"What happened?" asked Nero.

"Well, he ran back again, the next day, and a more sorry or sick-looking
lion you never saw! He was bedraggled and lame and hungry and thirsty!
He said he was glad to get back to his cage, and he never left it
again."

"What had happened to him?" asked the camel. "I guess that was before my
time."

"Oh, no sooner was he loose in the streets," said Leo, "than he was
chased by men and boys, who threw rocks and sticks at him. They were
afraid of him, and tried to drive him away. But the circus men tried to
catch the runaway lion, and, between both, poor Tarsus, which was his
name, had a bad time. He had enough of running away."

"He should have gone back to the jungle," said Nero. "That's what I'd do
if I could get loose."

"Oh, you think you would!" growled Leo. "But the jungle is far away from
here. You could never reach it. No, you had much better stay here in the
circus, Nero. Here you are in a cage, it is true, but you are warm, you
have a good place to sleep, you have plenty to eat and drink, and boys
can not throw stones at you."

But Nero only switched his tail to and fro, thought of the jungle where
he had played with Boo and Chet, and said to himself:

"That's all right. But, even though my trainer is kind to me, if ever I
get the chance I'll run away!"

And so the circus got ready to go out on the road. Tum Tum and the other
elephants pushed the animal cages about, and one day Nero saw the big
elephant come close up to the lion's cage.

"What are you going to do, Tum Tum?" asked Nero.

"It is time for your cage to be moved," said the elephant. "I am going
to push you out on the lot, and there horses will be hitched to your
cage and you will be given a ride."

"Well, I hope the ride will be nice," said the lion.

"You'll like it," said Tum Tum, trumpeting through his trunk.

Pretty soon Nero found himself, in his cage, out in the bright sunshine.
It was a warm day, and the lion stretched, opened his mouth as wide as
he could, and then lay down in his cage where the sun could warm his
back.

"It feels just as good as the jungle," thought Nero. "But of course
there aren't as many trees, and there are no pools of water, and I
haven't Switchie or Chet or Boo to play with. A circus may be nice, but
I'll run away the first chance I get."

Tum Tum pushed Nero's cage about until some horses could be hitched to
it to draw it to the railroad station. For the circus was to