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Show RULING PASSIONS. IHITA, the big black panther, was growling sullenly, his growl' occasionally oc-casionally rising to a snarl of exasperated, ex-asperated, jealous rage. His tress, Carmen, dainty, pretty from learanccs very far from being- a peril per-il capable of ruling and restraining i'b'lg, fierce cat animals of the dr-i-was standing In front of his cage, rdinarily the sight of Carmen sJiaed the big panther to set up an sctlonate purring. But on the pres-J pres-J ? occasion Tom Howard, the best ' 3 lete in the great circus, was talk- Q ;l to the pretty Carmen. It was 'M In, even to a black panther, that the -i Brest Howard took in Carmen was '! fe than friendly. It was also plain . A X Carmen was far from being dis- -? fcsed at this interest And that -was "treason the big- panther was growl-j' growl-j' For a deep and consuming- jenl-j; jenl-j; of stalwart Tom Howard filled : ta's heart tflta ust then a warning bell rang. This the signal for Carmen to. get ready .' !' her great "Animal School Act." scholars were not rosy-cheeked I K0 and girls, but a very grim-look-TBset of pui)lls. consisting of Chita. iJj Bengal tiger, and Diogenes. iUjjKr Bleep;., but blg-maned, strong- -Ud Nuwldinn lion, 'luu'l r this act each of the great felines 'rJ Ibis own cage and entered a larger fjn which Carmen was-seated on w chair, a small rod. the symbol jij her authority, in her hand. Chita lW ttetl willingly into this cage. He ttmt -devoted to Carmen, and now that ft " owar(1 WiS out of sight there i nothing to disturb his good nature. s.1 he Nnniidian lion walked Into the e In a lazy, nonchalant manner. He UK flently looked on the whole thing a bore. But lie had eaten a good u her, felt at peace with the world, Cf 1; anyhow, it would soon be over. at:i ihe took his place he looked at the itm v w'tn languid curiosity, yaAvned , I'.actcd like a Hon who considered a , dol for a Hon of his years as a . sauce, but not enough of one to nt h ke a fuss over. 'Wiit the big Bengal tiger evidently JGGfil? In an UK'-V Irnie of mind. At first refused to enter the cage. Carmen 3oTick hI,n "Bhlly with her whip. Like .JSWash. the big lips curled up, showing ""!fong, sharp tiger fangs and at the wHfee time he gave a snarl of rage. ivand rumbling at first, but rising lAJftil it re-echoed from every, part of ' ij "circus tent. But Carmen looked i l steadily in the eye, and, after a hi rnent's hesitation, the great striped fst slunk to his place. It was plain k 1 it he was in a dangerous mood. Respite the tlger!s bad temper the pon would probably have gone on as T5 i'al had not Tom Howard happened vim? !?tefl byond the entrance of the a liei ered way leading to the quarters of circus people when they arc not fiJrhe rings Tom was always lntense-9lCBjvorricd lntense-9lCBjvorricd when Carmen was giving tjanlmal school net. It Avas this JEfiEiety which led him to leave the cir- 'vJRquarters. But his well-meant con-Ewlferntlon con-Ewlferntlon proved costly. Sutijjtfs Tom stepped from the canvns- '.fcrcd passageway Chita saw him. ',pight stirred the black panther's .Spidering jealousy. He stopped ABiptly in his role of Carmen's pupil, 7flBped off the pedestal on which he sent forth a fierce, snarling growl in which he expressed his hatred of the man whom he felt had usurped first place In-his. mistress heart. At the first -notes of the angry snarl Carmen turned reprovingly to the black panther. She knew there was not the least danger of her pet's attacking her. But he must go on witli his performance perform-ance -or the act would be a failure. "Chita," she said, in reproachful tones, looking straight into the angry panther's eyes. And as she did this she turned her back on the still sullen Bengal tiger. The big tiger had been growing more and more sulky as the act proceeded. The impact of-the shock threw Carmen Car-men on the floor. His nerves were in a bad state, and the angry snarl of the panther had been the finishing touch. Now Carmen had taken her eyes off him. That sot-tied sot-tied it. He dropped from his pedestal to the floor of the cage, gathered himself him-self for the spring, and the next instant was shooting through the air, a black arid' yellow- bar' of deadly energy. The impact of -the shock-threw Carmen Car-men to the floor. But quick as the Bengal tiger had been, the anther was quicker. All thought of Jealousy vanished at the sight of the attack on his mistress. Before the tiger could use tooth or claw the lithe, strong-limbed 1 panther had launched himself right at the -tiger's throat. Over and over on the floor of the cage the two great cats rolled. Ordinarily Ordi-narily the panther would have been no match for the far larger tiger. But the panther had caught his grip first, settling set-tling his sharp, deep-biting teeth in the tiger's throat. This prevented the tiger ti-ger from using his teeth effectually. WWW VlffW m But his claws, especially those on his hind feet, could bo used. Again and again he struck out with them, ripping tliroush the panther's skin like a soft glove. But he could not shake the deadly grip Chita had on his throat. Although Al-though he might be torn to pieces by the great claws, Chita meant to hold on until lie felt his teeth meet in his opponent's windpipe. And all through the terrible struggle, Diogenes, the Nu-mldian Nu-mldian lion, sat on his pedestal, lazy, good-natured, only calmly interested in the life and death fight of his fierce fellow pupils. "When the circus men separated the two big cats, the Bengal tiger was dead, and the black panther, " torn in twenty places, was dying. Carmen was unhurt, except for a few Blight bruises caused by her fall on the floor of tho cage. Tom Howard was foremost among the crowd which had rushed to the cage. As Carmen placed hor hand on the head of the big panther that had died to save her, Chita opened his great yellow eyes, now fast dimming in death. But even in death the ruling passions of his fierce, wild, animal nature na-ture held strong. His eyes brightened with affection at the sight of Carmen. Then his glance fell on Tom Howard. The Jealous snarl started deep down in his throat, ho half raised his head. Then it sank down and the black panther's eyes closed forever. And Diogenes, the big-mancd lion, sat on his pedestal, calm, nonchalant, disinterested, aloof. He was waiting for the signal "School is over." It did not come. Then he opened his great Jaws in a half suppressed yawn, dropped to the floor of the exhibition cago and trotted lazily off to the most comfortable corner of his own cage. |