The old woman came slowly and sat down on one
of the benches opposite her.
As she removed the smaller vessels from the larger and arranged
them before her on the table a crooked smile twisted her lips as
she watched the younger woman eat.
"Hunger is a great leveler," she said with a laugh.
"What do you mean?" asked the girl.
"I venture to say that a few weeks ago you would have been nauseated
at the idea of eating cat."
"Cat?" exclaimed the girl.
"Yes," said the old woman. "What is the difference--a lion is a
cat."
"You mean I am eating lion now?"
"Yes," said the old woman, "and as they prepare it, it is very
palatable. You will grow very fond of it."
Bertha Kircher smiled a trifle dubiously. "I could not tell it,"
she said, "from lamb or veal."
"No," said the woman, "it tastes as good to me. But these lions
are very carefully kept and very carefully fed and their flesh is
so seasoned and prepared that it might be anything so far as taste
is concerned."
And so Bertha Kircher broke her long fast upon strange fruits, lion
meat, and goat's milk.
Scarcely had she finished when again the door opened and there
entered a yellow-coated soldier. He spoke to the old woman.
"The king," she said, "has commanded that you be prepared and brought
to him. You are to share these apartments with me.
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