1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



181 



"All flowu, m'sieur; all escaped!" 



"Now listen," he said to the attend- 

 ant. "You are the only one who has 

 shown any pluck, and I won't forget 

 you. Get through my dressing room 

 window, run as fast as your legs can 

 carry you to the barracks at the end of 

 the road, tell the officer on duty what 

 has happened and ask for help. In the 

 meanwhile" — grimly — "I will do my 

 best for Mr. Scipio. ' ' 



As the last sound of the man's hurry- 

 ing feet down the passage proclaimed 

 him well on his way for help, Paolo has- 

 tily snatched up a small stiletto which 

 bad been ustd in a juggling trick during 

 the evening and, concealing it in his 

 vest, stepped once more, to the astonish- 

 ment and delight of the audience, into 

 the arena. 



Whispering a few hasty directions 

 into the ear of a clown who was filling 

 in between the "turns" to stop the next 

 artists from appearing and to close the 

 stable 2ntrances, Paolo made a bow 

 and, holding up his hand for silence, 

 announced: 



"Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot 

 thank you sufficiently in words for the 

 kindness with which you have received 

 my efforts tonight, so as deeds speak 

 louder than words I shall bring before 

 you for the first time in public my fa- 

 mous trained lion. He and I will give 

 an exhibition of wrestling. Ah, you 

 hear him, I think, answering my claal- 

 lenge," as a loud roar burst from be- 

 hind the curtains and caused a few of 

 the more timid to move uneasily in 

 their seats. 



With one magnificent bound the no- 

 ble beast was through the curtains and 

 In the middle or tne rmg. mere ne lay 

 crouching in the odorous tan, as though 

 scarce realizing his unwonted freedom 

 and struck by the strangeness of his 

 surroundings, his bluodshot eyes rolling 

 uneasily and his quick, gasping br?r.!b 

 disturbing the dust beneath his dilatt'd 

 nostrils. 



Paolo had braced his limbs to give 

 himself a strong position in expectrrion 

 of Scipio's onrush, his weapon co'Keal- 

 ed in the hollow of his hand, and as he 

 stood in all the grace and strength ol 

 his magnificent manhood, every syii^p- 

 torn of fear vanished, he felt within 

 himself that he almost welcomed the 

 moment that would bring to him vic- 



tory or death. 



Little time for thought, however, had 

 Paolo. With one fell spring the mighty 

 beast was at him, his open jaws drip- 

 ping froth, his bloodshot eyes blazing 

 with fury. 



But not this time did he grasp his in- 

 tended prey, for quick as thought the 

 practiced eye of the acrobat detected 

 the movement, and bending forward, 

 head and knees almost touching the 

 ground, he made a rapid shift in the op- 

 posite direction and avoided by almost a 

 hairbreadth being crushed breathless 

 beneath the lion's bulk. 



Quick as lightning's flash the lion 

 turned once more, crouching low in the 

 dust, his eye warily seeking some weak 

 spot in the armor of this strange an- 

 tagonist, whose lithe limbs and sinuous 

 movements puzzled him, and who show- 

 ed less signs of fear facing him here in 

 open fight than the crowds of frail hu- 

 manity who had mocked and jeered at 

 him so often from the safe side of his 

 prison bars, but who shrank back af- 

 frighted when in his wrath he gave his 

 awful battle roar. 



This time, with catlike tread, he 

 slowly advanced upon his adversary, 

 striving, as though conscious of his 

 power and strength, to drive him back 

 and pen him helplessly and without 

 chance of escape against the side of the 

 ring, and then to seize him at his 

 leisure. 



Paolo was also thinking. When would 

 the soldiers come? Could he survive tc 

 carry on the unequal struggle till they 

 arrived? But while thinking not a mus- 

 cle relaxed. 



Seeing the lion's tactics, he gradually 

 managed to skirmish toward the ring, 

 though by so doing he passed within a 

 few feet of his nose. 



"Come on, Scipio," he said aloud, 

 with a gay bravado he little felt, "this 

 is not how lions fight. " And he made a 

 slight feint, as though playfully to touch 

 his adversary on the head. 



With a deep, hollow roar of auger 

 Scipio reared aloft on his hind legs, and, 

 throwing all prudence to the winds and 

 realizing that the momentous struggle 

 had come at last, Paolo rushed madly 

 at him, man and beast closing in a ter- 

 rible death grapple, the lion continuing 

 erect, as though wishful to wrestle on 

 equal terms wnth the brave biped. 



