At this moment the tiger, Judas, to whom Morok’s back was turned, bounded violently in his cage, as if jealous of the attention, which his master paid to the panther.  He growled hoarsely, and, raising his head, showed the under-part of his redoubtable triangular jaw, and his broad chest of a dirty white, with which blended the copper color, streaked with black, of his sides; his tail, like a huge red serpent, with rings of ebony, now clung to his flanks, now lashed them with a slow and continuous movement:  his eyes, of a transparent, brilliant green, were fixed upon the Prophet.

Such was the influence of this man over his animals, that Judas almost immediately ceased growling, as if frightened at his own temerity; but his respiration continued loud and deep.  Morok turned his face towards him, and examined him very attentively during some seconds.  The panther, no longer subject to the influence of her master’s look, slunk back to crouch in the shade.

A sharp cracking, in sudden breaks, like that which great animals make in gnawing hard substances, was now heard from the cage of the lion.  It drew the attention of the Prophet, who, leaving the tiger, advanced towards the other den.

Nothing could be seen of the lion but his monstrous croup of a reddish yellow.  His thighs were gathered under him, and his thick mane served entirely to conceal his head.  But by the tension and movement of the muscles of his loins, and the curving of his backbone, it was easy to perceive that he was making violent efforts with his throat and his forepaws.  The Prophet approached the cage with same uneasiness, fearing that, notwithstanding his orders, Goliath had given the lion some bones to gnaw.  To assure himself of it, he said in a quick and firm voice:  “Cain!”

The lion did not change his position.

“Cain! come here!” repeated Morok in a louder tone.  The appeal was useless; the lion did not move, and the noise continued.

“Cain! come here!” said the Prophet a third time; but, as he pronounced these words, he applied the end of the glowing bar to the haunch of the lion.

Scarcely did the light track of smoke appear on the reddish hide of Cain, when, with a spring of incredible agility, he turned and threw himself against the grating, not crouching, but at a single bound—­upright, superb, terrifying.  The Prophet being at the angle of the cage, Cain, in his fury, had raised himself sideways to face his master, and, leaning his huge flank against the bars, thrust between them his enormous fore leg, which, with his swollen muscles, was as large as Goliath’s thigh.

“Cain! down!” said the Prophet, approaching briskly.

The lion did not obey immediately.  His lips, curling with rage, displayed fangs as long, as large, and as pointed as the tusks of a wild boar.  But Morok touched those lips with the end of the burning metal; and, as he felt the smart, followed by an unexpected summons of his master, the lion, not daring to roar, uttered a hollow growl, and his great body sank down at once in an attitude of submission and fear.