CHAPTER VII
THE LION'S ESCAPE
"FELLOWS, I've got an inspiration," said Dick one evening when severalof his companions, including Tom and Bert, had gathered in the latter'sroom.
"Well, well," said Bert, "old Dick's got an inspiration, boys. I wonderwhat it is? The last time Dick had an inspiration, that one about takinga cow up onto the roof of the recitation hall, we all pretty nearly gotinto trouble, including the cow. I think any other inspiration from thesame source will have to come with first-class references and a letterof introduction. Otherwise I, for one, refuse to recognize it at all."
"If you're quite through," said Dick, with elaborate politeness,"perhaps you'd be so kind as to let me get in a word edgewise, andenlighten an expectant world regarding this inspiration. Just becausethe cow fell down a flight of steps that time and made everybody thinkthere was an earthquake in progress doesn't prove that it wasn't a goodidea. Accidents will often spoil the best laid plans."
"I notice something almost always does happen to plans of that kind,"laughed Bert. "But go ahead and tell us your scheme. What is it?Kidnapping the dean, or just burning down one or two of the buildings."
"Well, that wasn't what was in my mind," confessed Dick. "But now thatyou speak of it, either one might be worth trying. But the particularidea simmering in my massive intellect at the time I was so rudelyinterrupted by a certain low character, was this: There's going to be acircus in town to-morrow, and I for one feel a whole lot like going tosee it. I haven't been to a circus for the last five years and I'm justhoning to see this one."
"That's an inspiration as how _is_ an inspiration," said Tom; "it'sfunny how really first-class ideas originate in unbalanced minds attimes. Dick comes out real strong once in a while."
"Thanks for your valued approval," said Dick sarcastically; "how do therest of you fellows feel about it? Want to go?"
There was a general chorus of assent, and Dick gravely declared theproposition carried by a unanimous vote. "I think it starts around halfpast two," he said, "and I guess we can all be there by that time, can'twe?"
It appeared that everybody could, and after discussing incidents ofcircuses they had seen in the past the group dispersed to theirrespective rooms.
The next day was clear and bright, and at the appointed time the merrygroup met on the campus and took their way in high spirits toward thecenter of the town, where the circus had pitched its tents. Many otherswere going the same way, and numerous were the jokes and furious therepartee exchanged between the different groups. In a short time theyreached the "big top," and after inspecting the grounds and gazing inmock wonder at the portraits of bearded ladies and wondrously thin"living skeletons," made for the gorgeously decorated ticket wagons andsecured their tickets.
"It's more fun, of course," said Tom, "to crawl in under the canvas, butI'm afraid that wouldn't be quite dignified enough for me. The rest ofyou can go in that way if you like, however. Don't let me interfere withyour pleasure."
"If you get off much more of that stuff we'll show the crowd a'Christian martyr' stunt by feeding you to the lions," threatened Bert."Maybe the animals could appreciate you better than we can."
"Yes, I've heard that in many respects animals are wiser than men,"retorted Tom, "and I wouldn't be surprised at that. I don't see how theycould have much less sense than some people I know."
"I wonder if he means us?" inquired Bert seriously. "It hardly seemspossible, does it?"
"Oh, no, I wasn't thinking of you at all," said Tom. "I was thinking ofthe faculty when I said that."
"Well," said Bert amid a general laugh, "in that case we'll forgive allyour past offenses and start you off with a clean slate. Your sentimentsregarding the faculty do you credit."
By this time the group found themselves opposite the beginning of therow of cages containing the menagerie, and started out on a tour ofinspection. There was a big crowd and progress could only be made at asnail's pace. By the time they had reached the elephants it was close onto the time set for the show to begin, and after feeding the big brutesa few peanuts they hurried into the main tent. They secured seats nearthe top of the high tier of loose planks placed on trestles, and settledthemselves to enjoy the performance. Before ascending to their placesthey had amply provided themselves with popcorn and peanuts, withoutwhich, as one of the fellows remarked, a "circus wasn't a circus."
The circus was one of the smaller variety, but had a reputation ofgiving a first-class exhibition, and in the opinion of some of thespectators was more satisfactory to watch than one of the big shows,where the very multiplicity of attractions made it difficult for thespectator to really enjoy anything. The onlooker's attention is drawn bya burst of applause in some distant line of seats, and while he istrying to make out what is going on there he misses, most likely, theact that is being performed near him.
