The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-11-24

haunts, Is like taking a hobo of the
trucks Of a freight train and taking
him to the dining car OF the limited. |
and letting him eat TO a finish. Peo-
pie talk about animals escaping from
captivity, aEG going back TO the jun
giles, and humane societies shed tears
over the poor. sad-eyed captiyes, sigh
ing for their homes, but you turn
them loose at South Bend, and run
your circus train 10 New Albany
without them, and they would follow
the train and overtake it before the
evening performance the next day, and
you would find them trying to Lreak
into their cages again, and they would
have to be fed.
When pa and | went into the barn
where the cages were, to take an ac-
count of stock, and get acquainted
with our animals, they acted Just like
the circus men did, when they saw
pas clothes. The animals were about
half asleep when we went in, but a
big lion bent one eye on pa, and
then he rose up and shook himself,
and gave a roar and a cough that
sounded like he had the worst case of
pneumonia, and he snorted a couple
of times, as though he was say
ing to the other animals: Here's
something that will kill you dead, and
| want you all to have a piece of 1t,
raw" and he brayed some more, and
all the animal. Joined in the chorus,
the big tiger lying down on his SOM
ach and waving his tail, and snorling
and showing his teeth like a cat that
has located a mou hole, and the
tiger seemed to say: 80, | saw it first
and it's mine"
The hyena set up a laugh like a man
who is not tlckled, but feels that II
is up to him to laugh at a funny
story that he can't see the point OF at
a banquet where Chauneey Depew tells
one of his crippled jokes, and pa was
getting nervous. A big grizzly bear
was walking delegate in his cage, and
he looked at pa as much as to say:
Hello, Teddy, | was not at home when
you called in Colorado, but you get
in this cage, AMI | will make you think
the Spanish war vas a Sunday-school
picnic beside what you will get from
your uncle Ephraim," and a bob cat
jumped up into the top of his cage
and snarled and showed his teeth, and
seemed to say: Bring on your whole
pack of dogs and l will eat them
alive"
Pa threw out his chest In front OF
a monkey cage, and a monkey snatched
his watch, and then all the animals be-
gan to laugh at pa just like a lot of bad
boys in schoolwhen visitors make a call.
Pa went around to visit all the ami
mails, officially, while / got interested
in a female kangaroo, with a couple
of babies, not more than three weeks
old, and | noticed the mother KAN
CARGO made the old man kangaroo, her
husband, stand around, and he acted
Just like some men | have seen who
we're afraid to say their souls were
their own in the presence Of their
wives.
The female kangaroo is surely a
wonder, and seems to be built on
plans and specifications different from
any other animal, cause she has got
a fur-Iined pouch on her stomach, Just
like a vest, that she carries her young
in. When the babies are frightened
they make a hurry-up move towards
ma, the pouch opens, and they jump
in out of sight, like a gopher going
into its hole, and the mother looks
around as innocent as can be, as much
as to say: "You can search me, |
don't know, honestly, where those
kids have gone, but they were around
here not more than a minute ago"
And when the fright is over the two
heads peep out of the top of the
pouch, and the old man grunts, as
much as to say: 20, come on out, there
is no danger, and let your ma have
a little rest. cause she is nervous"
and then the babies come out and run
around the cage, and sit up on their
hind feet, and look wise. That kan
CARGO pouch Is a success, n | won
der why nature did not provide
pouches for all animals to carry their
young in. | think Pullman must have
got his ideas for the upper and lower
berths of a sleeping car by seeing a
kangaroo pouch. | am going to study
the kangaroo, and make friends with
the old man kangaroo, cause he looks
as though he had troubles Of his own.
Pa showed up without any coat,
while was kangarooing. and there
was a rip in his pants, and asked him
what was the trouble, and he said he
got too near the cage of a leopard,
that seemed to be asleep, and tho
traitor reached out his paw and gath
cred in the tail of pas coat, and just
snatched 1t off his back as though it
was made of paper,
Pa is a little discouraged about his
experience in the circus the first day,
but he says it will be great WHEEL we
get the run of the business. He says
every day will have its excitement. To-
morrow they are going to extract a
tooth from the boa-constrictor, and
pa and | are going to help hold him,
while the animal dentist pulls the
tooth, and then we scrub the rhinoce-
ros, and oil the ~hippopotamus. and
get everything ready to start nut on
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