Nero felt very happy. It was a long time since he had been able to roam about as he pleased, and though he had no raincoat or umbrella, and not even rubbers, he didn't mind the storm at all. Animals like to get wet, sometimes, if the rain is not too cold. It gives them a bath, just as you have yours in a tub.
"This certainly is fun!" said Nero to himself, as he trotted along through the rain and darkness toward the trees. "I'll find a good place to hide in and stay there all night."
It did not take Nero long to find a hiding place. It was a sort of cave down in between two big rocks in the woods; and it was almost as good as the cave in which he had lived in the jungle with his father and mother and Chet and Boo.
"I wish my brother and sister were here now," thought Nero to himself, as he snuggled down on a bed of dry leaves between the rocks. The leaves were dry because one rock stretched over them, like a roof. "And if Switchie were here he and I could have some fun to-morrow, going about this new jungle," thought the lion boy.
But Switchie, the lion cub with whom Nero used to play, was far off in Africa, so our circus friend had to stay by himself. He curled up on the leaves, listened to the swish and patter of the rain, and soon he fell asleep.
Now while Nero was hiding thus in the cave he had found, the circus men were anxious to find the lion. They got ropes and lanterns, and had a new, empty cage made ready, so that, in case Nero were found, he could be given a new home. Then, while Nero's trainer and some men to help him hunt for the lion stayed behind, the rest of the circus went on to where it was to give a show the next day. No matter what happens, the circus must go on, if there is any of it left to travel. Accidents often happened like this one—cages getting stuck in the mud and animals sometimes getting away.
But I'm not going to tell you, just now, about the circus men who stayed behind to hunt Nero. They did not find the lion very easily. This story is mostly about Nero, so we shall now see what happened to him.
All night long Nero slept in the cave. It lightened and thundered, but he did not mind that. Nor did he mind the rain, for though he had been wet, he liked it, and in the cave under the rock no more water could splash on him.
When Nero awoke the sun was shining through the leaves and branches of the trees and down in through the tangle of bushes in front of the cave where Nero had hidden. The lion rolled over, stretched out his heavy paws with their big, curved claws, and opened his mouth and yawned, just as you have often seen your dog or cat yawn after a sleep.
"Well," said Nero to himself, "I guess I'll look around this jungle and see if I can find any breakfast. I'm hungry, and that nice trainer man isn't here to give me anything to eat. I'll have to hunt for it myself, as I used to do when I was at home. We'll see what kind of jungle this is."