The keeper
entered the animal's cage, and led him to the upper part of it, while
the lower was being fixed. He there amused himself for some time playing
with the lion, and being wearied, at last fell asleep. The carpenter,
relying fully upon the vigilance of the keeper, went on rapidly with his
work, and when he had finished it, he called him to see what was done.
The keeper made no answer. Having repeatedly called him in vain, he
began to feel alarmed at his situation, and he determined to go to the
upper part of the cage, where, looking through the railing, he saw the
lion and the keeper sleeping side by side. He immediately uttered a loud
cry; the lion, awakened by the noise, started up and stared at the
carpenter with an eye of fury, and then, placing his paw on the breast
of his keeper, lay down to sleep again. At length the keeper was
awakened by some of the attendants, and he did not appear in the least
worried by the situation in which he found himself, but shook the lion
by the paw, and then gently conducted him to his old cage.

[Illustration]

LXV

A USURPER PUNISHED

Some years ago a sparrow had early in the spring taken possession of a
swallow's old nest, and had laid some eggs in it, when the original
builder and owner made her appearance and claimed possession. The
sparrow, firmly seated, refused to leave the nest. A smart battle
followed, in which the swallow was joined by its mate, and, during the
conflict, by several of their comrades. All the efforts of the swallows
to drive out the usurper were, however, unsuccessful. Finding themselves
completely foiled in this object, they held a council of war to consult
as to what they should do, and the plan they agreed upon shows that it
was with no ordinary degree of ingenuity that they had solved the
question as to what was right and just. Since the sparrow could not be
driven out of the nest, the next question with them appears to have
been, how she could be otherwise punished for her unlawful occupation of
a property belonging to another. The council were of one mind in
thinking that nothing short of the death of the intruder could atone for
so heinous an offense; and having so decided, they went to work to put
their sentence into execution in the following very wonderful manner.
Leaving the scene of the contest for a time, they returned with many
more friends, each bearing a beak full of building materials; and
without any further attempt to