The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-11-14
EOPLE can talk all they
want to about dogs being
the most loyal. obedient
and intellipent of animals

N12&xXN Want 10 ABOUT dogs being
HH@|EzA0 the most loyal. obedient
EN gg and intelligent of animals,
but when it comes to a showdown
an elephant beats them all; and if
you have time to listen, I'll prove
it,
Old Tom Davis looked up in
quiringly from the depths of his
armchair, and I, nodding assent,
seated myself on a bread box and
waited.
1T happened the first year l
was with Barker Brothers circus
doing a dumb bell -fireball turn
as the climax of my act. We had
just closed our summer tour with
Cascil, California, which is on a
spur of the S. L. about three hum
dred miles from Los Angeles.
1t was lucky for the boss that
it was the close of the season. be-
cause few miles outside of Cascil
we were wrecked by head-on
with a runaway engine. The op-
orator said it would take four hours
for the wrecking crew to get to US
from the main line. It did-it took
eight.
when we hit. our engine had
been thrown up and back over on
the next car, which happened to be
one that contained wild animals
cats, mostly. The car was smashed
as fiat as could be; we figured our
loss at about sixty thousand and
let it 60 at taat.
Did you ever wait eight hours
out on sagebrush desert with not
even a house in sight? No? Well,
it's bad for the nerves, and all of
us, as we'll as the animals, were on
keen edge-all except Old Man
Jarvis and King. Old Man Jarvis
was elephant man, and King-well,
King was Old Man Jarvis only tie
on earth, as Jarvis was Kings.
They seemed to live just for each
other. Old Jarvis would have
died for shat elephant, and King
would have walked through whole
herd of mice if Jarvis had said the
word. The old man had trained
him until he was just like a horse,
and he seemed to understand every
word his master said.
During our wait, they stood
around as calm as could be, jest
waitin' for the passage of time
''The wrecking crew got to us
late in the morning and after clear
ing off the engine started to work
on the animal car. The derrick
had just started to raise the top.
most side, when Bill Hale gave a
yell and started to run as fast as
his legs would carry him. The
rest of us looked-and then ran
too. For. squeezing out of a mere
crack, with her big, ugly mouth
drawn back in snarl, came the
Princess the boss prize leopard
the most treacherous, vicious
cat of the lot. There for a mo-
ment she stood, mad with hunger
and wild with fear, and there,
within thirty yards of her, trans.
fixed with fear and horror, stood
May Hollingsworth, our esques.
trienne. If one of us had as much
as slingshot, he didn't try to use
Iit-after he reached a safe distance
All we did or could do was stand
and stare every man jack of us.
''The Princess had the center OF
the stage, all right. She was clear
of the wreckage now and crawling
toward May with that sinewy glide
of hers; white froth was dripping
from her mouth, and a queer, CUR.
Cling noise cl|he from her throat.
With machine-like precision she
shortened the distance twenty.
five, twenty-five, twenty. eighteen
yards more. l can still hear thai
soft pad-pad- -pad-pad! of her vel.
vet paws and see the glitter of the