This circus had only two rings, but the acts presented were of a highcharacter and our friends enjoyed everything from the opening parade tothe final act, in which a man "looped the loop" on a bicycle. At theconclusion of this feat, Dick leaned over toward Bert. "Why don't youtry that stunt on a bicycle some time, Bert?" he inquired, "it ought tobe a cinch for you."
"Too easy, too easy," laughed Bert, "give me something hard while you'reabout it. Just the same," he added more seriously, "it is a mighty hardstunt, and requires nerve and skill of the highest sort. Personally, I'drather make a living some other way."
By this time they were able to make their way through the throng to themain entrance, and were just passing through into the outer tent whenthey were startled by hearing shouts and screams from the direction ofthe animal cages. There was a wild flurry and commotion in the crowd infront of them, and suddenly they saw a great tawny form flying throughthe air. The people in the path of the beast scattered wildly to leftand right, and the brute landed on the sawdust floor without doing anydamage. He stood there a moment glaring about him, swishing his tailangrily back and forth. Meanwhile there was a mad scramble for theexits, and many persons were thrown down and trampled in the crush.
The group of collegians had stood stupefied for a few minutes watchingthe escaped lion, for such the animal proved to be. The big brute seemedbewildered by the crowds and the shouting, and knew not what use to makeof his new-found freedom. But suddenly he emitted a deep roar, andbounded toward the main exit, in which a struggling, shouting crowd wasnow solidly packed. Suddenly Bert sprang into action. "Head him off!head him off!" he shouted and, suiting the action to the word, starteddiagonally toward the entrance. Tom and Dick were close after him,followed by the more courageous of their companions. By this timeseveral of the animal keepers and trainers had also struggled throughthe press, and were hot in pursuit of the fleeing lion. But they weretoo far behind to be of any good, and the lion would surely have dashedheadlong into the packed mass of humanity had not Bert and the otherswith him intervened. They waved their hats and shouted, and the lion,somewhat taken aback, halted for a second. Then he gathered himselftogether and, with a mighty bound, leaped clear over their heads. Withanother spring he cleared the crowd at the entrance, and was free. Hehesitated a moment, looking this way and that, and then, just as one ofthe keepers, a rifle in his hand, reached the tent entrance, boundedswiftly forward and disappeared around a corner.
The trainers started out in hot pursuit, accompanied by Bert and hisfriends. "I don't want to shoot him," panted the man with the rifle ashe ran, "he's worth five thousand dollars. He's one of the finest lionsin captivity, and his loss would mean a bad blow to the outfit. But if Iget a crack at him I'll shoot, just the same. We can't run the risk oftrying to capture him alive."
It was not difficult to trace the lion's path, although not once didthey actually catch sight of him. Distant shouts and cries told of thebeast's progress, and their path was lined by closely shut doors andpale faces peering from upper windows. Soon they reached the outskirtsof the town and then, in the more open country, were able to catch aglimpse of their quar
ry. He was about half a mile distant, and evidentlymaking directly for a dense piece of woodland just ahead of him. Soonhe disappeared among the trees, and the man carrying the rifle, who wasevidently the head trainer, called a halt.
"How far do those woods extend?" he asked Bert.
"Not very far," replied Bert. "I should say there's not more than asquare mile of woodland, at most."
"Well, then," said the other, "the chances are ten to one that Leo willstick to the trees, and not come out unless he has to. In that case, allwe have to do is surround the place to see that he doesn't get away.Then I don't think we'll have much trouble recapturing him."
As this seemed to be the opinion of his assistants, too, their leadersent one of them back to the circus to make a report and bring outreinforcements, and then made plans to surround the strip of woods. Bythis time quite a crowd had collected, and the animal trainer selectedvolunteers to set up a guard about the trees and give warning if thelion attempted to break cover.
"All you have to do," he explained, "is to climb a tree near where Ipost you, and if you see anything of the lion, sing out. He can't climba tree, of course, so you'll be perfectly safe."
There was no lack of volunteers, and our three comrades were among thefirst to proffer their services. "This is a little more than we hadcounted on," laughed Tom; "we expected _some_ excitement for our money,of course, but nothing like this."
"Well, we won't kick now that it is handed to us," remarked Bert; "itbegins to seem like old times again. Only that time we were up against atiger instead of a lion."
"Yes, that's so," agreed Dick, "but I hope we don't have as close ashave this time as we had then. That was getting a little too close tothe undertaker to suit me."
"No, we won't go looking for trouble the way we did that time," saidBert. "If that lion wants us, he'll have to climb a tree to get us. I'mnot anxious for a fracas with a big healthy lion. I'll leave thatpleasure to some one else."
