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The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, October 08, 1921, Image 16

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FiPiHT STORIFS For First Newspaper Publication
UlVJl 1 i J1 Vyl\IJLitJ BY ELLIS PARKER BUTLER
Copurioht. 1021, bp The McClurc Xew.ipaprr Spndicntc. . , ? ,1U , ... ?? .. .. .. , ... . ,. , ?
Author of ' I Igs is Pigs ami the famous "Pliilo (?ubb and "Jabcz Bunker Stories.
>- ??
ANDROCLES JONESj
AS .1 matter of fact, his name'
was m t Androc'.es but Orley
Jem x. j.n?l ho was commonly
I'aiicl * t?.ly" for three reus r.s: ,
?oily" 1? ni i ur.l.ke Orley and made
a sroixl substitute for it In a com
pany wh* re substitute names were
the rub\ The o?r| hands of the H"g-'
gins-Weltshow.s had an Invariable
method of hazing a newcomer?they
called him out of his proper name, i
This had the effect of showing that
the new hand was an unimptrtant
bit of nothlng-nt-all and put him in
las proper place at once. If his
name was Mike they called him
Algernon until he had writhed lute
a proper state of meekness or had
objected and been beaten into a right
state of mind. Then his now handle ,
was softened to Algv, and if he
proved to be a good fellow, he might
become A I. hut never?as long as he 1
was with the Hoggins-Welti bunch !
?was he Mike again.
Even Katie O'Hare, whose ring-!
name was Mile. Rosa Montmorency,
was Susie to all connected with thej
show, and old Hoggins, safe In his
office In the Metropolitan Tower in ,
New York most of the time the show 1
was on the road, was '"Biff" Hog-1
gins. The name had something to1
do with the fact that he had once
owned a cheap Wild West show, a ?
paltry imitation of Buffalo Bill's'
outtlt. and had thus won the distinc- j
tion of being dubbed "BifTalo Bull."
The two other reasons for the1
name were that Orley Jones had a!
certain gentleness that might, by'
extreme stretching, be called unctu- :
ous. "Orley. Hey?" said Codge Biggs. |
when he had asked the new man's i
name. "Well, you look Oily, all >
right!" And the name clung, and It I
clung the tighter because Mr. Jones [
had a way?due to his New York,
birth?of saying "I had to get up
oily this motnin'," or "The oily boid |
gets the wolm."
The little man, with his eyes set j
to? close together and his general j
air of having served a long term as
a sweepout In a cheap barroom, j
Joined the Hoggins-Weltz crowd at i
Davenport, Iowa. How he ever hap- j
pened to be at Davenport was a)
mystery, but ho was down on his
luck and ready for any kind of meal
tlcket, and when Codge Biggs, our |
canvas-man, had knocked out three j
drunken rough-neck stakemen with
one of the iron-cupped blue tent
stakes. he took O.ly and two othor
hungry-looking fellows to fill the
vacancies. At Iowa City, Oily dou
bled with the camels, leading one
of the tan-colored brutes In the,
parade, and the camel bit his arm. ?.
He had no luck with an.mals. If he '
stood in front of the cockatoo-case!
for two minutes, the birds went i
crazy with rage. They seemed to'
take Oily as a personal insult of j
some sort and screamed their heads j
half off.
Vou may have read of men wno
can go Into the woods and s.t dowg. |
and -n a few minutes'squirrels come!
up and kiss them, and- dicky-birds |
come and roose on their shoulders. |
and beavers and badgers and things1
come and purr agamst their legs.!
Oily was Just as different from this j
as he could be. Eveh pink-eyed rab- i
bits tried to bite him. They say the '
reason some men make such a hit I
with animals Is because they are j
innocent of heart and mind. If that!
is so, Oily must have been the j
roughest kind of a sophisticated'
criminal. ? i
That was one reason Oily was as-'
signed to the animal-tcnt. Nothing i
makes such a hit with the crowd as
to have the animals yowl and Jump,1
at the cage-bars and show mean- j
ness, and all Oily had to do w-as to)
walk around inside the tent to have j
a wave of yowls follow him. Even ;
the guinea-pigs In the Happy Family j
would try to bite the cage-bars when j
they saw Oily. And it takes some
thing to make a guinea-pig show'
ferocity. Oily was the only thing it
ever knew that could do it.
