last, desperate leap gave a
bound against the side of the cage that almost overturned it. Then,
with a rending of wood and a snapping of metal, the door of the cage
sprang open, and the lion was loose in the tent.

CHAPTER XI

TOTO'S DISCOVERY

Fortunate it was that the circus was over for the afternoon and that
the small crowd of spectators in the animal tent had rushed out before
the lion broke loose, or there might have been a panic in which many
might have been hurt, if not killed. Not necessarily by the lion, but
by being trampled on by the feet of hundreds. For it is seldom that a
wild beast kills when it first breaks out of a cage. It is too dazed by
its sudden freedom, and often too frightened to want to do anything
except run and hide.

Not that an escaped wild beast would not kill afterward if cornered,
but it is seldom that one seeks blood when first it breaks out.

Mingled with the screams of frightened women and children, now safely
outside the tent, and the hoarse cries of the men spectators, also in
the open, were the yells of the circus people.

"A lion is loose!" was the warning that echoed through the animal tent.
This was to let other circus folk know, so they might prepare to meet
the danger.

Senor Bogardi drew his revolver and fired several shots in the air,
hoping to frighten Prince and make him cower in some corner, whence he
might be driven into another cage.

But the shots seemed only to frighten the lion into further action. Joe
had a glimpse of the tawny form, with switching tail, dodging under the
other animal cages which were drawn up in a circle around the tent.

"He's headed for the 'main-top' all right!" shouted some one, as he saw
Prince running toward the passage which connected the two tents.

"Come on! We must catch him!" exclaimed the tamer. "If he gets loose it
will be a great loss!"

"More than a loss. I guess, if he has his appetite with him," mused
Joe. "I wonder how they'll catch him."

He had heard circus stories of wild animals escaping and being secured
again, sometimes days later, but aside from his experience with the
hippopotamus Joe had seen nothing of this kind.

The animal tent was now a place of wild confusion. Men were rushing
here and there, to arm themselves with tent pegs, stakes--anything they
could grab up. They were alive to the danger, but they did not shirk.
The elephants were trumpeting loudly, and some were tugging at their
foot cha