time, but no one had ever seen
it; it had been kept closely guarded and heavily chained in the gardens
of the Caesar's palace, and since its arrival from the desert was said to
have grown to fabulous size and strength.

Its inclusion in the spectacle of to-day had come as an exciting
surprise, for it was known that the Caesar thought a great deal of the
beast, going out daily to watch it through its iron bars, and delighting
in its ferocity and cruel rapaciousness. He had caused a special house
to be built for it in a secluded portion of his garden, with a
swimming-bath carved out of a solid block of African marble. Its feeding
trough was made of gold, and capons and pea-hens were specially fattened
for its delectation.

Many were the tales current about the Caesar's fondness for the creature
and his pleasure in seeing it fed with live animals, which he would
himself throw into the cage. It was even said he had fed the brute with
human flesh, the flesh of slaves who had disobeyed or merely offended
him: one of his chief amusements being to force one of these unfortunate
wretches to thrust an arm into the cage, and then to watch the panther
as it scrunched the human bones, and licked the human blood whilst cries
of unspeakable horror and agony rent the air with their hideous sounds.

And now--in order to delight his people--the greatest and best of Caesars
would grant them the spectacle of his most precious pet. Loud clapping
of hands and thunderous shouts of applause greeted the entrance of the
magnificent cage which was drawn out into the arena by sixteen negro
slaves. The bars of the cage were gilded, and it was surmounted by the
imperial standard and the insignia of imperial rank. Its pedestal was of
carved wood and mounted on massive wheels of steel. In the front were
four heavy chains of steel, and to these the sixteen negroes were
harnessed. They were naked save for a loin-cloth of scarlet cloth, and
on their heads were fillets of shining metal, each adorned with five
long ostrich feathers which had been dipped in brilliant scarlet dye.

The weight of the cage, with its solid pedestal and heavy iron bars,
must have been terrific, for the sixteen powerful Africans strained on
the chains as they walked, burying their feet in the sand of the arena,
their backs bent, the muscles of their shoulders and arms standing out
like living cords. In a corner of the cage cowered the powerful
creature, its broad, snake-like h