“It doesn’t make any difference to me whether you remember it or not,” was the answer, as the Old Lion stretched out and went to sleep.
Buster did remember the advice for a few days, and then forgot it. He also ignored Spot and Ocelot, for they refused to make friends with him. Meanwhile, his progress as a trick bear increased, and he appeared nightly before big audiences with Chiquita.
One day the big tent was taken down, for the circus was to move to another town. There was such noise and confusion that every one was upset. Buster found his customary resting place filled with packing boxes and baggage. Somewhat put out by this he wandered around, and finally climbed on the top of a bundle of canvas away from the confusion.
It was a soft, comfortable bed, and Buster soon fell asleep. He snored and rolled around in his slumber until attendants came running up to find out what the trouble was. When they discovered him, they laughed and said:
“It’s only Buster taking his mid-day snooze with the high treble stops wide open.”
Buster hadn’t noticed that the pile of canvas was close to the two cages where Spot and Ocelot were kept. They had kept so quiet that he never suspected their nearness. But the Leopard and Jungle Cat had seen him, and were watching him with flashing eyes.
As he snored and rolled around in his sleep, they kept their eyes patiently and watchfully on him. Once a shaggy paw came close to Spot’s cage, and he stealthily put out a fore-arm to see if he could reach it. He fell short about an inch.
He withdrew his paw silently and resumed his watchful waiting. Ocelot on the other side was equally interested in one of Buster’s fore paws. It was within a few feet of his cage.
Buster rolled over and flung his legs out to their full length like an animal stretching. The result was just what the two vengeful enemies were waiting for. Spot reached through the bars of his cage and caught the hind leg of Buster with his sharp claws, and Ocelot attacked one of his fore-legs.
Buster was aroused from his sleep by sharp pains that seemed like a thousand needles sticking in him. When he attempted to spring to his feet he found himself a prisoner. Spot and Ocelot were tugging, tearing and biting with all their might as if they would pull him apart and haul him through the bars of their cages.