come out this far for his breakfast, even though he's
probably pretty hungry by this time. Lively's the word, now!"

The cage was lifted by willing arms, and carried well into the shadow of
the trees. "All right, here's the place," said Mr. Burton, when he
judged they had penetrated far enough, "set it down here. Have you got
the meat with you, Bill?" The man addressed produced a large bundle,
which on being unwrapped proved to be a large piece of juicy raw meat.

"That will do fine," said Burton, approvingly and, taking the meat from
the other, placed it well inside the cage. "All right," he said, when
everything was arranged to his entire satisfaction. "All hands get into
the trees now, and we'll wait for Leo to come for his breakfast. I'll
take the rope into my tree, and spring the trap. Hustle. The brute's apt
to come around most any time now."

Even as he spoke a loud roar echoed through the woods, so close at hand
that for a moment every heart stood still. Then there was a wild dash
for the nearest trees. Dick and Bert and Tom made for a large oak near
at hand, and went up it faster than they would have imagined possible.
They had barely reached a place of safety in the lower branches, than
with another roar the lion leaped into the clearing. For a few minutes
he stood motionless, with the exception of his tail, which swished
angrily back and forth. Soon he located the boys in their tree, and made
an angry dash toward it. By this time, however, they were high up in the
branches, and the lion seemed to realize that they were beyond his
reach, and after giving vent to another roar, walked away. Then he saw
others in the surrounding trees, and made a circuit of inspection,
gazing eagerly upward at the tempting human beings so close to him and
yet hopelessly beyond his reach. Finally, he seemed to dismiss them from
his mind and, going over to the cage, sniffed eagerly at the meat inside
it. He had had nothing to eat since the preceding noonday, and was
ravenously hungry. But he seemed to suspect some trap to curtail his
new-found liberty and, hungry as he was, for more than half an hour he
refused to enter the cage. He made numerous attempts to hook the meat
with his claws, but found it always a little beyond his reach. At last,
with an angry growl, he made up his mind and stepped inside the cage.

He had hardly commenced to gnaw the meat, however, when Burton released
the cord that held the sliding door open. With