We had a Jap with the show once |
who used u kind of hair-oil that j
drove the trained seals crazy. Ho i
was a little fellow and about fifty j
vears old. and his star stunt was to j
go away up In the top of the big top :
and fasten his little wisp of hair to |
a pulley and slide down a long wire. |
banging by the hair and whirling i
around and around until a couple of j
rough-necks caught him Just as he j
reached the ground. Along In '93 his !
hair began to come out. and he wrote 1
to an uncle of his In Vladivostok j
for some of this hair-oil. I guess
It was one of the good old family
remedies he knew about; anyway. It'
was so strong that if the Spaniards
had heard about It In time they j
wouldn't haveMiad to invent garlic. J
The first time Yama Toy came
Into the big top doped up with the t
stuff, the eight trained seals were
doing their stunt on the stage be- !
tween the two big rings. They gave 1
one whiff, said something that j
counded like a seasick army and j
scooted! One of them went Into :?f
clown's giant fake tuba l.ke a snail j
into a shell, and he went In so far j
and so hard that we had to cut the
tuba off him w.th a can-opener. Hs,
head was Jammed Into the funnel of j
the tuba so hard that one of us had j
to hold down one of the keys of the j
tuba so the seal could get a breath.;
Fverytimo the seal drew a deep.,
trightened breath the tuba piayod a
note. It was B flat below the scale.!
nnd whenever I hear that note now
I can smell Yama Toy's halr-oll. !
There must have been something
about Oily Jones that had this effect ;
on all the birds and beasts. I don't:
know whri It was. and neither did :
(?hy. L .ter on we trle.J every way I
pos* ble to discover what It was; but'
that conies lator in this story. It j
wasn't sophisticated criminality.!
Aioag about the time when Oily was,
'??etng of love, and when he used to
fee- t me all his troubles, he told me
vlth tears in his eyes he had never,
done a naughty deed, and I believe)
him. Maybe It whs Just that the;
animals did r.<*t like his looks. Per- j
haps they d d not I ke his eyes. We ^
Tied to figure out that It wm his
st ent?every man and animal has a
distinctive one. as bloodhound-own
ers know Anil we tried diet. Oily
was fond of onions, and we thought
maybe that was It. He went without
onions for weeks, and It made nrt
difference. We tried rubb'ng cotton j
? ?n Oily and then putting,the cotton
in the capes with the brutes. You
know how a dog or a cat or any j
other animal will go for anything
scented with a scent they don't like, j
Well, they paid no attention to cot
ton scented with Oily. They Just d'd I
no like him. During those days Oily
just moped around the show and1
didn't care whether he lived or died, i
It was on account of Pink.
Th.s Pink person was a widow and j
:i voting one, and one of the finest i
girls with the show. I knew her be-1
fore she married Morris, who was
her hrst husband and who was killed
in the big blow-down in Kansas In
'11, and 6he always was Just about
as tine as they make them. Morris
I had never cared much for. He was
a good enough clown but a sour
iempered Individual. I read a story
sonio fellow wrote and got published
it. a magazine, and although he
changed the names, anybody would
know It was about P.nk and Morris
(we used to call him Orunt, he was
always so complaining), and it had
a lot of stuff about how Grunt lay
under the big stick, crushed and
holding link's hand?you know, the
"only a clown but human after all"
?stuff. That story would make a
horse weep, but It wasn't any of It
so. The big stick hit him on the
head and he never knew what hit
him. If he had known, his last
words would have been "Sue the
show! We can get damages for
this! "*
. As I said. Grump Morris was a
good-enough clown, but he was not
much of a husband. Pink gave him j
all the weeps he deserved, and I
guess she didn't think much of
marrying again until Oily Jones be
gan to make up to her. Now, there's
another thing not many people know
or think about. The kind of man
that makes the big hit with the Inno
cent birds and beasts, like I men
tioned, don't stand one-two-three
with the ladles, as a general rule.
You can take that or leave It. but It
is so. Maybe the dames have an
Inside liking for killers?soldiers and
big-game hunters and such always
seem to make a hit w.th them, some
how. I give It up; I've got other
things to figure out. at the end of a
show-season when we've had rain
once every day and sometimes twice
and then some.
