orses, elephants and
camels in line also, and a band was playing music.

[Illustration: His keeper rode in the cage with him. _Page 82_]

"What's all this about?" asked Nero of Tum Tum.

"We are going in the circus parade, through the streets of the town,"
answered the jolly elephant. "We always have a parade before the show.
You'll like it."

And Nero liked, very much indeed, his first parade. His keeper rode in
the cage with him, sitting on a chair, and now and then patting the big
head of the lion. Nero liked that, for he and his keeper were friends.
Through great crowds of people on the streets went the circus parade,
and then the procession went back to the circus lot where the big, white
tents, with their gaily colored flags, had been set up.

"Pretty soon the show will begin, Nero," said the keeper, as he got out
of the lion's cage. "The parade was only the first part. The people will
shortly be in here to look at you and the other animals, and, later on,
you and I will do some tricks."

All at once, as the trainer walked away, Nero looked out of his cage and
saw a big shaggy animal running along on the ground.

"Hello, Dido!" growled Nero, for at first he thought it was the dancing
bear he saw. But as the running animal turned, Nero saw that it was not
Dido. This animal was not so large as the dancing bear.

"I'm not Dido," said the new chap. "And I don't seem to know you, though
I know that bear in the cage back of you."

"Why, that's who I thought you were," said Nero. "And so you know Dido?"

"Oh, yes, I know him, and Dido knows me," said the new animal.

"Well, you'd better go back into your cage before the circus men see
you," said Nero. "How did you get loose? Tell me? I'd like to get out
myself."

"Ho! Ho! You're making a mistake!" was the laughing answer. "I am not a
circus animal. I'm Don, and I'm a runaway dog. At least I ran away once,
but I ran back again. I came down to see Dido, whom I met when I was
running away," and Don, the nice, big dog, wagged his tail at Dido, the
dancing bear.

CHAPTER IX

NERO SCARES A BOY

Nero, the circus lion, who was much larger now than when he had been
caught in a jungle trap, was very much surprised at what Don, the
runaway dog told him. At first the lion boy could hardly believe that
Don was not one of the circus animals.

But as the lion, looking out through the bars of his cage, saw Don
running about and none of the red-coated circus m