New-York tribune., 1922-02-19
"Ma9niGque Leo" CaUs
On Divine Sarah

There came babble Of Frenca, aad som.
members Of the company appeared They
had heard about my letter and insisted tna.
! be allowed back stage. Then came Nine
Bernhard herself
"Magnidquo Leo, MagniEque Leo~ sh.
cried
watched her fondling first ore cuo. .hsr
another, then with her arms full Of Cubs and
it seemed to rnc that she, too, had been
tsTess in some other incarnatjon-a beautj-
ful, splendid animal She tod me tha. shs
sas very tired and that playing Cleopatra
as she had done that afternoon, vas crsat
strain. II gave me the idea Of calling the
cubs Brutus, Cleopatra and Mar, Antony.
For more than an hour we talked and
played with the little beasts in he dressing
roon When it came tine for me to leave
sire put OFT her hand and said, in Engl:sh
''f very glad 70 meet you, Androclea7
Soon Cleopatra and Mark Antony began
to show traits Of ugines, and bad disposition
The animals had grown 80 that It was danger
GUS to keep them at homo and til. An2s
Memorial could not care for them Ate
much pleading mother agreed 70 let then
remain in the back yard until 7 could s.l
them.
had cages built and they were fairly con-
foryably CHARTERED. But sometimes at nigh
they would become restles. and howl vhch
mcant that had 20 get out OF bed and h1rrv
down to quiet them. Three lions, a. how
ing, can make enough noise to disturb people
for blocks, and I knew that It wouldn't BE-
long before 7 was brought into court for dis
curbing the peace = didn't keep them quiet
That prolonged, doleful "Aou-w-v-w.7 Aoat
inz through the night is enough to strike
terror into people. The consequence was
that I spent many Of my nights there in ths
cages, talking to them, soothing them and
catching little snatches OF sleep.
Once in a storm, the canvas covering o.
Brutus's cage ripped and let the rain in Upon
him. He gave an outraged below ord had
the entire neighboraood awake before I
could get to him. I saw what the trouble was
and rushed back for an umbrella. Il wa
impossible to repair the covering IT the dark
ness, / spent the rest Of the night, dressed
in pajamas and a bathrobe, soaked 10 the
skin, holding the umbrella over him. Both
of Us curled up under it-Brutus weighed
about 900 pounds at this ti,ne-and got what
shelter we could. With the umbrella handle
propped between Us and with me using his
shoulder as q pillow, we managed to get some
sleep.
1t was miserable night and we were both
vet and wretched when dawn came. But 50
long as I was there with him he vas willing
to keep quiet. and didn't begrudge him the
companionship. I loved Brutus and the
thought Of parting with him broke ny hear
He was the most atfectionate lion have ,ever
known, ard we would play Dy tie hour, .roll-
ing about on the floor. wrestling aid rokugh-
housing. Even from the first preferred} hin
to the others, and when he was small &ised
to have him in my room while I was rra4csic-
ing. The thought Of losing the others d1 In
hurt so much, but I fought desperatel3 .o
keep Brutus.
AS he grew larger got collar and Il ain
for him, and we used to take long wa.k5
through the Fenway, sometimes IS fars Is
Jamaica Plain and back It was notic&a Bio
that the women we met were seldom II sht-
ened. Brutus was such an amiable ltea
that they all fell in love with him. But The
men almost invariably drew back and 4sve
him all the room he wanted