An/ua/, vit? ocTjiucu iu OMBMU
pretty well with all the dames in the
show?Pmk, cspec.ally. Come to
think cf It. ho must have stood In
with me pretty well, too. although 1
never thought of that until this min
ute! Come to think of it, I did push
him along pretty fast, rushing htm 1
up from canvas-man to what you
might call my general assistant In j
half a season. But Oily was a handy
man, and ho could get things done.
He was oily, that way. He had a
brain, and he greased the trouble
paths with It so things slid easily.
I've got to drive around the block
like, and get back to Pink Morris.
Maybe you'll bring her to mind
without my telling you any more If
I say her ring name is Princess Cara.
Ves, I thought you'd remember her!
She was just the best little handler
of the big cats we ever had. and one
of the best the world has produced.
There's a lot of bunk about handling
the big cats, and there's a lot that
isn't bunk. Those who think any
one like Pink is in mortal danger
every minute she Is in the big cage
have it all wrong, and those who
think the trainers are as safe In the
cage with the big cats as they would
be at home in bed are Just as wrong.
You get one of the trainers to strip
?get any of them to strip?and you
won't find one that Is not scarred up.
The reason Pink wears her fleshings
to her wrists is because one urm Is
so marred the public would turn sick
to see it. One of the cats clawed her
there. The truth Is that the eats
have their days. Some daya they
are as sweet oa pigeons, and again
they are as mean as rattlesnakes.
Some days one cat will be cross and
all the rest will behave like little
angels; another day they will all be
cantankerous; another day thoy will
ail l>e good. Once In a while you'll
tind a cat that Is good all the time.
I remember, when I was a kid on
my father's farm, we had a bull that
was so sweet-tempered a chipmunk
could push it out of the way. Pink
had one cat like that. It was a big
he-lion with a mat of beard and
mane and big yellow eyes and the
sweetest temper any brute ever had.
I'll tell you what he was like: he
was like one of these big. heavy
haired orators they grow out West
who 6tand up on a platform and
shake their manes and howl and i
look grand and ferocious and then
go home and eat half a soup-plate
of milk toast and call It a full meal.
That was like old Leo. He was a .
star poser. He was the noblest cat j
I ever saw. did the lino-rampant act [
to perfection, yowled like a blood- i
thirsty hyena, and never even acted
annoyed except when he had eaten
t"o many chocolate creams and felt
satiated. I believe that if he hadn't
been ashamed to be seen doing it,
he would have eaten hay Instead of |
meat. 1
All this did not make Pink d a- i
like Jen Hp was the darling of her
heart. You don't require a collie d">g'
t<> ho ill-tempered In order to love It.
and neither was It necessary for Leo
to be ferocious to keep Pink's love. ,
.lust about worshipped that dear
old lion. She used to call him her i
/ V
big boy and her Mg hahy and nthc
pet names, and she always said that
when she retired from the sawdust
ring she would take I.-o with her,
no matter what happened t<< her
other big cats. I t"U| her a couple
of things about Manhattan Janitors
and what they would think of a lip
dog like I.eo, who was as big as a
pony and looked as fierce as he
wasn't, but Pinky said she had about
as much use for a flat in Manhattan
as for n submarine, and that when
she retired-she meant to have a nice
little farm on a Catsklll hillside with
a good timber-lot where Leo could
roam around?and oat beech-nuts, I
suppose and He down with Pinky's
j lambs. If the lambs were not too
[ fierce for company for the dear old
(cat!
Yes, Pink was a nice girl, and the
! net she pulled off in the big ring
I cage at each performance was all It
was cracked - up to be on the big
posters. She had all the big-cat
stunts and some sho had Invented on
her own hook, and when sho stepped
j Into the cage in her short spangled
skint and her ribboned sandals, w th
her short bull-whip in one hand and
a reliable forty-four in the other,
she always made a hit. She had a
big lot of brown hair and a way of
| doing It up with a little red-and-gold
! turban on top of It that made her
, look like a real queen rf beauty, and
| she was all that and more. Sho had
I a heart of solid gold.
