Evening star., 1922-05-21
lNDLINESS Is not uncommon
about the menagerie tent of
big circus. And of late the
pOrtion of Chota had included


on the pars of the Eruff. hard-work-
ing animal than usual. The
strips OF horseflesh which formed her
one daily meal, were selected with
more than ordinary care: the straw
of her cage invariably was fresh and
clean: the catnip. which gives Joy
alike to every feline, be it house cat
OF jungle beast. came far more often
than customary. and twice day the
coatless. sun Drowned menagerie su-
perintendent stopped before her cage
to purr at her in imitation of her
own expression of contentment, to
talk to her and to question his men
regarding her welfare. All Of which
Chota accepted with a quiet conf
dence and trust-for Chota was
tiger among tigers.
The maliciousness of the average
striped Bengal beast was missing in
Chota: more, it had been absent even
back in her cub days when the super
intendent first put dog harness on
her and led her about the menagerie
at the end of a leash. The ugly fe
rocity. the viciousness which seems
part of the tiger nature-these were
a tiger in name and markings and in
physical characteristics, but in little
else.
1t was night. Chota growled sleep
lily as an attendant entered her cage
TO sweep it and spread it with fresh
clean straw, before the chandeliers of
the menagerie should dim, the vast
dun-colored canvas fiutter down
ward and the cages roll away to the
trains to be checked in place aboard
the fat cars for the journey to the
next town With the usual cat" the
method would have been to shunt the
brute into the incfosure at one end
of the cage while the rest was being
cleaned-but this method was not
necessary in the case of Chota. Her
den did not even possess the custom
ary dividing bars. The veriest
punk" of the menageries could enter
her habitation without the slightest
fear. And so her remonstrance
brought no other response from the
attendant tonight than a poke of the
broom and the gruff, yet good-hu-
mored command:
Hey. Git over there, Wassa mat
ter witcha?"
Chota got over" The attendant
proceeded with his work of sweeping
the den clean; then fresh straw was
spread lazily by the workman, who
even stepped over the body of the
big, listless, striped brute as he COM
pleted his task Then suddenly a
staccato bark issued from the menag-
erie connection:
animal men,
"Aye-aye"
Hop to it, Board up these dens.
an work fast! There's blow comm"
The long stretches of canvas were
bellying. A whine of wind cut through
guy-ropes and rigging: the scalloped
edges of the tent-eaves quivered.
Outside the crackle of sledges echoed.
and the shouts Of the lot bosses.
Aloft the acetylene chandeliers flick
cred. .Chota's attendant sprang from
the cage, slamming the door behind
him. nor pausinE to note that the
catch lock had failed to snap into
place. SEEKING the nearest of the side
boards. or bar-coverings of the cage.
he attempted. single-handed. to drag
1t into place. In vain!
THE roar of the jungle suddenly
broke loose. merging with the
roar of the storm. A cracking boom,
like the report of a mufhed cannon.
and the canvas covering of the me-
nagerie was snapped from its fasten-
ings, to billow a second above the
straining center poles. then to be
whipped away on the crest of the
hurricane. The chandeliers hared
with long, wind-fanned flames before
the fabric mantels broke. Then dark
ness-and the inferno.
Stampeding elephants. trumpeting
and squealing as they ran, crashed to
and fro aimlessly, striking against
the weaving center poles and telling
them The rush of the wind grew
greater. mingling with the roaring
and kissing of the cat beasts, the ter
rinc believing grunts of the rhi-
noceros, the weaker cries of the
ruminants and apes. And with the
other cat beasts-the leopards. the
lions, the pumas and panthers and
tiger"Chota Joined. roaring and
Kissing and believing. with a note
she never had sounded before, a note
Of panic.
She lashed about her cage. pressing
hsr head tight against the bars as
the lightning flashes illumined for
jagged seconds the confusion of the
circus lot: the straining horses tug
Eing at careening wagons: the rush
Ing forms Of men, hatless, coatless.
arms widespread; the wreckage of
the poles; the thronging, papicky
crowds massinE from the big top.
also in darkness. The rain slashed
between the bars of the tigers prison,
whipping under the wind fur.
chilling her. maddeping her. She be-
gan to leap and claw, first at one side,
then the other, vainiy. madly.
Somewhere down the line q cage
capsized. and shouting men struggled
against the force of the hurricane to
right 1T. A crash sounded from far
away-the elephants had broken for
the open country and were smashing
through the high wooden fence at the
far end of the circus lot. 1t all served
to instill in Chota a new quality of