By this time twilight had begun to set in, and it was with the greatestcaution that the volunteers and circus men began to skirt the edge ofthe patch of trees. The head trainer went with them, and at intervalsstationed one of the band in a convenient tree. "Just keep your eyespeeled until it's too dark to see," he instructed them, "and by thattime we'll have torches from the circus. Then we'll form a ring of firearound the woods, and keep the brute inside it until daybreak. Thenwe'll get him, dead or alive."
In this way he made the circuit of the woods, until his last helper hadbeen stationed to his satisfaction. Tom, Bert and Dick were stationed insuccession at a distance from each other of two or three hundred yards,and accommodated themselves as best they could among the branches. Theykept a sharp lookout below them, but all remained quiet and undisturbed,and it seemed hard to believe that there was lurking death in the midstof the quiet woodland. No sound reached their ears save an occasionaldistant shout, probably of command or direction from the head trainer.
Time wore on slowly, after the first excitement had passed, and thewatchers began to get thoroughly chilled in the crisp autumn air beforethey saw a host of twinkling lights approaching from the direction ofthe town. The lights grew rapidly nearer, and the watchers knew thatthis was the squad of men of which the trainer had spoken. Soon theyreached the fire where the head trainer had made his headquarters, andafter a brief halt started to surround the woods. Each man of the partyheld a flaring, smoking gasoline torch, and their combined strength gavea brilliant illumination. In their progress they stopped at the treeswhere the watchers were stationed, and one after the other relievedthem. Bert, Dick and Tom were soon on the ground once more, and wereglad to get an opportunity to stretch their cramped muscles.
"Well, what's the plan now?" Bert asked one of the men.
"Oh, there's nothing we can do till daylight," he answered, "we'll justhang around and make sure that the lion doesn't get out of these woods.Then we'll capture him some way, and hustle to catch up with the rest ofthe outfit."
"Why, have they gone on without you fellows?" asked Tom in surprise.
"Sure," replied the other; "we're due in the next town to-morrow, and alittle thing like a lion getting away can't stop us. Nothing much lessthan an earthquake could, anyway."
And indeed, it was very much as the fellow said. A circus simply mustmeet its engagements on time, or else go out of business. Its agents goon days in advance of it, advertising and pasting bill posters over thesurrounding landscape, and if the show isn't on time all the cost ofthis is wasted, besides the loss of prestige to the circus, not to sayanything of the loss of the day's gate receipts.
Therefore, the circus from which the lion had escaped struck its tentsand traveled on exactly as though nothing out of the ordinary hadhappened. To be sure, it was hindered by the fact that so many of itsmen had to be assigned to capturing the lion, but in spite of this itwas hardly an hour late in starting.
After the volunteer watchers had been relieved, Burton, the trainer incharge of the proceedings, thanked them for their services, but toldthem that there was nothing more they could do, so that they could feelat liberty to go home if they were so inclined. A few did, but themajority elected to stay and "see the show through," as Tom expressedit. "It isn't often you get a chance to see a lion hunt in a quietcollege town," he said, "and I, for one, am not going to miss it merelyto get a little sleep. I can sleep 'most any old time."
"Yes, but there probably won't be anything doing until morning, anyway,"said Burton with a smile; "you could get your sleep, and come backagain."
But the three comrades were of one mind, and resolved to spend the nightaround the camp fire, so as to miss nothing of the novel experience.Fortunately, the next day was Saturday, and, as it happened, none ofthem had any recitations on for that day. This left them free to doabout as they liked, and it did not take them long to make up theirminds.
They settled themselves around the fire, and soon had good reason tofeel glad that they had decided to stay. The last arrivals had broughtfood and coffee in plenty, and this was soon passed around, everybodymaking a hearty meal. Then pipes were lit, and those of the circus menwho were not on duty began swapping tales of adventures and experienceswhile following the "game," that were teeming with interest to the boys.Many of the men were fairly well educated, and told what they had totell in a very interesting way. Every once in a while those about thefire would leave to replace some of their companions who had beenwatching some time, and the men thus relieved would have a new batch ofstories to relate. Around the crackling, roaring fire it was very warmand comfortable, and time flew by faster than the boys realized. Theyhad never felt more wide awake in their lives, and they were muchsurprised when the first faint streaks of dawn in the eastern sky toldof approaching day.