I <Jon't know Just when Oily made
J himself prominent in her notice first,
I think the first she ever thought of
htm was with annoyance. He wor
| ried her Leo terribly. Ix>o had the
same feelings toward Oily that every
other animal had. and when Oily
would pass Leo's cage, the dear old
thing would Just yowl with rage. He
would bounce around the cage and
yawp and carry on In an awful man
ner. He would Jump at the bars
and bite them and get all worked up
and nervous. He would get so mud
he would fairly weep and the tears
would run down his Jowls, and
Pinky said it upset him so that he
would be like another lion for an
hour afterward.
All this had one effect; It made
Pinky notice Oily. Tliey had one
, big fow over it, and then Oily came I
J and begged her pardon like a little!
! man.. from then on they w;ere to
gether a lot.- Probably Oily fell In
: love when she gave him that rake
j over. At ahy rate, we all knew, be
fore long, that Oily was head over
heels and that Ihnky was favorably |
) inclined. We expected to hear any j
l day that they had been marr'ed be
! tween the afternoon and evening
i performances.
Then Oily came to me looking like
| a lost soul.
j "Mack," he said (my right name
being John Roger Weltz), "what
f would you do if you loved the nicest
' little goll In the wotld and she hand- j
I eu you one that put your hopes on j
ice?"
'What's Pink been handing you ,
now?" 1 asked.
Oily seemed surprised that I had i
guessed the girl was Pink.
"How did you know she was the '
goll?" he asked but without much j
I spirit. "Well, no matter! She's the,
| (lame I mean. Mack, she's willing
to marry me?"
"Oh. that part is fine enough!"]
Oily said. "Sure, the big show is all j
I right. Mack. She's willing to be
tied. Pink Is: but?say, did you know
Morris?"
' Liko a book," I said.
"Say. is It a fact he stood for (
bein' married in the rtng-cage with
all tbem cats?"
' Then I knew. O.ly d dn't have to ]
tell me another word. P.tik and1
Morris had been married at the eve- 1
i :iing performance one night when ;
we showed at Dallas. It was a great
stunt, and advance news of It had |
Allen the tent so full we hail to walk ;
the elephants single file In the grand
cniry to keep them from stepping on
the Texans who were sitting oil the
sawdust at the foot of the blues. It
was a great stunt, and Pinky never
tired telling about it. and it;
was such a good stunt that
every cat-frnlncr that got married
after that had the wedding pulled off1
In the ring-cage. I could see why
she had suggested the same thing to'
1
Oily, it was profess I >tial pride. It t
1 was h? r own stunt, and If the other |
I eat-tralnt-rs were stealing Iter stuff,
i and being married in the cage. Pink j
wasn't going to pass the chance to i
make g>?,.d at it again.
Oily poked at the sawdust with
his toe,
"Say, Mack," he said, " she knows
a preacher who thinks he's a regular
Daniel. The beasts and birds ail
love him to that extent that they
cry for hint at night. He's willing I
I to l>e inside the cs.ge when he ties!
the knot. Nice little party, ain't It? I
Me and Pink and the eats and the J
i preacher ail caged up and saying the j
j till-death-us-do-part stuff!" He
smiled a sickly smile. "Say, Mack. (
j you know how them cats love me, j
, don't you? Death would us part Just j
about the minute I stepped Into that J
j cage with them cats!"
"You Jet me talk to that P.nk per- |
j son. Oily." I said. "She's a reason-1
? able creature, for a woman, and I!
guess I can tlx this up for you."
I He almost kissed mv hands.
I h?d a long confab with Pink. She
! was a reasonable creature, as I bad
said, nnd before I had talked half an
j hour, she began to see that the mar
riage wouldn't amount to much In j
1 the end if the big cats ate Oily be-1
fort he had tim*> to say "I do!"
I "I'll tell you. Mack," she said, ''I'm
, not pig-headed. I'll say right now i
? that when the tent-pole caved In i
Morris's head, I made a resolve that I
! if I was ever fool enough to marry j
again. I'd be married In the ring-1
I cage with nl! my cats rght there as ;
| bridesmaids and ushers, but I'm no I
j stubborn Jade. I like Oily too well J
I to chuck him Just because he don't'
p like my cats. Some of 'em are nasty [
I brutes. Mack."
j "All cats are," I said.
