266 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



order him to "Get up out of here." The fear-possessed Japa- 

 nese black bear, Malay sun bear and Indian sloth bear are 

 the ones that are most dangerous, and that sometimes charge 

 the keepers. 



Our famous "picture lion," Sultan, was serenely confident 

 of his own powers, his nerves were steady and reliable, and he 

 never cared to attack man or beast. Once when by the error 

 of a fellow keeper the wrong chain was pulled, and the wrong 

 partition door was opened, the working keeper bent his head, 

 and broom in hand walked into what he thought was an empty 

 cage. To his horror, he found himself face to face with Sultan, 

 with only the length of the broom handle between them. 



The startled and helpless keeper stood still, and said in a 

 calm voice, without batting an eye. 



"Hello, Sultan." 



Sultan calmly looked at him, wonderingly and inquiringly, 

 but without even a trace of excitement; and feeling sure that 

 the keeper did not mean to harm him, he seemed to have no 

 thought of attacking. 



The keeper quietly backed through the low doorway, and 

 gently closed the door. Had the keeper lost his nerve, and 

 shown it, there might have been a tragedy. 



Lions are the best of all carnivorous performing animals, 

 because of their courage, serenity, self-confidence and absence 

 of jumpy nerves. Leopards are the worst, and polar bears 

 stand next, with big chimpanzees as a sure third. Beware 

 of all three. 



Exceptions to the Rule of Fear. Fortunately for the 

 wild animal world, there are some exceptions to the rule of 

 fear. I will indicate the kinds of them, and students can 

 supply the individual cases. 



Whenever a wild animal species inhabits a spot so remote 

 and inaccessible that man's blighting hand never has fallen 

 upon it, nor in any way influenced its life or its fortunes, that 

 species knows no fear save from the warring elements, and 



