Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/198

 the bicycle-pump had been agitated for padding, you had a real, lifelike beast, with muscles standing out like barnacles on a forgotten dredge. Of course, at the best it was a fierce counterfeit, and when the quadruped forgot and stood on his hind-legs the effect was simply stupendous. First, Tib ordered Murphy to slip into the lion's pelt, and Murphy was mad. He said he was Irish and would pose as a harp, but never as an emblem of Merry England. Tib talked to him like a hired man to a sick horse, and at last the metamorphosis was effected. Then the others were speedily transformed into a black bear, a tiger, and a hyena respectively.

"After they had struggled into their masquerades and Tib had used the pump on the air-pockets, we dropped the covers to get the tout ensemble. Dear, dear! Serious as the situation was, Tib and I sat down and cried like children. And then if you could only have heard 'em swear! All four going at once, with their front paws thrust through the bars and shaking at us. They were half starved and hysterical, you see; besides, there are cooler things in Mexico than fur suits. But Tib soothed them down at last and reminded them of what they were missing in the salt-mines, and they promised to be good and not cuss any more. As they were quieting down and we were replacing the covers, the alcalde's amazed head was thrust inside the