"Not Leo, Mack!" she said re
' proachfully.
"Well, I wouldn't hardly call him j
| a cat," I said. "I'd call him a cot-j
j tago cheese, except that that's a;
! rather wlldlsh thing to call I.eo."
j "You mean thing!" she said. pre-.
; tending to pout. "I ought to spat i
your face for that, but I won't. Now,'
| about Oily: I'll give up tho cat (
: Idea."
I "link," I said, "you art Just as i
white as they make them these days.!
you are!"
She smiled.
"I know I am, Mack." she said, i
' Maybe I like Oily., too. Maybe that,
has something to d> with it. 1 don't '
suppose," sh?? added as I was turning ;
to hurry away and tell Oily, "that!
Oily would mind being married In i
the ring-cage if'I had no eats In the!
cage?"
I stopped short and looked at her. !
She was as sober ns a Judge.
"Why. no!" I said. "Why should1
I he? The cage won't bite him. will!
It?" j
"Then it Is all settled," she said
ga.vly. "We'll be married In the
r;ng-cage in the big top any night
l>erf<>rmnnee Oily chooses. Just before
the big cats are let Into the cage.
You can tell him."
I turned to go again. I was half
way out of the tent.
"Mack!" she called.
I turned back.
"Of course." she said, hanging.
onto the words ns if she hated to let '
them sMp from her, "Oily won't mind '
having a cottage cheese In the cage." I
"A?a wht^?" 1 cried, and then 11
remembered what T had called I.ro. j
I went right back to where P.nk was i
standing. "Now. s?e here. I'ink." 1
said severely, "a Joke Is a Joke. You ,
know as well as I do that that is all '
that o!d l^o cat is?a hunk of cot
tage 'cheese, if that's what you want'
him'called; but you don't want to(
worry the life out of Oily Just be
cause I called that brute of n I<co a
fancy name. I^co may he cottage
cheese to me. but he's not that to.
Oily. He's a lion to Oily?a king of
beasts."
I saw then I had offended her. |
right enough, by railing thn old nnl- !
mal a cottage cheese. It was one
case of calling by a fake name that;
was a bad mistake.
"I cannot Imagine any man being
coward enough to be afraid of being
locked In a cage with a cottage
??hecsc." she said haughtily. "That's,
my ultimatum. You can carry it to |
Oily." i
Well. I carried it and I give you
my wore! it weighed a ton. 1 found
C?ilv ju.st where I had left him. and
h-' looked up with h pc in Id." close
set f.vs, 1 had to blast it. I blasted ,
as gently as 1 could.
"Oily," I said. "P.nk If a fine girl.
She's going to giv< up the idea if
having the dang'Teiis en's in the i
cage with you."
Oily looked at me suspiciously.
"She acted fine." ] hurried on t ?1
say. "There Isn't a mean hone In
her body. Oily. All she wants now [
Is to he married In the ring-cage?
nothing in it hut hrr and you and
the minister and that old-cotton
wool lma-haa lamb Leo."
"And 1 thought you were my j
fritnd, Mark!" O.ly said In a tone!
that would have mad* an iron
hydrant weep, it made me rather j
hot. I had fought it out with Pink ?
and argued with her and all. and
this was what I cat tor my pains.
I think Oily and rink talked It
over at full length after that. I d ire
say eaoh was right from a pers oia!
point of view. I'ink couldn't see
how happiness eotild result from the
marriage if Oily was always to h"* in
mortal fear of Leo, and she could not
think of giving up 1a.m. Tlio old cot
tage choose was almost like a brother
to her, and I couldn't blame her for
feeling as she did about the old
beast. If she did as she intended and
took a farm In the mountains and
expected Leo to roam around the >
place, Oily would have to get used ti i
the lion or lead an unhappy and,
probably dismembered life.
As Pink looked at it, it was up to'
Oily to learn to love Leo and liv e in |
harmony with him. As O Iv looked,
at it the mnrrlagc in the ring-cage
would all right for P.nk and mitt-'
Ister: Pink was the lien's chum, and
he would not hurt her: and the min- ,
ister would ho safe enough in the
cage because Leo would be so busy
rending Oily limb from limb that the !
big beast would have no time to pay I
nticntion to the m.nister. Put Oiiy j
felt he would have a d'sagreeahlc and j
hiood-soakod time In that cage.
