"Pretty soon the show will begin, Nero," said the keeper, as he got out of the lion's cage. "The parade was only the first part. The people will shortly be in here to look at you and the other animals, and, later on, you and I will do some tricks."
All at once, as the trainer walked away, Nero looked out of his cage and saw a big shaggy animal running along on the ground.
"Hello, Dido!" growled Nero, for at first he thought it was the dancing bear he saw. But as the running animal turned, Nero saw that it was not Dido. This animal was not so large as the dancing bear.
"I'm not Dido," said the new chap. "And I don't seem to know you, though I know that bear in the cage back of you."
"Why, that's who I thought you were," said Nero. "And so you know Dido?"
"Oh, yes, I know him, and Dido knows me," said the new animal.
"Well, you'd better go back into your cage before the circus men see you," said Nero. "How did you get loose? Tell me? I'd like to get out myself."
"Ho! Ho! You're making a mistake!" was the laughing answer. "I am not a circus animal. I'm Don, and I'm a runaway dog. At least I ran away once, but I ran back again. I came down to see Dido, whom I met when I was running away," and Don, the nice, big dog, wagged his tail at Dido, the dancing bear.