Nero, the Circus Lion

Nero, the Circus Lion, by Richard Barnum

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nero, the Circus Lion, by Richard Barnum This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Nero, the Circus Lion His Many Adventures
Author: Richard Barnum
Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers
Release Date: May 21, 2007 [EBook #21546]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NERO, THE CIRCUS LION ***

Produced by Mark C. Orton, Thomas Strong, Linda McKeown and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: He jumped through a hoop covered with paper Frontispiece. See page 92]

Kneetime Animal Stories
NERO THE CIRCUS LION HIS MANY ADVENTURES
BY RICHARD BARNUM
Author of "Squinty, the Comical Pig," "Mappo, the Merry Monkey," "Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant," "Chunky, the Happy Hippo," "Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox," etc.
ILLUSTRATED BY WALTER S. ROGERS
NEW YORK BARSE & HOPKINS PUBLISHERS

KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES By Richard Barnum Large 12mo. Illustrated.
SQUINTY, THE COMICAL PIG. SLICKO, THE JUMPING SQUIRREL. MAPPO, THE MERRY MONKEY. TUM TUM, THE JOLLY ELEPHANT. DON, A RUNAWAY DOG. DIDO, THE DANCING BEAR. BLACKIE, A LOST CAT. FLOP EAR, THE FUNNY RABBIT. TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY. LIGHTFOOT, THE LEAPING GOAT. CHUNKY, THE HAPPY HIPPO. SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX. NERO, THE CIRCUS LION. TAMBA, THE TAME TIGER.
BARSE & HOPKINS Publishers New York

Copyright, 1919, by Barse & Hopkins
Nero, The Circus Lion

VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I NERO HAS SOME FUN 7
II NERO GOES HUNTING 16
III NERO IS SHOT 27
IV NERO IN A CAVE 36
V NERO IN A TRAP 45
VI NERO IN A CIRCUS 55
VII NERO LEARNS SOME TRICKS 67
VIII NERO MEETS DON 75
IX NERO SCARES A BOY 87
X NERO RUNS AWAY 97
XI NERO AND BLACKIE 107
XII NERO AND THE TRAMP 113

ILLUSTRATIONS
He jumped through a hoop covered with paper Frontispiece
PAGE
Nero saw what he had thought was a log of wood open a big mouth 18
He licked the place where his paw hurt 38
Nero looked out through the bars of his cage 62
His keeper rode in the cage with him 82
Then the trainer put his head in the lion's mouth 100
Nero sat on his hind legs on the table 122

NERO, THE CIRCUS LION
CHAPTER I
NERO HAS SOME FUN
Far off in the jungle of Africa lived a family of lions.
Africa, you know, is a very hot country, and what we, in this land, would call a forest, or woods, is called a "jungle" there. In the jungle grew many trees, and the ground was covered with low vines and bushes so that animals, creeping along, could scarcely be seen. That was why the animals liked the jungle so much; they could roam about in it, play and get their meals, and the black hunters and the white huntsmen who sometimes came to the jungle, could not easily see to shoot the lions, elephants and other beasts.
There were five lions in this jungle family, and I am going to tell you the story of one of them, named Nero. Nero was a little boy lion, about two years old, but please don't think he was a baby because he was only two years old. Lions grow much faster than boys and girls, and a lion of two years is quite large and strong, with sharp claws and sharper teeth.
Nero lived with his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Lion, and his brother Chet and his sister Boo, in a cave in the African jungle. The cave was among the rocks, and not far from a spring of water where the lions went to drink each night. They drank only at night because that was the safest time; the hunters could not so easily see the shaggy lions with their big heads, and manes larger than those of a horse.
Nero was the largest of the three lion children, and he was called Nero because that always seems to be the right name for some one large and strong. Chet, who was Nero's brother, got his name because, when he was a little baby lion cub, he used to make that sound when he cried for his dinner.
As for Boo--well, I must tell you in what a funny way she got her name, and then I'll go on with the story of Nero. When Boo, who was Nero's sister, was a little baby lion, she was sitting in the front of the jungle cave one day, waiting for her mother to come back. Mrs. Lion had gone out a little way into the jungle to get something to eat.
All of a sudden Boo, who up to then had no name, heard some one coming along the jungle path, stepping on twigs and tree branches and making them crack. By this sound the