"He's a perfect roarer, ladies and gentlemen!" answered the keeper; "but the lion don't roar at this time of the year--you don't understand the nater of the animal--he loses his voice during the latter part of the season. You ought to have heard him last spring, when he was in the roaring mood, ladies and gentlemen."
"Frightened the children half to death," said the keeper.
"The great--African lion," muttered Aunt Sonora.
"But he won't _roar_ now, ladies and gentlemen--walk up, walk up!"
"Com'd from the jungles, I s'pose," inquired the Squire, with much gravity.
"Caught right _in_ a jungle," said the keeper.
"Jest as I told you!" said the Squire, turning around to his friends.
"Has he got _claws_?" inquired Aunt Sonora.
"_Claws!_" exclaimed the keeper, looking astonished; "the great--African lion--got claws? Bless you! why he's _all_ claws and teeth; let me show them to you;" and the keeper ran his arm into the cage, in the act of pulling out one of the paws of the ferocious beast; when all Puddleford started with a rush for the door, mingled with screams that were most heart-rending.
"Never mind," said the keeper, who had become affected by the terror around him; "we won't show the lion's claws now."
Order being restored, Mrs. Bird wanted to know why the lion "hadn't got any _har_?"
"Any _what_?" inquired the keeper, peering through the crowd to find where the voice came from, and what it said.
"Ah! O, yes--any _hair_--I see--it is a _lady_ who makes the inquiry. Why the animal hasn't got any hair? Yes, yes, very proper inquiry. We like to answer such questions, or _any_ questions. These animals are great curiosities; and we travel for the instruction of the people. Why the animal hasn't got any hair? Put all the questions you can think of, ladies and gentlemen. The animal _hasn't_ got any hair just now. Well, ladies and gentlemen, he has just shed his coat--the lion is the monarch of the forest--_he_ sheds _his_ coat in the fall of the year, ladies and gentlemen; _he's_ from Africa, where the animals shed their coats at a different season from the animals in this country; and the lion does just as he would do if he were in Africa now, ladies and gentlemen. A very proper question that, ladies and gentlemen; the lion is a wonderful beast--the most wonderful beast, ladies and gentlemen, we have. Any more questions? He has shed his coat, you see; looks bad just now. A sight at the lion alone is worth the whole admission money. Any more questions?"