"Oh! tell me about it!" cried Rose. "I admire courage so much."
"You ought to see him do Daniel in the lion's den, then. Or his great tiger act, where he piles four of 'em up, and lays on top. It's just splendid!"
"But very dangerous! Does he never fear them? And do they never hurt him?"
"He don't fear any thing in the world," said the girl, entirely forgetting herself, in enthusiastic praise of her husband.
"Cæsar, the lion, loves him like a dog; and Joe trusts him as he does me. But them tigers are deceitful beasts, and can't be trusted a minute. Judas went at Joe once, and half killed him. He seems tame enough now; but I hate him, for they say that if a tiger once tastes a man's blood he's sure to kill him sooner or later. So I don't have a minute's peace when Joe is in that cage." And the little woman shivered with very genuine anxiety at the thought of her husband's danger.
"And, knowing this, he runs the risk every day! What a life!" said Uncle Ben, looking down at the unconscious Joe.
"A brave life, Uncle, and full of excitement. The minutes in that cage must be splendid. I wish I could see him once!" cried Rose, with the restless look in her eyes again.
"He'd do it, if he had his things here. He'll do any thing I ask him," said the girl, evidently proud of her power over the lion-tamer.
"We will come and see him to-morrow. Can't you tell us how he manages to subdue these wild animals? I always wanted to know about it," said Rose, wondering if she could not get some hints for the taming of men.
"Joe'll tell you." And, calling from her perch, the girl waked the sleeper and ordered him up to amuse the gentle-folk.