e is little enough to tell, Heaven knows," said young Scarmelli,
with a sigh, accepting the invitation after he had gratefully wrung
Cleek's hand, and his fiancee, with a burst of happy tears, had caught
it up as it slipped from his and had covered it with thankful kisses.
"That, Mr. Cleek, is where the greatest difficulty lies--there is so
little to explain that has any bearing upon the matter at all. It is
only that the lion--Nero, that is, the chevalier's special pride and
special pet--seems to have undergone some great and inexplicable change,
as though he is at times under some evil spell, which lasts but a moment
and yet makes that moment a tragical one. It began, no one knows why nor
how, two weeks ago, when, without hint or warning, he killed the person
he loved best in all the world--the chevalier's eldest son. Doubtless
you have heard of that?"

"Yes," said Cleek. "But what you are now telling me sheds a new light
upon the matter. Am I to understand, then, that all that talk, on the
bills and in the newspapers, about the lion being a savage and a
dangerous one is not true, and that he really is attached to his owner,
and his owner's family?"

"That is the truth," replied Scarmelli; "Nero is, in fact, the gentlest,
most docile, most intelligent beast of his kind living. In short, sir,
there's not a 'bite' in him; and, added to that, he is over thirty years
old. Zelie--Miss di Roma--will tell you that he was born in captivity;
that from his earliest moment he has been the pet of her family; that he
was, so to speak, raised with her and her brothers; that, as children,
they often slept with him; that he will follow those he loves like any
dog, fight for them, protect them, let them tweak his ears and pull his
tail without showing the slightest resentment, even though they may
actually hurt him. Indeed, he is so general a favourite, Mr. Cleek, that
there isn't an attendant connected with the show who would not, and,
indeed, has not at some time, put his head in the beast's mouth, just as
the chevalier does in public, certain that no harm could possibly come
of the act.

"You may judge, then, sir, what a shock, what a horrible surprise it was
when the tragedy of two weeks ago occurred. Often, to add zest to the
performance, the chevalier varies it by allowing his children to put
their heads into Nero's mouth instead of doing so himself, merely making
a fake of it that he has the lion under such control that he wi