Evening star., 1921-10-02

| think this Androcles stuff is pretty
steep. You can believe it, but I can't
Just see 1t. II that cottage cheese
I'D rather you didn't call Leo that,
Mack" said Oily gently. Pink don't
be. Leo should get thorn in his foot
and I pulled 1t out"
We'll. 1t wouldn't hurt to try it,
Oily" 1 said. doubtfully. Maybe it
| would work."
So we tried it. We started with
thorns. Oily would go out into the
| wood-lot nearest the show-grounds and
get thorns-any kind he could get
and l scattered them in the cage.
Then Leo would walk around on them
and never know there were any thornS
| in the world. l suppose that treading
| the hard floor of the cage had tough
| ened the old cottage cheese's pads un-
| til they were like sole-leather. So
| then We tried tacks-carpet-tacks and
| Swedfsh-iron upholstery tacks and any
kind of tacks that were guaranteed to
have sharp points and to be tough and
| busfnesslike-and old Leo just romped
| around on them as If they were the
flowers that bloom in the spring.
! Oily was just worrying himself to
death over 1t. A girl like Pinky isn't
like nun in nunnery when she Is
plenty of men around who were will
| ing and eager to take the widow
curse off her If she would give them
a chance. Every time Oily saw one
of these would-be husbands talking
with Pink he would simply writhe
| In jealousy and rush out and buy a
fresh paper of tacks. The old he-cat
| seemed to be puncture-proof. But he
wasn't. He stepped on a tack and
got it between his toes along about
10 o'clock one night when we were
showing at a little place in Kansas
l nf q
1 Oily was worn down to almost
nothing at all by that time. and he
hardly cared whether he was alive
or dead. Pink had put the big cats
through their tricks about 9 o'clock
and had gone back to the bunk car
on the spur to get her beauty sleep.
| and when I heard Leo yowl I guess
ed what had happened. The sides
were up on his cage, and the menag
! erie top was down and the cage out
on the lot. but hunted up oily and
| rushed him to the cage. We took
down the sides.
Leo was sitting on his launches
holding up one forepaW and licking
it between yowls. When he saw Oily
he began bouncing around the cage
Oily as he was at the tack in his
paw. Oily was as white as a sheet.
60 to It," l said.
Love or something gave the little
Earrow-eyed man more nerve than l
ever imagined he could dig up. He
must have felt he was going to death
or mutilation, but he walked right up
to the cage.
Come here, you brute.' he said,
and he reached between the bars and
took Leo by his tack Infested paw.
had a tent-stake ready to jam into
the big cats face il he tried any
ugly business. but the old cottage
cheese was too cowardly and pain
frightened to make a mean move.
He just put up his muzzle and yowled.
and Oily took the tack by the head
and jerked it out of the paw. For
moment Leo yowled: then he began
licking the paw; then he went to the
back of the cage and spread out
ready to sleep. We put up the side
of the cage. Oily sort Of tiptoed
away.
Il guess that will be all right" he
said in a whisper. like person in
sickroon. "1f he sleeps well he'll
feel better in the morning"
l said I hoped he would and that
hoped the old grannie of a beast
would have sense enough to know
| the kindness Oily had done him.
Il hope so." Oily said. but he hadn't
any enthusiasm. Somehow I don't
feel the same way about that An
drokles business. Mack. The more /
think about it, the fisher it looks"
| Well one OF the stunts of our pa