ike
a cat ready to spring on a mouse. The children screamed and ran away,
thinking that he was angry with them for teasing him. But it was not
that. A train of camels was passing at the moment, and Leo had seen at
their head a mean, wicked face which he remembered. And as the last of
the caravan went by, Leo caught sight of Silly himself, the missing
donkey of the monastery. At the sound of Leo's growl, Silly pricked up
his ears and stood on his fore legs, which is not a graceful position
for a donkey. Then the Camel Driver came running up to see what was the
matter with his stolen donkey. But when he came face to face with Leo,
whose yellow eyes were glaring terribly, the thief trembled and turned
pale. For he remembered the dreadful roar which had followed him that
day as he galloped away across the sand holding Silly's halter. The poor
donkey was quivering with fear, thinking that this time he was surely
going to be eaten piecemeal. But after all this trouble on Silly's
account, the very idea of tasting donkey made Leo sick. He only wanted
to show Gerasimus what a mistake had been made.

All this time Gerasimus had been wondering what the lion's strange
behavior meant. But when he saw Leo seize the donkey's bridle, he began
to suspect the truth. He ran up and examined the donkey carefully. Then
Leo looked up in his face and growled softly, as if to say:--

"Here is your old donkey, safe and sound. You see I didn't eat him after
all. _That_ is the real thief," and turning to the Camel Driver, he
showed his teeth and looked so fierce that the man hid behind a camel,
crying, "Take away the lion! Kill the wicked lion!" But Gerasimus seized
Silly by the bridle.

"This is my beast," he said, "and I shall lead him home with me. You
stole him, Thief, and my noble lion has found you out," and he laid his
hand tenderly on Leo's head.

"He is mine, you shall not have him!" cried the Camel Driver, dodging
out from behind the camel, and trying to drag the donkey away from
Gerasimus. But with a dreadful roar, Leo sprang upon him, and with his
great paw knocked him down and sat upon his stomach.

"Do not hurt him, Leo," said Gerasimus gently. But to the Camel Driver
he was very stern. "Look out, Sir Thief," he said, "how you steal again
the donkey of an honest man. Even the yellow beasts of the desert know
better than that, and will make you ashamed. Be thankful that you escape
so easily."

Then he took the baskets from Leo'