NERO AND BLACKIE
The first thing any wild animal does when it runs away is to find some
dark place and hide. Even though it may be hungry, an animal, when
frightened, will nearly always hide until it can look about and make up
its mind what to do.
Nero, the circus lion, who got loose from his cage when it rolled
downhill in the storm and broke open, did this thing. When he had stood
for a moment in the rain and darkness, feeling the soft mud squdge up
between his claws, and when he had roared a bit, because he felt so wild
and free, Nero sneaked off in the darkness toward some trees and bushes,
which he had seen in a flash of lightning.
"That may be the jungle," he had said to himself.
But of course you and I know that it wasn't the jungle. That was far,
far away--across the sea in Africa.
He stood for a moment, listening to the shouts of the circus men, who
were standing about the broken cage. They could not see Nero in the
darkness, nor even when the lightning flashed, for the lion crouched
down behind some black bushes.
"Well, Nero got away all right," said one circus man.
"Yes, and we must get him back!" said the man who had trained Nero to do
his tricks. "Folks don't like lions wandering about their farms and
gardens. I must find my pet. Here, Nero! Nero! Come back!" called the
trainer.
But though the lion liked the man who had been so kind to him, Nero was
not yet ready to go back to the circus.
"I have just gotten out of my cage," said Nero to himself; "and it would
be too bad to go back before I have had some fun. So I'll just run on
and stay in the jungle awhile."
Nero felt very happy. It was a long time since he had been able to roam
about as he pleased, and though he had no raincoat or umbrella, and not
even rubbers, he didn't mind the storm at all. Animals like to get wet,
sometimes, if the rain is not too cold. It gives them a bath, just as
you have yours in a tub.
"This certainly is fun!" said Nero to himself, as he trotted along
through the rain and darkness toward the trees. "I'll find a good place
to hide in and stay there all night."
It did not take Nero long to find a hiding place. It was a sort of cave
down in between two big rocks in the woods; and it was almost as good as
the cave in which he had lived in the jungle with his father and mother
and Chet and Boo.
"I wish my brother and sister were here now," thought Nero to himself,
as he snuggled down on a bed of dry leaves between the rocks. The leaves
were dry because one rock stretched over them, like a roof. "And if
Switchie were here he and I could have some fun to-morrow, going about
this new jungle," thought the lion boy.
But Switchie, the lion cub with whom Nero used to play, was far off in
Africa, so our circus friend had to stay by himself. He curled up on the
leaves, listened to the swish and patter of the rain, and soon he fell
asleep.
Now while Nero was hiding thus in the cave he had found, the circus men
were anxious to find the lion. They got ropes and lanterns, and had a
new, empty cage made ready, so that, in case Nero were found, he could
be given a new home. Then, while Nero's trainer and some men to help him
hunt for the lion stayed behind, the rest of the circus went on to where
it was to give a show the next day. No matter what happens, the circus
must go on, if there is any of it left to travel. Accidents often
happened like this one--cages getting stuck in the mud and animals
sometimes getting away.
But I'm not going to tell you, just now, about the circus men who stayed
behind to hunt Nero. They did not find the lion very easily. This story
is mostly about Nero, so we shall now see what happened to him.
All night long Nero slept in the cave. It lightened and thundered, but
he did not mind that. Nor did he mind the rain, for though he had been
wet, he liked it, and in the cave under the rock no more water could
splash on him.
When Nero awoke the sun was shining through the leaves and branches of
the trees and down in through the tangle of bushes in front of the cave
where Nero had hidden. The lion rolled over, stretched out his heavy
paws with their big, curved claws, and opened his mouth and yawned, just
as you have often seen your dog or cat yawn after a sleep.
"Well," said Nero to himself, "I guess I'll look around this jungle and
see if I can find any breakfast. I'm hungry, and that nice trainer man
isn't here to give me anything to eat. I'll have to hunt for it myself,
as I used to do when I was at home. We'll see what kind of jungle this
is."
Nero soon found that it was quite different from the jungle in Africa.
The trees were not so big, nor were there so many of them, and the
vines and bushes were not so tangled. It was not quite so hot, either,
though this was the middle of summer, and there were not as many birds
as Nero was used to seeing in his home jungle. Nor were there any
monkeys swinging by their tails from the trees. It was quite a different
jungle altogether, but Nero liked it better than his circus cage.
"Now for something to eat!" said Nero, when he had finished stretching.
He stepped from the little cave out into the bright sunshine, and looked
around. He wanted to make sure there were no men near by who might catch
him and take him back to that queer house on wheels, with iron bars all
around it. Nero saw nothing to make him go back into his cave.
Up in the trees the robins and the sparrows sang and chirped, but if
they saw the tawny, yellow lion moving about, like a big cat, they paid
no attention. They did not seem to mind Nero at all.
And, pretty soon, Nero found something to eat in the woods. He had not
forgotten how to hunt, as he had done in the jungle, though it was
rather a long time ago.
Then Nero sniffed and sniffed until he found a spring of water, at which
he took a good drink.
"Well, now that I have had something to eat and something to drink I
feel much better," said Nero to himself. "I must have some fun."
So he looked about, wondering what he would do. It was a sort of
vacation for him, you see, as he did not have to do any of his circus
tricks.
"Let's see, now," thought Nero. "I wonder--"
And then, all of a sudden, the lion heard a rustling noise over in the
bushes at one side. He gave a jump, just as your cat does when something
startles her. Nero wanted to be on the watch for any one who might be
trying to catch him or trap him.
Then Nero saw a small black animal walk slowly out from under a big
bush. The animal was something like a little tiger, except that she was
plain black instead of being striped yellow and black. At first Nero was
much surprised.
"Hello, there!" called the lion, in animal talk, which is the same all
over the world. "Hello there! Who are you and where are you going?"
"Oh, I'm Blackie, a cat," was the answer. "Once I was a lost cat, but
I'm not that way any longer. Who are you, if I may ask?"