Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 104: what you’re looking at

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®LLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS. 91 than its natural carriage was, as if partially cowed | rick Ravenscliffe, “ that he has not complete con- by the presence of the brute-tamer. The animals which I have omitted to name, crouched down in trol over that brute.” I now observed one of the underlings of the ' the corners of the cage: but the tiger circled about | theatre coming as far forward as the side-scenes the captain, with methought a mingled cat-like stealthiness and subdued malignity. This tiger was a splendid animal from the jungles of Bengal: he was larger than any I had seen in the Zoological Gardens or in travelling menageries. He was beautifully striped; and every time his eyes caught the glare of the foot- lights, I beheld them gleam with their bright yellow pupils in a half reptile-like, half cat-like manner. As he paced round and round, the velvet balls of his paws scarcely made any sound upon the plank-floor of the cage: the lower part of the feet bent as if beneath the weight of the body which they had to sustain; and the movement of the animal was undulatory, so to speak, in every part of body. and limbs. There was something horrible in the very elasticity and suppleness of that brute: for it seemed as if with only the slightest effort it could suddenly dart at that ad- venturous man who was standing there, in the middle of the cage, just as a serpent flings itself forth from its coils. For two or three minutes did the brute-tamer thus remain stationary, but having eyes as it were for each of the other occupants of that cage. The noble lion appeared to be calmly indifferent to his presence: indeed he yawned, and gaped, and blinked—now putting his head between his paws —then slowly raising it to gape again, as if even unconscious that his master was there. The bear seemed equally ignorant of the fact—but more stolidly so: the hyena, on the contrary, evidently liked it but little: the minor animals were still more cowed: but it was not so easy to esti- mate what the tiger thought of it. There was however a growing sense of uneasiness in my mind; and I wished myself fairly out of the place —or rather perhaps that I had not entered it on the present occasion. I saw too that Juliet was sharing my vague apprehensions: but Lord Frede- rick laughed and jested with us for what he termed our folly. Presently Captain Chalmers commanded the tiger in an authoritative voice to liedown. The animal obeyed him, but with a subdued growl ; and even when crouching at his feet, it looked up in his face as if ready to spring at the slightest pro- vocation on the part of its master. Chalmers put his right foot upon the tiger’s body: the brute rolled over on its back; but it seemed to clutch its master’s legs in a querulous angry manner with its four claws. Chalmers gave vent to a passionate ejaculation and tore away his leg suddenly. The tiger sprang up with a louder growl than before ; and more angrily too than before did the Captain bid it lie down. It made a slight retrograde movement, which brought it upon its haunches ; and I could scarcely keep back a scream as the horrible idea struck me that it was about to spring. “ Down! down!” ejaculated Chalmers, in a voice of the most angry command: but the tiger, instead of obeying, resumed its walk around the cage,— thus circling, with its noiseless feet and its supple undulating form, about its master. would permit without his being actually seen by the audience; and he gesticulated vehemently to the actor who was nearest. This latter individual hastened towards the underling, from whose hand he received a whip or stick, which he passed through the bars at the back of the cage. It was instantaneously clutched by Chalmers—who, brandishing it before the tiger’s eyes, bade the animal liedown. The brute gave a growl of un- mistakable savageness; and sprang back as if frightened at its own audacity. Chalmers hit it a smart blow with the whip; and the next instant it flew at him with a howl that elicited shrieks from female lips in every part of the house. “Tell the audience it is nothing!” I heard Chalmers exclaim to the actors who stood near the cage; and at the same moment dropping the whip, he drew the dagger from its sheath. The weapon gleamed in the light which flooded the theatre, and though Mr. Norman, who per- formed the part of the Rajah, stood forward to give the audience the assurance which Captain Chalmers had desired to be conveyed, there was now an almost general consternation. The tiger was howling horribly, and appeared by its attitudes to be every moment about to spring at the brute- tamer. Panic seized upon the crowds of specta- tors; and there was one simultaneous rush from the boxes—though the persons in the pit and gal- leries, more courageous or more curious, remained in their places. The stage-box—where I was seated with Juliet and Lord Frederick Ravenscliffe —was, as the reader will understand, almost close by the cage; and the terrible apprehension smote me that the beasts might effect their escape. Scarcely had this idea flashed through my brain— and just at the beginning of the rush from the boxes—there was a terrific din produced by the bars of the cage; and the wild cry arose, “The tiger is loose !” Dreadful screams from female lips rang through the theatre; and Juliet burst forth from our box. Whether she merely fell or actually fainted in the corridor immediately outside, I was not sure at the time; for I myself was almost wild with affrizht. Lord Frederick Ravenscliffe hastened to pick her up: I, who was the last to issue from the box, closed the door violently behind me; and then the next moment some object dashed itself with such tremendous force against that door on the inner side, that in my frenzied alarm I was smitten with the conviction it was the tiger springing after us. Overpowered by the horrible nature of my thoughts, I fell down in a swoon. When I came back to consciousness, I found myself inside a close carriage, or equipage of some kind; and a gentleman was seated by my side. My first thought was that it was Lord Frederick Ravenscliffe: but where was Juliet ?—for I and this gentleman were alone together. Scarcely had I asked myself that question, when a blazing gas- lamp over the door of a public-house sent its light inside the vehicle; and a scream rose to my lips as I recognised Edwin St. Clair. He at once thrust something white (I have since learnt it to “T really do begin to think,” said Lord Frede- | be a handkerchief) up into my face: a powerful TT ES TT LE Com CONNIEDIOOKS