'Ma voi!' said the Swiss, pronouncing French with a broad German accent,
'it would keef me krate bleshur to have dat pig monkey in my gombany. He
would mak' virst rait brivate.'

The keeper, who was still polishing away with sand-paper at the
elephant's tusks, and who evidently regarded the soldier with great
contempt, said to him:

'He would have been there long since--only he knows too much.'

'_Ma voi_! that's the reason you're draining him vor a Vrench gavalry
gombany. Vell, I likes dat.'

'Oh! no,' said the keeper, 'his principles an't going to allow him to
enter our army.'

'Vell, what are his brincibles?'

'To serve those who pay best!' quoth the Frenchman, who, in the firm
faith that he had said a good thing, called Pierre to help him adorn the
lion, and turned his back on the Swiss, who, in revenge, amused himself
feeding the monkeys with an old button, a stump of a cigar, and various
wads of paper.

The keeper then gave the lion a narcotic, and after this medicine,
combed out his mane and tail, waxed his mustache, and thus made his
toilette for the day. The tiger and leopards had their stripes and spots
touched up once a week with hair-dye, and as this was not the day
appointed, Caper missed this part of the exhibition. The hyenas
submitted to be brushed down; but showed strong symptoms of mutiny at