That year we had one clown with
us by the name of Sam Schmidt. His
ring name was Shivers, and we railed
l.'m '"ish, and ho had one act that
was a hummer. I* was a flown
school, .-ill pantomime, and ho was j
the tenohor: it was s> g ?? -.1 wo gave j
him tho l?lg stage for his act and |
didn't run-anything ??'so at the s.im" j
time exc- tho eight elephants in j
.No. 1 ring end tho eight-stallion a t
in Ring 2. Wo had to ki op th-*
clowns off the hipp' dri.mo track ?
while the stallions ware in tho ring. |
anyway, because th" stallions are :
bad actors when tin* clowns are,
loose on the track, ltut Irish appre
ciated the stage privileg ? Jus: the >
same, and he did al! lie could t >,
build up his act and mrk" it good, j
At tho stnrt ho used any rid prop- J
erty hook in his act. hut as it grow, j
ho got particular about properties, j
and ho dug up an old road tig-hook
to use in the act. He was sitt ng in .
the dressing-tent one day reading ,
this book when Oily dropped in.
"Oily." Irah said, "it's a p ty you >
came from tho Rowery instead of,
from the desert. You ni ght have j
pulled this stunt on old I.e."
"What stunt?" askrd Oily.
"What it says her" about this old |
guy Androeles.'' said Ir.sh. and ho |
tossed the bunk to Oi'v.
I suppose you know the Androeles 1
tale. He was an old 'Irook follow. I
and ho wont out into tho desert,
picking cranberries I suppose, an.l
up came a lion with a thorn in its,
foot, and Androdes took out tho;
thorn and off trotted the lion Prob- |
ably lie forgot all about it. for soar* i
years later ho turned Fhrist an and i
was pulled for it and the king saidj
he had to be fed to the big eats on
whatever was the Greek Fourth of
July. So all the steady show-patrons
eiowdod into the Mg top. and An
droeles was shins into tho arena.!
seared stiff, and the rage was '
v heeled In and a big lion pried out
bv tho rough-necks. Mister Lion j
gave one yowl and stru t d for An- !
flnx-les, saying. "Here's nu break- I
fast-food all served e.n i china J
plate!" Rut Just when Androeles j
shut his eyes and got ready to lie j
eaten in two bites, the lion stopped J
short, laughed a merry laugh and j
walked over and kissed Androclcs on j
both cheeks. It was the lion An- ?
drocles had unthorned. Of course,
they tried to make the lion nibble j
Androclcs. They got pepper and,
sr.lt and tried that, and then they !
tried to serve Androclcs with pnw- !
dt red sugar. No u.v! Lion wouldn't
cat Androclcs.
Well, Oii.v read the story three |
times, and then he tore out the pige!
and carried it away with hitn and |
studied it. It made a big bit with j
kirn. Ho would sit across the tent;
from I^o and read thnt tale and j
then look at LeJi and worder how It
would work. F.rnlly lie came to me.;
fie gave me the tale to read and I j
rend it. j
"What do you think of it. Mack?",
lie asked eagerly.
"Weil, 0>ily," I said. "I don't
know! It seems sort of phony tot
me. Ton don't remember Bony
Harper?he was with us before your
time: he was the man that pulled,
the ulcerated tooth for the black
panther when we were in winter
quarters at Ii-> Soto. I never in my i
life knew a beast to suffer as that
panther d.d with that tooth or to
feel better than thnt panther did t
after the tooth was out. That should
have bet 11 a grateful panther?but!
the tlrst chance he got, he reached
out of the cage and clawed all ttie i
meat off Copy's face."
"Ix?o is a naturally go<>d-natured
animal." said Oily.
'Oh.'" I said, getting the drift eft
his meaning. "So that's it, is it ? ?
Weli, Oily, to tell you the truth, I |
think this Androclcs stuff is pretty j
strep. You can believe it. hut I can't j
just see it. If that cot'age cheese?" i
"I'd rather you didn't call L?o
that. Mack," said Oily gently. "Pink I
don't like that. I just thought that j
if. maybe, I.eo should pet n thorn in
his foot and I pulled it out?"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try It.!
