THE LION. 
249 
taken from the woods, was let loose. The 
creature sprang fiercely towards him; but, as 
soon as he came near, his whole behaviour 
changed: he sprang upon Androcles, covered 
him with the most extravagant caresses, 
and cried and howled for joy like a dog 
which meets his master after a long absence; 
while the man, on his part, was not slow to 
recognise his friend and benefactor. The 
story was told: the fickle feelings of the 
spectators were moved, and Androcles was 
at once set at liberty and presented with 
the lion which had shown so much affection 
for him. 
“ But we must bring our lion-stories to a 
close, as we have already made a very long 
evening of it. Are there any questions to 
be proposed ?” 
“ You have not said any thing about the 
cubs,” said Sidney. 
“ The lioness usually produces from two 
to four cubs at a birth, which are born 
blind. They are then fat and round like 
young puppies, and are brindled and ob¬ 
scurely spotted like young tigers. They 
mew like cats and are very playful. The 
mane begins to appear at the end of twelve 
