Nero, the Circus Lion | Page 7

hunting to-night. It is best for us to stay in until they
have finished. Then it will be our turn."
And so you see how it is that the strength of a lion makes the other
animals afraid when the big animals hunt. Elephants do not need to fear

lions, for the big animals, with trunks and tusks, do not eat the same
kind of food lions eat. Elephants live on grass, hay, palm-nuts and
things that grow. But the lion eats only meat, and he would eat an
elephant if he could get one, though it might take him a long while.
"Now for the hunt!" said Mr. Lion, as he led Nero into the jungle.
"Tread softly. Sniff with your nose until you smell something worth
hunting, and then spring on it."
Though lions, like cats, can see pretty well in the dark, they have to
depend a great deal in their hunting on what they can smell with their
nose, just as your dog can smell a bone, and tell, in that way, where he
has buried it in the garden.
So Nero and his father joined the other lions on their march through the
jungle in search of something to eat. And Nero kept getting hungrier
and hungrier, so that he looked eagerly around every side of him in the
darkness, and sniffed so that he might know when he came near
anything he could kill and eat.
The other lions were doing the same thing. They did not roar now, but
went quietly, slinking through the jungle as quietly as your cat creeps
through the grass when she is trying to catch a sparrow. The lions had
done enough roaring to scare away other animals who might bother
them in their hunt. Now they did not roar any longer, for they did not
want to scare away the smaller beasts which were food for them in their
hunger.
"I'm going to leave you for a while now, Nero," said Mr. Lion, after a
bit. "You will have to get along by yourself. But don't forget the lessons
your mother and I taught you."
"Where are you going?" asked Nero.
"I am going to the front, to march along with the older men lions," said
Nero's father. "We are going to lead you young lions where there will
be good hunting."

"I shall like that," growled Nero, and he sprang on a tree trunk as he
passed, and dug deep into the soft bark.
"Hi! Quit that! You're scattering bark in my eyes!" said a voice behind
Nero. It was not a loud voice, for one has to be quiet when hunting in
the jungle.
"Who's there?" asked Nero, thinking for a moment it might be the
crocodile who had tossed him into the jungle pool.
"It is I--Switchie," was the answer.
"Oh, are you hunting, too?" asked Nero, glad to find that he knew some
one among the lions besides his father. "Have you killed anything yet?"
"No, not yet. But I shall pretty soon," answered Switchie. "This isn't my
first hunt. I've been out at night before."
"Isn't it great!" said Nero. "I hope I can kill a big buffalo. That would
make a fine meal!"
"Yes, I should say it would!" exclaimed Switchie. "But you had better
leave the buffaloes to your father and the other big men lions. They
always take them. It takes a big lion to catch a buffalo, and even then
sometimes the buffaloes kill a lion."
"How?" asked Nero.
"With their sharp horns," answered Switchie. "Buffaloes have terribly
sharp horns. Better look out for them. Better stick to the goats and the
sheep, or even a rabbit, until you learn more about hunting. As for me, I
am old enough now to try for a buffalo, I think. So if you see one, tell
me, and I'll kill it and give you some."
"Well, I guess I'm nearly as big and strong as you," growled Nero. "If I
see a buffalo I'll jump on his back, and strike him with my paw."
"All right. But if you get hurt don't say I didn't tell you to be careful,"
warned Switchie. "Now come on! We must hurry or we shall be left

behind. Ho for the jungle hunt!"
The two boy lions hurried on after the others. Ahead of them they could
hear, faintly, the tread of the older beasts as they walked along, looking
for something to strike and kill, to stop the terrible hunger. The lions
only went on a hunt when they wanted something to eat. They did not
kill for fun. It was their way of getting a living.
Suddenly, up in front, there sounded a crash among the tangled vines,
bushes and trees of the jungle. Then