Tamba did not know that now his paw would get well, since the splinter had been taken out.
Night came. The circus began to move on toward the next town, and Tamba was tossed about in his cage. He could not sleep very much. But in a few days his paw was much better. During the time he was recovering he did not have to do any tricks. All he had to do was to stay in his cage and eat and sleep and let the boys and girls, and the grown folk, too, look at him when they came to the circus.
But, all the while, Tamba was trying to think of a way to get loose and run back to his Indian jungle. And one night he thought he had his chance.
The circus was going along a country road, from one town to another, and, as it was hot, the wooden sides of the animal cages had been left up, so Tamba, Nero and the other jungle beasts could look out at the stars. They were the same stars, some of them, that shone over the jungle.
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and a loud noise.
“We are going to have a thunder storm,” said Nero, as he paced up and down in his moving cage.
“It will be cooler after it, anyhow,” said Dido, the dancing bear. “It is very hot, now.”
The lightning grew brighter and the thunder louder as the circus went up and down hill to the next town. Then, suddenly, it began to rain very hard. The roads became muddy and slippery, and the horses, pulling the heavy circus wagons, had all they could do not to let them slip.
Suddenly there was a loud crash of thunder, right in the midst of the circus it seemed. The lions and the tigers roared and growled, and the elephants trumpeted, while men shouted and yelled. There was great excitement. What had happened was that a big tree, at the side of the road, had been struck by lightning. Some of the circus horses were so frightened that they started to run away, pulling the wild animal cages after them.
Tamba felt his cage rushing along very fast. His horses, too, were running away. Then, all at once, there was a great crash, and Tamba felt his cage turning over. Next it was upside down. The tiger was thrown on his back.