Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/204

 "‘Wonderful!' gasped the alcalde and his followers.

"But I never heard a lion use such a delightful Irish accent before or since in giving his howl of rage.

"‘Now we come to the Royal Bengal tiger, bought by me from the Sultan of Skowhegan for ten thousand dollars,' rattled Tib, rapidly, drawing his audience to the second bin. To his horror he found the royal stretched out on his stomach, legs straight behind, while the head, turned upside down, stared complacently at the top of the cage. 'Notice the wonderful elasticity of his neck,'—and snap! Tib had reached in and turned the head-piece into place. It simply swept 'em off their feet, sir. It didn't need a naturalist sharp to detect that the tiger was abnormal in some respects.

"‘Thanks, mate,' growled Weisman. 'The dust—'

But the lion and the hyena promptly came to the rescue and drowned the visitors' exclamation of wonder in a series of prolonged yells that put crimps in my tympanums even out at the entrance.

"‘Ah, he purrs, señors. He purrs, señoritas.—Purr, Weisman. At last he is in good humor,' cried Tib. Then in sotto English: 'Group your legs, you would-be suicide! Cluster yourself! It's no use, Billy,' cried Tib to me. 'I would have saved them if I could, but they won't have it so;' and all