antic, blond Norwegian trainer came lightly across
the arena--a Hercules, with broad bare chest and arms, arrayed in
spangled blue satin and white tights that forbade all suspicion of
protective armor. At a single bound he sprang into the cage, while
Brent, garbed in carnation and white, stood unheralded and unremarked
close by outside among the armed attendants. There seemed no need of
precaution, however, so lightly the trainer frolicked with the savage
creatures. He performed wonderful acrobatic feats with them in which one
hardly knew which most to admire, the agility and intrepidity of the
man or the supple strength and curious intelligence of the beasts. He
wrestled with them; he leaped and rolled among them; he put his head
into their terrible full-fanged jaws--but before springing forth he
fired his pistols loaded with blank cartridges full in their faces;
for the instant the coercion of his eye was pretermitted every one
treacherously bounded toward him, seeking to seize him before he could
reach the door. Then Emperor, as was his wont, flung himself in baffled
fury against the bars and stood erect and shook them in his wrath.

All at once, to the astonishment of the people, he spoke, voicing a
plaintive panegyric on liberty and protesting his willingness to barter
all the luxury of his captivity for one free hour on the desert sands.

Surprise, absolute, unqualified, reigned for one moment. But a
circus-going crowd is uncannily quick. The audience perceived a certain
involuntary element of the entertainment. A storm of cat-calls ensued,
hisses, roars of laughter. For the place was the city of Glaston, the
Company being once more in East Tennessee, and the lion spoke the old
familiar mountain dialect so easily recognizable in this locality. Even
a _lapsus linguae_, "you uns." was unmistakable amidst the high-flown
periods. Although the ventriloquism was appreciated, the incongruity
of this countrified jargon, held in great contempt by the townfolks,
discounted Emperor's majesty and he was in ludicrous eclipse.

Behind the screening canvas the portly manager raged; "How dare you make
that fine lion talk like a 'hill-Billy' such as yourself--as if he were
fresh caught in the Great Smoky Mountains!" he stormed at the indignant
ventriloquist. The other partners in the management interfered in
Brent's behalf; they feared that the proud mountaineer, resenting the
contemptuous designation "hill-Billy" might withdraw