"That is a lion," I remarked.
"Oh, the king of the forest!" put in Winifred. "He looks like a king."
"A very fierce one at times," I replied. "But that next is a tiger—a far more cruel and treacherous beast."
"I don't like him," said Winifred, decisively; "although he is something like a big, big cat, only for the stripes on his back."
The leopards next passed by, fidgeting up and down the cage, with their spotted coats glittering in the sun. Hyenas, wolves, foxes, jackals, passed in quick succession, giving place at last to a giraffe. I pointed this animal out to Winifred.
"He has a long, long neck," she observed; "he looks as if he had stretched it out so far that he couldn't get it back again."
The doings of the clown, I think, puzzled more than they amused Winifred.
"Is he a man or another kind of animal?" she asked me gravely. She was not at all sure what kind of being he was, or why he should be so dressed up and act in such a manner. I told her that it was to amuse people.
"But he isn't half so funny as the monkeys," she declared, contemptuously. "Why, you never told me that there were such wonderful things in America!"
"I'm sure I never thought of it," I replied, laughing. "But I am glad you have seen the circus. It is quite an education in natural history. Now you will know an elephant from a giraffe, a lion from a tiger, a camel from a zebra, and a monkey from a fox. But, dear, we must hurry on and see what sight-seeing we can do. I declare it is almost noon already."