"What happened?" asked Nero.
"Well, he ran back again, the next day, and a more sorry or sick-looking lion you never saw! He was bedraggled and lame and hungry and thirsty! He said he was glad to get back to his cage, and he never left it again."
"What had happened to him?" asked the camel. "I guess that was before my time."
"Oh, no sooner was he loose in the streets," said Leo, "than he was chased by men and boys, who threw rocks and sticks at him. They were afraid of him, and tried to drive him away. But the circus men tried to catch the runaway lion, and, between both, poor Tarsus, which was his name, had a bad time. He had enough of running away."
"He should have gone back to the jungle," said Nero. "That's what I'd do if I could get loose."
"Oh, you think you would!" growled Leo. "But the jungle is far away from here. You could never reach it. No, you had much better stay here in the circus, Nero. Here you are in a cage, it is true, but you are warm, you have a good place to sleep, you have plenty to eat and drink, and boys can not throw stones at you."
But Nero only switched his tail to and fro, thought of the jungle where he had played with Boo and Chet, and said to himself:
"That's all right. But, even though my trainer is kind to me, if ever I get the chance I'll run away!"
And so the circus got ready to go out on the road. Tum Tum and the other elephants pushed the animal cages about, and one day Nero saw the big elephant come close up to the lion's cage.