“But he is having a much better time than we are, just the same,” said Tamba, as he paced back and forth in his cage. “He is on the way back to the jungle!”
If he could have seen Nero just then he never would have said that. For the circus lion was in the kitchen of a country farmhouse watching a tramp eat ham, and—but there! This book is about Tamba, not about Nero, though I have to mention the lion once in a while.
About a week after Tamba had learned to do several new and funny tricks, there was a sudden noise at the entrance of the circus animal tent. It was after the afternoon show had ended, and not yet time for the evening performance.
“What’s the matter, Tum Tum?” asked Tamba, who could not see very well from his cage. “What has happened? Have some more of our animals gotten away?”
“I think not,” answered the big elephant, who could see the tent entrance. “I think they are bringing in a new lion. Maybe he is to take the place of Nero. We’ll soon know. Here they come with him.”
CHAPTER III
TAMBA PLAYS A JOKE
Just as Tum Tum had said, a lion’s cage was being wheeled into the circus animal tent, and in the cage was a big, tawny, yellow animal, which Tamba knew, at once, was a lion.
But, to the surprise of the tame tiger and his friends, it was not a new lion at all, but Nero himself. There he was, looking almost the same as when he had disappeared the night of the big storm, the night when Tamba thought he could get away.