"Does he do that?" asked the lion. "I never noticed."
"Yes, he always does that," said the tiger. "For a little while each evening, just before we are fed, the doors of our cages are not locked. We can easily push them open, before the meat man comes to feed us and closes them. We can get out then."
"But if we go before we get our meat, we shall be hungry," roared the lion.
"What of it, silly?" cried Sharp Tooth. "Is it not better to get away, and be hungry for a little while, than to stay here shut up in a cage all your life?"
"Well, I suppose it is," said the lion with a big sigh. "Then we are to come out of our cages to-night?"
"Yes, soon after the man has finished cleaning them, and has left the door unlocked. He does not know that I know about the door. I suppose he imagines I think it is as tightly shut as ever. But it isn't!"
"Good!" cried the lion. "Then we'll run away! But when?"
"To-night," hissed the tiger. "Be quiet now, some one may hear us."
"Ha! Some one has already heard you," thought Tum Tum. "So you are going to get away to-night, are you? Well, not if I know it! I'll stop you all right! It would never do to have you loose in the woods; all the people would be scared. Let me see, how can I stop you?"
Tum Tum wished he could speak man-talk, so he could tell the keepers what the lion and tiger were going to do. But Tum Tum could speak only animal language.