“That is very easily done. It will probably come back to yourmemory as I talk. Ronder, of course, was a household word. Hewas the rival of Wombwell, and of Sanger, one of the greatestshowmen of his day. There is evidence, however, that he took todrink, and that both he and his show were on the down grade atthe time of the great tragedy. The caravan had halted for the nightat Abbas Parva, which is a small village in Berkshire, when thishorror occurred. They were on their way to Wimbledon, travellingby road, and they were simply camping and not exhibiting, as theplace is so small a one that it would not have paid them to open.
“They had among their exhibits a very fine North African lion.
Sahara King was its name, and it was the habit, both of Ronderand his wife, to give exhibitions inside its cage. Here, you see, isphotograph of the performance by which you will perceive thatRonder was a huge porcine person and that his wife was a verymagnificent woman. It was deposed at the inquest that therehad been some signs that the lion was dangerous, but, as usual,familiarity begat contempt, and no notice was taken of the fact.
“It was usual for either Ronder or his wife to feed the lion atnight. Sometimes one went, sometimes both, but they neverallowed anyone else to do it, for they believed that so long as theywere the food-carriers he would regard them as benefactors andwould never molest them. On this particular night, seven yearsThe Case Book of Sherlock Holmes 1381 ago, they both went, and a very terrible happening followed, thedetails of which have never been made clear.
“It seems that the whole camp was roused near midnight by theroars of the animal and the screams of the woman. The differentgrooms and employees rushed from their tents, carrying lanterns,and by their light an awful sight was revealed. Ronder lay, withthe back of his head crushed in and deep claw-marks across hisscalp, some ten yards from the cage, which was open. Close to thedoor of the cage lay Mrs. Ronder upon her back, with the creaturesquatting and snarling above her. It had torn her face in such afashion that it was never thought that she could live. Several ofthe circus men, headed by Leonardo, the strong man, and Griggs,the clown, drove the creature off with poles, upon which it sprangback into the cage and was at once locked in. How it had gotloose was a mystery. It was conjectured that the pair intended toenter the cage, but that when the door was loosed the creaturebounded out upon them. There was no other point of interestin the evidence save that the woman in a delirium of agony keptscreaming, ‘Coward! Coward!’ as she was carried back to the vanin which they lived. It was six months before she was fit to giveevidence, but the inquest was duly held, with the obvious verdictof death from misadventure.”
“What alternative could be conceived?” said I.
“You may well say so. And yet there were one or two pointswhich worried young Edmunds, of the Berkshire Constabulary. Asmart lad that! He was sent later to Allahabad. That was how I cameinto the matter, for he dropped in and smoked a pipe or two over it.”
“A thin, yellow-haired man?”
“Exactly. I was sure you would pick up the trail presently.”
“But what worried him?”
“Well, we were both worried. It was so deucedly difficult toreconstruct the affair. Look at it from the lion’s point of view.
He is liberated. What does he do? He takes half a dozen boundsforward, which brings him to Ronder. Ronder turns to fly—theclaw-marks were on the back of his head—but the lion strikes himdown. Then, instead of bounding on and escaping, he returns tothe woman, who was close to the cage, and he knocks her overand chews her face up. Then, again, those cries of hers would seemto imply that her husband had in some way failed her. What couldthe poor devil have done to help her? You see the difficulty?”
“Quite.”
“And then there was another thing. It comes back to me nowas I think it over. There was some evidence that just at the timethe lion roared and the woman screamed, a man began shouting interror.”
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
“This man Ronder, no doubt.”
“Well, if his skull was smashed in you would hardly expect tohear from him again. There were at least two witnesses who spokeof the cries of a man being mingled with those of a woman.”
“I should think the whole camp was crying out by then. As tothe other points, I think I could suggest a solution.”
“I should be glad to consider it.”
“The two were together, ten yards from the cage, when thelion got loose. The man turned and was struck down. The womanconceived the idea of getting into the cage and shutting the door.
It was her only refuge. She made for it, and just as she reachedthe beast bounded after her and knocked her over. She wasangry with her husband for having encouraged the beast’s rage byturning. If they had faced it they might have cowed it. Hence hercries of ‘Coward!’ ”
“Brilliant, Watson! Only one flaw in your diamond.”
“What is the flaw, Holmes?”
“If they were both ten paces from the cage, how came the beastto get loose?”
“Is it possible that they had some enemy who loosed it?”
“And why should it attack them savagely when it was in thehabit of playing with them, and doing tricks with them inside thecage?”
“Possibly the same enemy had done something to enrage it.”
Holmes looked thoughtful and remained in silence for somemoments.
“Well, Watson, there is this to be said for your theory. Ronderwas a man of many enemies. Edmunds told me that in his cupshe was horrible. A huge bully of a man, he cursed and slashedat everyone who came in his way. I expect those cries aboutmonster, of which our visitor has spoken, were nocturnalreminiscences of the dear departed. However, our speculations arefutile until we have all the facts. There is a cold partridge on thesideboard, Watson, and a bottle of Montrachet. Let us renew ourenergies before we make a fresh call upon them.”