LIONS 13 



way or under any circumstances. Mr. Mundy 

 stood close to the bars of the cage and this 

 full grown lion put his two fore paws through 

 the bars round his master's neck, and not 

 only drew him close to the bars— a frightfully 

 risky thing to do as anyone who knows any- 

 thing about wild animals will understand- 

 but actually played with his head and 

 shoulders in exactly the same manner as a 

 cat will play with a ball or any moving object.. 



The huge paws, too, I noticed had not their 

 villainous claws sheathed but were drawn in 

 and out, and it is still a marvel to me that 

 the man's head and shoulders were not torn 

 to pieces. I have watched many blood-curd- 

 ling things in animal shows, many daringly 

 risky things which have been exhibited for 

 my express edification, but I have never seen 

 a more risky thing than that. , '• • ■ i 



The proprietor seemed to have no fear 

 whatever and declared that, as he had reared 

 and brought up the animal from a tiny cub, 

 it would never hurt him. But I could not 

 help noticing in the rough play that his shirt 



