Nero, the Circus Lion His Many Adventures   By: Richard Barnum

Kneetime Animal Stories

NERO THE CIRCUS LION HIS MANY ADVENTURES

BY RICHARD BARNUM

Author of "Squinty, the Comical Pig," "Mappo, the Merry Monkey," "Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant," "Chunky, the Happy Hippo," "Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox," etc.

ILLUSTRATED BY WALTER S. ROGERS

NEW YORK BARSE & HOPKINS PUBLISHERS

KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES By Richard Barnum Large 12mo. Illustrated.

SQUINTY, THE COMICAL PIG. SLICKO, THE JUMPING SQUIRREL. MAPPO, THE MERRY MONKEY. TUM TUM, THE JOLLY ELEPHANT. DON, A RUNAWAY DOG. DIDO, THE DANCING BEAR. BLACKIE, A LOST CAT. FLOP EAR, THE FUNNY RABBIT. TINKLE, THE TRICK PONY. LIGHTFOOT, THE LEAPING GOAT. CHUNKY, THE HAPPY HIPPO. SHARP EYES, THE SILVER FOX. NERO, THE CIRCUS LION. TAMBA, THE TAME TIGER.

BARSE & HOPKINS Publishers New York

Copyright, 1919, by Barse & Hopkins

Nero, The Circus Lion

VAIL BALLOU COMPANY BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I NERO HAS SOME FUN 7

II NERO GOES HUNTING 16

III NERO IS SHOT 27

IV NERO IN A CAVE 36

V NERO IN A TRAP 45

VI NERO IN A CIRCUS 55

VII NERO LEARNS SOME TRICKS 67

VIII NERO MEETS DON 75

IX NERO SCARES A BOY 87

X NERO RUNS AWAY 97

XI NERO AND BLACKIE 107

XII NERO AND THE TRAMP 113

ILLUSTRATIONS

He jumped through a hoop covered with paper Frontispiece

PAGE

Nero saw what he had thought was a log of wood open a big mouth 18

He licked the place where his paw hurt 38

Nero looked out through the bars of his cage 62

His keeper rode in the cage with him 82

Then the trainer put his head in the lion's mouth 100

Nero sat on his hind legs on the table 122

NERO, THE CIRCUS LION

CHAPTER I

NERO HAS SOME FUN

Far off in the jungle of Africa lived a family of lions.

Africa, you know, is a very hot country, and what we, in this land, would call a forest, or woods, is called a "jungle" there. In the jungle grew many trees, and the ground was covered with low vines and bushes so that animals, creeping along, could scarcely be seen. That was why the animals liked the jungle so much; they could roam about in it, play and get their meals, and the black hunters and the white huntsmen who sometimes came to the jungle, could not easily see to shoot the lions, elephants and other beasts.

There were five lions in this jungle family, and I am going to tell you the story of one of them, named Nero. Nero was a little boy lion, about two years old, but please don't think he was a baby because he was only two years old. Lions grow much faster than boys and girls, and a lion of two years is quite large and strong, with sharp claws and sharper teeth.