CHAPTER VII
". . . that man could not be altogether cleared from injustice in dealing with beasts as he now does."--_Plutarch_.
The whole house was in an uproar.
The lions were trotting round and round, stopping to listen and snuff inthe sawdust near the bars; the stumpy jaguar, black as ink, with a bodylike a steel case, was rushing up and down, rubbing its forehead fiercelyas it turned; a lion and his mate were rearing themselves one after theother against the walls, half turning from the middle to fall almostbackward in that peculiar movement which reminds one forcibly of greatsucceeding waves stopped and thrown back upon themselves by some bleakrock.
People were pushing and straining to look in at the windows, and rattlingthe doors which had been hurriedly locked by the keepers who had rushedto ascertain the cause of the tumult, whilst the tiger made the placeresound with its terrific roars as it hurled its huge weight again andagain at the bars of its cage.
"Come _on_, Mother," shouted the keeper above the din, "bring all thosechildren and let's get out. They'll quieten down when we've gone. Can'tyou _read_!"
He shook Leonie slightly under the stress of his agitation as he hauledher in front of the notice which commands you to refrain from climbingthe barrier.
"Of course I can wead," she replied with dignity; "I'm weading thelittle----"
"Well! read _that_!"
"But--but"--stammered Leonie, having read with difficulty--"but I knewthe tiger, Mr. Keeper!"
"_Oh_! yes! of course! You were tiger 'unting and brought him from theSunderbunds about four years ago; it wasn't the gentleman, of course not!"
"But weally," pleaded Leonie with the tears very near, "weally I've--I'vedweamed lots about him, and--and--and----"
"Take her away, Sir--she makes me see red she does. No thank you.Sir--very much obliged, but it's part of my duty to see that people_don't_ climb the barrier, and I kind of failed--p'raps the little girlwhat came and----"
They were outside by this time and the centre of an interested admiringcrowd; it is only bleeding meat at three o'clock as a rule which canrouse the inhabitants of the lion house from their prison apathy.
Taking the dirty little paw Cuxson, crumpling up a note, put it into thedirty little palm and closed the fingers tightly over it. WhereuponGertrude Ellen blushed furiously, and went to her mother with herclenched fist behind her back, where she kept it stiffly until tea-time,when she held out the bit of paper without a word, to the tune of "Lawksa mercy me!" from her mother, who immediately ordered more buns on thestrength of it.
"Lor' bless yer, lovey!" said Mrs. Higgins, whose bonnet was bobbing onthe nape of her neck, leaving the wisps of hair to straggleunrestrainedly in the honest grey eyes, as she knelt on the ground andtugged Leonie's short skirts into place. "Yer did give us a turn,dearie; yer might 'av 'ad yer 'and nipped orf by that there brute. Come'_ere_, Lil and 'Erb--I'll 'ave yer eaten by the camuls next!"
The bow-legged twins, with their spirit of adventure quashed, rolled backto mother, and stood wide-eyed as she ran her work-worn hand through thestranger's luxuriant curls.
"Give us a kiss, lovey, an' go an' get some tea!"
For the second time that day Leonie moved to obey the same command, butthis time there was no hesitation as she put her thin arms round thewoman's neck and kissed her sweetly once and again.
And the woman, who sensed something amiss in the quivering little body,held her firmly, patting her gently with the same hand which dealt outindiscriminately such resounding and often well-earned smacks among herown; and Leonie sighed and leant confidingly against the stout, badlycorseted figure.
"How comfy," she whispered shyly. "How soft you are. Auntie never holdsme in her arms, and when Nannie does she's always full of bits of thingsthat stick _out_."
And then with a little scream of delight she was away, speeding over thegravel in the wake of a lumbering great form wending its way in and outof the crowd.
"Cut along, Sir, or you'll find her 'obnobbing with the gorilla next!I've never _seen_ such a child for downright mischievousness."
Cuxson cut along as bidden and for all he was worth, pulling Leonie up infront of the ticket office for elephant rides, and after purchasingtickets sidetracked her to a tea-table.
* * * * * * * *
"Mind you bring Jingles when you come to stay!"
"Pwomise," called back Leonie from her Nannie's arms as she opened thedoor to them and lifted the tired happy child from the taxi.
But she didn't because she never went.
Leonie of the Jungle Page 7
