reach him with its paws.

There were loud cries of "Oh! Oh!" from the audience, and Kelson's
heart beat quicker, when a girl with wavy, fair hair and big, starry
eyes, screamed out "Don't go near it! Don't go near it!"

As soon as there was comparative quiet Kelson spoke.

"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "this animal is
genuinely savage! It is not like the tigers one sees in menageries,
drugged and deprived of their natural weapons--teeth and claws. It
comes direct from India, where its reputation as a man-eater is
widespread. I am not, however, intimidated--its growls merely amuse
me."

Quaking all over, he approached the cage, and staring fixedly into the
tiger's face, made the prescribed passes. In an instant, the whole
attitude of the great cat changed. Dropping on to its fore-legs, it
rubbed its head against the bars and purred. A low buzz of
astonishment burst from the audience, and Kelson, now assured that the
spell had worked, waved his disengaged hand, in the most gallant
fashion, at the audience, and strutted into the cage. He shook paws
with the tiger, patted it on the back, sat down by its side, and,
whilst pretending to be on the most familiar terms with it, took every
precaution to avoid coming in too close contact with its teeth and
claws.

The audience was charmed--the men cheered, the ladies waved
handkerchiefs, and the only disappointed persons present were a few
belligerent and bloodthirsty boys, and a Suffragette, who severally,
and for diverse reasons, would have relished the performances of a
savage tiger, but had little sympathy with the performance of a tame
one.

The next surprise that Mr. Kelson had for his audience, was the
announcement that he could interpret the language of animals. At his
invitation, a dozen members of the audience came on to the platform
and stood near the cage. Looking steadily at the tiger he then
pronounced the mystic words "Meta--ra--ka--va--avakana," holding up
his right hand, with the thumb turned down and stretched right across
the palm, and the little finger extended to the utmost. In an instant
the great secret--the secret that Darwin had studied so strenuously
for years--was revealed to him. The language of animals was olfactory.
The tiger spoke to him through the sense of smell--through his nose
instead of his ears. It regulated and modified the odour it gave off
from its body, and which worked its way out through the pores of its
skin