take care!" and he seized hold
on the unfortunate woman and pulled her away from the bars.

"Oh, goodness!" she screamed, "it's got my tippet; oh, Bill,
Peter, catch hold!" Bill and Peter proved unequal to the
occasion, but a gownsman seized the vanishing tippet, and after a
moment's struggle with the great ape, restored a meagre half to
the proper owner, while Jacko sat grinning over the other half,
picking it to pieces. The poor woman had now had enough of it,
and she hurried off with her two boys, followed by the few
townspeople who were still in the show, to lay her case directly
bef