Taken at such a disadvantage, Buster for a moment was helpless. Then the pain became so severe that he brought all of his powerful muscles into play, and jerked with such force that both cages came tumbling over on top of him.
The sudden upsetting of their cages startled Spot and Ocelot so that they jumped back in fright. Buster was immediately on his feet, rolling the cages around as if they had been made of jackstraws. With a lightning blow through the bars he struck Spot a whack that sent him reeling backward. Then before he could recover, Buster sprang around on the opposite side and knocked him back. For a moment it looked as if he would break through the cage and kill Spot.
When the attendants ran up, Buster was shaking Ocelot’s cage in a vain endeavor to get at him. The Jungle Cat was so frightened that he shivered and whined for mercy. Buster’s anger could not be quieted until Chiquita came up. She patted him, and led him away to bind up his wounds. The Leopard and Jungle Cat were glad to see him go. In trying to get revenge on Buster they had been punished nearly as much as he.
“I should have remembered the Old Lion’s advice,” Buster said to himself when Chiquita bound up his wounds. Then looking at her, he added: “But there’s some good in everything. I wouldn’t have such a tender nurse if I wasn’t wounded.” And he smiled with satisfaction.
Next will come the story of how Buster was caught in a railroad wreck.
STORY XI
Buster in a Railroad Wreck
The circus was preparing to move into its winter quarters, and it was the confusion of packing that caused Buster to get mixed up with Spot and Ocelot in their cages. His injuries were very slight, and within a few days after Chiquita had bound them up his legs were as good as new.