Oily," I said doubtfully. "Maybe It j
would work." j
So we tried It. We started with !
'horns. Oily would go out into the j
wood-lot nearest the show-grounds
and get thorns?any kind he could!
get?atid 1 s -uttered them In the
cage. Then Leo would walk around j
on them and never know there were i
any thorns In the world. I suppose
that trending the hard floor of the
cage had toughened the o!d cottage
iheese's pads until they were like
sole-leather. So then we tried tacks
?carpet-tacks and Swedish-iron up
holsterv-tacks and any k.nd of ticks
that were guaranteed to have sharp
points and to be tough and business- J
like?and old Leo Just ramped
around on them as if they were the
(lowers that bloom in the spring.
| Oily was just worrying himself to
death over It. A gir! like Pinky
isn't like a nun tn n nunnery when
she Is with a big show, and there
were plenty of men around who
... ?.oil.... ... . v.?
?ri c txiuiife .iiiii tu^vr tu tii'; i
widow curst? off hrr if she would i
give them a chance.' Every time'
oily saw one of those wou'd-be hus-'
hands talking with l'.nk Im would,
simply writhe in Jealousy and rush j
out and buy a fresh paper of tacks,
j The old he-eat seemed to be punc-'
| ture-pronf. Hut he wasn't. He
j stepped on a tack and sot it between
I his toes along about ten o'clock one |
I night when we were showing at a j
j little place in Kansas well toward
j the end of the season.
Oily was worn down to almost
! nothing at all by that time, and he
j hardly cared whether he was alive
lor dead. Pink had put the big cats
! through their tricks about nine
' o'clock and had gone back to the
!bunk-car on the spur to get her
'beauty-sleep, and when I heard Leo
i yowl. I guessed what had happened.
The sides were up on li^s cage, and
the. menagerie top was down and the
(cage nut in the lot. hut I hunted up
! Oily and rushed him to the cage. We
tnok down the sides.
Leo was sitting on h.s haunches!
holding up one fore-paw ami licking !
.t between yuwls. When he saw Oily,!
he began bouncing around the cage'
? >n three feet, ten times as mud at j
Oily as ha was at fit" tack in his :
paw. Oily was as white as a sheet.
"'On to It!" 1 said.
Love cr something gave the little !
narrow-eyed man men nerve than ,
1 ever imagined lie could dig up. Ho I
must have tcit he was g >iiig to death ;
or mutilation, hut he walked right up j
to the cage.
"I' ime here, vou brute!" he said, j
and lie reached between the bars and
took Leo l.y his tack-infested paw.
I hail a tent-stake ready to Jam into
the big cat's face if he tried any
ugly business, hut the old cottage
cheese was too cowardly and pain- I
frightened to make a mean move.
M? Just put up his muazle and |
yowled, and Oily took the tack by!
the head and Jerked it out of the I
paw. For a moment Leo yowled: |
then he began licking the paw: thui :
he went to the back of the cage nndj
'proud out ready to sleep. We put
up tho side of the cage. Oily sort
of tiptoed away.
"I guess that will he all right," he
said in a whisper, J.ke a person in a
sick-room. "If lie sleeps well, he'll .
feel better in the morning."
I said J hoped he would and that
I hoped the old grannie.of a beast!
would have sense enough to know
the kindness Oily had done him.
' I hope so," Oily said, but he,
hadn't any enthusiasm. "Somehow
I don't feel the same way about that
Androclrs business. Mack. The more
I think about it, the fishier it looks."
Well, one of the stunts of our par- :
ade was to have old Leo on top of
h.s cage with fink sitting Irt a chair'
with one foot on his hack. Of course, i
tho old Hon was chained to a ring
in the cage-top. but it was a good
stunt and made a Lit with the
< rowds.
The day after Oily had done the r
Ai drocles stunt the parade started
for town. O.lv was cutting across (
the show-lot on some business or j
other, and he passed near Leo's cag"1. j
The moment Leo saw him he pricked '
up his ears and yowled. Oily stop-!
ped short and looked, of course, and j
the next moment Leo made a leap
for him. Pink shouted and struck
at the big cat with her bull-whip,
but she was either too lnte or the
lion did not mind her blow, for he
hurtled off the top of the cage to
ward Oily. He hurtled Just exactly
the length of the chain and stopped
with a Jerk and slammed back
against the side of the cage, hanging
there by the neck as if he was try
ing to commit suicide by hanging.
