Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-01-08

Wherein Danger
AWakenS Love in
Two Feminine
Hearts

Aa1ChliniIleu ny LeT KEEPER, MI. IIeeQ,
1.-The Queen of the Zee" was pad
cage she shared with Rajah
It had been one of those delicious
spring days that sometimes come to
London. But now, dusk was falling,
shedding dim ethereal light on the
century old Geological Gardens. Al
most every animal there was sound |
asleep, and Rajah thought time for
bed was overdue. But he stood in awe
of Jezebel and since the ecstatically
happy day when he had been brought
into this tiger house to WOO and win
its occupant, it was she who had
ruled him, not he her
Not only could Jezebel talk the !
language of the jungle, as no tigress
Rajah had ever met in the gay days
and nights of his freedom, but at
times she could see right into the
heart and mind of one of the human
beings who stood always at respect
full distance from the double row of
thick iron bars which surrounded the
outdoor part of the house of her cap
tivity.
Her grandfather, bereaved of his
doting mother as a two-day-old cub,
had been fed for long time on
human milk and this had given her
the gift none knew of but herself.
Thus on Sept. 3. 1899, she had under
stood Mr. Green's disturbing remark:
Nov that wars declared, I wonder
if I'll be able to get you enough to
eat?' When she had conveyed the
news to Rajah he had treasured her
Men are always fighting" he had
erowled scornfully. "They even fought
me in the jungle. 1t will be great fun
for us to see the humans shooting at
one another: and Mr.. Green will !
surely see we get our good horseflesh
as usual"
For nearly a year nothing happened.
Then, constantly, walled through the
air the strange sound of the sirens,
and distant menacing thuds which
Rajah always declared were simply
claps of thunder But life at the Zoo
became extremely dull, for visitors be-
came fewer and fewer AS for the little
boys and girls who had looked such
tantalizingly dainty morsels, especial
ly to Rajah, who is his days of free
dom had been man-eater, they
simply disappeared. London had be- /
come a childlesss city.
Yesterday, however, all the keepers
had been on tiptoe, for a Royal Prin-
cess had been shown around What is
more, Her Royal Highness knew India.
and she spent quite long while gaz-
ing at Jezebel and expressing her .
admiration for what she called 80
truly beautiful a creature" But the
pride and pleasure of that truly
beautiful creature had been COM
pletely destroyed by a remark made
by the official who was showing the !
princess the sights of the ZOO. /
He had begun by saying, I'VE are
fully prepared for a raid, and that,
however bad it may be, your Royal
Highness. For instance, we destroyed
the poisonous spiders the day war was
And then. after the Princess had OBJ
served, But supposing there came
direct hit on. say, this tiger ouse?"
There had followed a curious1y long
pause.
At last, rather as if the words were
being dragged out of him, her guide
had exclaimed, 1--WE are quite ready
for that. too, for we were early able
to get in touch with twelve crack
shots who live fairly near 1t was not
easy, for practically every sportsman
in England at once joined up. But
luckily there are some quiet old
gentlemen who. fortunately for us,
having seen service in India, have had
plenty of tiger shooting. Whenever
the raiders appear over London, they
are here within few minutes, and
are posted, unobtrusively of course,
within few yards of this spot"
He had added: "Rajah, as your
Royal Highness said just now, is
&c H.
tiger. 1t wouldn't do to have him at
course, in the unfortunate event of
a raid on the ZOO, we should all be
on duty"
Before they had moved on, he had
made one more remark, "And I can
tell your Royal Highness curious
thing. Whenever there is a raid over
London-maybe miles away-Jezebel
and Rajah know by instinct, it is wise
to stay out in the open. And air mar
shall once told me that if everyone
left their houses, and made for the
nearest open space during raid, the
casualties might well go down 80 per-
cent"
Since then, Jezebel had often said
to herself, Crack shots? What a very
horrible expression!" And she felt glad
Rajah didn't understand the curious
sometimes dreadful things men and
women say to one another. Luckily,
also, she remembered, with a feeling
of gratitude, something Mr.. Green
had said, which at the time she had
not understood. But she knew now
what it had meant "At the first hiss
of a bomb anywhere near here" he
had called out to another keeper, "In
make it nv business to see that nv
little lot it locked up in their lair.
wouldn't have anyone touch hair of
their coats for anything"
But what If a raid came and Mr..
Green wasn't in the ZOO? Rajah was
always longing for chance to get out
of their nice home and, like all male
creatures, he was obstinate, and sell
dom agreed to follow the advice of his
wise, clever mate.
And now, on this warm, pleasant
evening, Jezebel asked herself why she