"Oh, no. And it's a good thing it didn't, or there'd have been a terrible scare and maybe lots of folks hurt in the rush. The show was over, and most of the animal tent stuff was loaded on the flat cars when the lion's cage broke."
"Aren't you afraid to try to catch him?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Well, I didn't stop to think of that. I don't know though that I am. I just started off with a rush—the same as lots of others did who were watching the circus load—when the lion got loose. I thought maybe I could earn that twenty-five dollars. You see that's given to whoever finds where the lion is hiding. The circus men just want to know that and then they'll do the catching. There really isn't much danger."
"Well, I shouldn't like to try it," murmured Mrs. Brown.
"I guess I'll give up, too," said the man.
He called a "good-night!" to Mr. and Mrs. Brown and went back along the road. There were no more people to be seen, those who had gone lion-hunting being now out of sight.
"Well, I'm glad the children didn't wake up," said Mrs. Brown, for, strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue had slept all through the noise. But then they were tired because of having gone to the circus. "Shall you tell them about the lion being loose?"
"Oh, yes, to-morrow, of course. While I think there is little danger I would not want them to stray too far away, for the poor old lion may be hiding in the woods or among the rocks, and he might spring out on whoever passed his hiding place."
"Why do you call him a 'poor old lion'? I think he must be a very savage fellow."
"Oh, I think he'll turn out to be a gentle one," said her husband with a laugh.