form, which was
followed by a roar of laughter from the audience, and when he turned he
saw the squaw standing up and trying to wrap the fake tail around a pair
of well-developed, copper-colored legs. Her face was as pale as a
squaw's face could get and Merritt knew the jig was up. I was peeking in
the door, and when I saw what had happened I gathered up the box-office
receipts and faded away. I met Merritt that evening in our usual saloon,
and underneath a pair of black eyes and a battered-up phiz I could see
that he was wearing a look of deep disgust.

"'Jim,' says he, 'this is what comes from pinning your faith to a woman
and not appreciating the weakness of the sex. She faced the danger of
being burned alive and never turned a hair; but when she saw a measly
little mouse crawl under the platform she busted up the whole show.'"

The Stranger said good-night and started for the city, but before he
reached the railway station he was drenched by the downpour which the
Proprietor had predicted.

MAKING A STAR LION AND AN INTERRUPTED TEMPERANCE MEETING

MAKING A STAR LION AND AN INTERRUPTED TEMPERANCE MEETING

"You were not in this part of the country when New York was in an uproar
for two days over the escape of one of my lions," said the Proprietor to
the Stranger as they joined the Press Agent. "I suppose that ninety per
cent. of the people who remember it think that it was all a fake, but I
can assure you that I put in the most strenuous forty-eight hours of my
career while he was loose, and it pretty nearly decided me to give up
the show business. It was my first experience at running an independent
show, and after great persuasion I had induced my father to let me bring
some boxing kangaroos, two young lions and Wallace, a fine big brute
about fifteen years old, from our English establishment to the States.
Wallace was already a famous--or infamous--lion in England, where he
had the score of three trainers to his credit. He had received the name
of 'The Mankiller' over there, and they were rather relieved to have me
get him out of the country.

"His last victim was a Frenchman, one of the best-known trainers in the
business, and he went into the cage to subdue Wallace on a wager. He
won, and a remarkable performance it was, but I won't take the time to
tell you about that now. He made just one little mistake: his vanity got
the better of him when he turned his back on the lion to bow to the
audie