He kicked and clawed and scratched.
P.nk yelled, and some of us climbed
to the top of the cage and we all
pulled on the chain and hoisted I>?o
to the top of the cage again. For
a moment he shook his head and
swallowed hard and panted, and then
his gaze caught Olly's again, and
zlpp! over the side of the cage he
went again, clawing and scratching
and kicking.
Well, this time the chain broke!
Down the old cat went to the ground,
tail first, and fell head over heels.
Ho got up and shook himself, pawed
his neck where the collar had choked
him, looked around for Oily, saw
him and started after Oily on the
lope! \
Run? Oily went in at one end of
the menagerie-tent and was out of
the far end of the dressing-tent be
fore I^o was fairly started. We saw
him make for the fence at the far
side of the show-grounds like a
scared rabbit and take it in one leap
and keep right cn across a plowed
field toward the tall timber in the
distance. Old Leo went after hlpi
like a loping cow, not much for
speed but a prize-winner for persis
tence. We all started after Leo.
I'll say right here that I had as
mixed emotions as a man ever had.
I didn't know whether Leo would
catch Oily or not, and if he did catch
him. I didn't know whether he would
kill him or kiss him. I didn't know
whether Oily would be Androcles II
or. plain raw meat. Nobody knew-,
not even Ollv. That was why he
ran. He had lost all faith in that
Androcies business.
My gang of rough-necks found
Leo somewhere near the middle of
the patch of timber, sitting in the
leaves and looking puzzled and sur
prised. When they led him away,
lie would stop and look around and
then walk a short distance reluc
j t.mtly and stop' and look around
! again. He wanted Oily.
The next we heard of Oily was
[ on a picture post-card ahowing a
I view of the Davenport railway
bridge but mailed from 8treator,
i Illinois. Pihk showed it to us. It
I said:
Tou can catch me at Hogaa's
[ Lodging House. 33 Bowery, if you
want to, but nothing doing in that
cage business.
Yours till death.
O. Jonea.
Well, I guess that's all. The next
season Pink married a fellow named
Murphy and went into vaudeville
with her cats, and ao you might gay
the story ends happily, but somehow
I wish Oily had hung around the
circus lot that day until we knew
whether that okl cotton-wool baa
baa of n lion was going to eat htm
or love him. We talk about it a lot.
but we don't know yet whether that
Androcles stunt would work or not.
, I guess wc never will know.
, Looked Around for Oil), Saw Him and Started After Oily on the Inipo
i
The Why of
Superstition
Ilj H. IRVING KING
NEW HOUSES
THE superstition that when a
family moves into a new house
there will shortly be a death in
that family is, fortunately, not so
prevalent es some others or the
housing problem would be greater
than it is. Put tho superstition ex
ists.
The writer knew a man of mil
lions. prominent in national affairs,
who having bought an estate, hesi
tated for years to pull down the old
house on it and build a new ona be
cause of this ancient superstition.
Finally he risked it and died?some
twelve years later?and then he was
about seventy-six years old.
The origin of this superstition is
plain. It is a "hangover" from the
days when it was thought necessary
in order to assure the stability and
the good fortune of a new building
to propitiate the gods by a human
sacrifice. Human beings were en
closed In the walls cf buried alive
under the corner-posts or pillars of
the now edifice. The books are full
of instances of this practice which
appears to have persisted into early
Christian times. There is a castle
in Germany where they will show
you the place where a child was
built Into the walls et Its erection;
and tho legend Is well known of
how the evil spirits threw down St.
Columba's Church on Iona Island
as fast as he built It until he had
buried a man alive under one of the
pillars, when all went well.
In Greece today it is said to be
the custom of builders to surrepti
tiously measure a man's shadow
and bury the resulting figures under
the new building?the best that can
be done in view of the popular
prejudice nowadays against human
s3<-riftre. And every once in a while
you may hear the old saying.
'When the house Is finished th?
hearse stands at the door." Some
profess to see in the custom of lay
ing cornerstones a survival from the
bloody practiro of our barbarian
ancestors in their building opera
tions.

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