Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/197

 and I told the guards I thought they came this way,' panted Collins, with an expressive wink.

"‘What?' roared Tib, in Spanish. 'Law-breakers escaped! Free passes to the brave men who capture 'em. I believe they did pass this way behind the tent in the brush. I heard a crashing and thought it was a mule. My lion growled fiercely. Hark! He is growling now!"

"The gang paused in running away to hear the growl, and Tiberius, standing near Murphy's cage, hissed, 'Growl, you villain, growl!'

"And thereat a most blood-chilling roar came from Murphy's den, and the others, to make sure, began to throw in a series of yells that would cause a Bowery gallery-god to go home and through sheer envy take lessons. The crowd fell back in a wave; it simply swept 'em off their feet, sir. To cap the climax, Collins cried: 'Don let 'em get excited, Mr. Smith! Remember the three men mauled to death in El Paso!'

"After they'd gone, Tib turned to me and grinned. 'I think we'll win the trick. And isn't that Collins a jewel!'

"Now each cage was divided by a grating of bars, and in each cosey nook was one of the comic-opera suits I'd brought from El Paso. In designing these animal make-ups Tib had made use of air-chambers, so that when a man got tucked into one and