As soon as it became light enough to see, two carpenters startedconstructing a wooden cage out of lumber they had brought with them, andhad soon built a cage large enough and strong enough, it seemed to theboys, to hold an elephant. When the work was completed, several menlifted the cage and carried it to the very edge of the woods. Then,having located the place where the lion had entered, they placed thecage directly across the trail. It had been provided with a door thatslid up and down, and this was fastened open with a stout cord.
By the time these preparations were finished Mr. Burton hurried up, andcarefully inspected the work. He had just returned from a trip aroundthe trees, and reported everything quiet so far. "Now, boys," he said,"get a move on, and we'll carry this trap a little farther in. Old Leomight not want to come out this far for his breakfast, even though he'sprobably pretty hungry by this time. Lively's the word, now!"
The cage was lifted by willing arms, and carried well into the shadow ofthe trees. "All right, here's the place," said Mr. Burton, when hejudged they had penetrated far enough, "set it down here. Have you gotthe meat with you, Bill?" The man addressed produced a large bundle,which on being unwrapped proved to be a large piece of juicy raw meat.
"That will do fine," s
aid Burton, approvingly and, taking the meat fromthe other, placed it well inside the cage. "All right," he said, wheneverything was arranged to his entire satisfaction. "All hands get intothe trees now, and we'll wait for Leo to come for his breakfast. I'lltake the rope into my tree, and spring the trap. Hustle. The brute's aptto come around most any time now."
Even as he spoke a loud roar echoed through the woods, so close at handthat for a moment every heart stood still. Then there was a wild dashfor the nearest trees. Dick and Bert and Tom made for a large oak nearat hand, and went up it faster than they would have imagined possible.They had barely reached a place of safety in the lower branches, thanwith another roar the lion leaped into the clearing. For a few minuteshe stood motionless, with the exception of his tail, which swishedangrily back and forth. Soon he located the boys in their tree, and madean angry dash toward it. By this time, however, they were high up in thebranches, and the lion seemed to realize that they were beyond hisreach, and after giving vent to another roar, walked away. Then he sawothers in the surrounding trees, and made a circuit of inspection,gazing eagerly upward at the tempting human beings so close to him andyet hopelessly beyond his reach. Finally, he seemed to dismiss them fromhis mind and, going over to the cage, sniffed eagerly at the meat insideit. He had had nothing to eat since the preceding noonday, and wasravenously hungry. But he seemed to suspect some trap to curtail hisnew-found liberty and, hungry as he was, for more than half an hour herefused to enter the cage. He made numerous attempts to hook the meatwith his claws, but found it always a little beyond his reach. At last,with an angry growl, he made up his mind and stepped inside the cage.
He had hardly commenced to gnaw the meat, however, when Burton releasedthe cord that held the sliding door open. With a crash it slid closed,and the great beast was a prisoner once more!
The lion whirled like lightning and dashed himself madly against therestraining bars, but the cage had been built with an eye toemergencies, and stood the strain without any sign of weakening. Finallythe lion's ragings subsided, and the head trainer concluded it was safeto descend and complete the work. He expressed himself accordingly, andeverybody swarmed down to the ground, and surrounded the cage, takingcare, however, to keep at a respectful distance.
"All right, boys, get busy," sang out Mr. Burton. "Let's get this cageup against the wagon as soon as we can. We're behind our schedule as itis."
Long poles were thrust under the cage, and with a good deal of heavingand tugging the lion was lifted through the air and his temporary cageplaced alongside the animal wagon. When it had been securely fastened,the door was opened, and Leo was at liberty to enter his old abode. Atfirst he seemed disinclined to do so, but after much coaxing andprodding he was persuaded. The door of his old cage was slammed shut,and the capture had been effected.
"Well!" exclaimed the trainer, drawing a long sigh of relief, "that's agood job well done. And I want to thank you lads," he continued, turningto where our three friends were standing; "the circus owes you a bigdebt of gratitude, and that's a fact. If ever any of you should be outof a job, there'll always be one waiting for you with our outfit."
"Thanks," smiled Bert, speaking for his comrades and himself, "if weever do, we'll let you know. We've had quite an adventure out of this,anyway."
"I should say you had!" said Mr. Burton; "the chances are you'll neverbe in another lion hunt as long as you live."
After a few more words the trainer turned away, and the party proceededin the direction of the town. At its outskirts our three comrades saidfarewell and made off toward college.
On the way they discussed the exciting happenings of the previous dayand night, but as they reached the campus Bert said: "Well, fellows, Ihadn't noticed it much before, but now I come to think of it, I'mmighty tired. I think I'll turn in and sleep until about supper time."
The others also expressed themselves as "all in," and sought their beds,where slumber was not long in coming.