f the game, you know. You keep at it year after year,
and sometimes they die, and sometimes they get crippled--it's all in the
luck of the game. You may give fifty pounds for a horse, and find that
he can never get over his fear of the elephant, while you give ten
pounds for another, and find him a ready-made performer almost."

We passed out through the ghostly circus and the menagerie tent down to
the stable tent. There, among a lot of others, a tranquil-looking animal
was munching some feed, while in front of him hung a placard, "Tiger
Horse".

"That's a new sort! What is he, ring, trick, or school horse?"

"Well, he's a class by himself. I suppose you'd call him a ring horse.
That's the horse that the tiger rides on."

"Did it take him long to learn that?"

"Well, it did not take this horse long; but we tried eleven others
before we could get one to stand it. They're just like men, all
different. What one will stand another won't look at. Well, good-bye."

Just like men--no doubt; most men have to carry tigers of various sorts
through life to get a living.

THE CAT

Most people think that the cat is an unintelligent animal, fond of ease,
and caring little for anything but mice and milk. But a cat has really
more character than most human beings, and gets a great deal more
satisfaction out of life. Of all the animal kingdom, the cat has the
most many-sided character.

He--or she--is an athlete, a musician, an acrobat, a Lothario, a grim
fighter, a sport of the first water. All day long the cat loafs about
the house, takes things easy, sleeps by the fire, and allows himself
to be pestered by the attentions of our womenfolk and annoyed by our
children. To pass the time away he sometimes watches a mouse-hole for
an hour or two--just to keep himself from dying of ennui; and people get
the idea that this sort of thing is all that life holds for the cat.
But watch him as the shades of evening fall, and you see the cat as he
really is.

When the family sits down to tea, the cat usually puts in an appearance
to get his share, and purrs noisily, and rubs himself against the
legs of the family; and all the time he is thinking of a fight or a
love-affair that is coming off that evening. If there is a guest at
table the cat is particularly civil to him, because the guest is likely
to have the best of what is going. Sometimes, instead of recognizing
this civility with something to eat, the guest stoops down an