pened that changed Nero’s whole life, and really was the cause of his going to a circus. I’ll tell you about it. As Nero sat on the pile of leaves, waiting for his friend Switchie to come back, he suddenly heard a noise in the jungle behind him. He saw some lights flashing and he heard the sound of talk. It was the voices of men--the same sort of voice that had shouted: “I have shot a lion!” Nero pricked up his ears and listened as hard as he could. “Those are hunters!” said the boy lion to himself. “They are coming after me! I must run away and hide! I can’t wait for Switchie to come back! I must hide!” As I have said, the moon now and then shone in the jungle, making it light enough for men to see to shoot. But the lights Nero saw flashing were not moonbeams. They came from lanterns carried by the hunters. “Here is a mark where a lion has been!” cried one hunter, flashing his light. “This must be the one I shot! Come on, we’ll get him yet!” And these were the voices Nero heard. The wounded lion boy did not wait any longer. Up he sprang, and, running on three legs, and making no noise, off through the dark jungle he hurried. His only idea was to get away and hide. Suddenly Nero saw a blacker patch in the half darkness. He knew at once what it was. It was the opening, or front door, of a cave. “It isn’t the cave where I live,” thought the lion boy, “but it will do very well for me to hide in.” So Nero crawled into the cave with his sore paw, and lay down on some dried grass, as far back as he could get. And the hunters, with their guns and lanterns, came on through the jungle, looking for a lion to kill.
17