, and he immediately sent for me to his
cabin.

"Is it true, sirrah," said he, in a harsh, unpleasant voice, "that you
have been jesting about Jarasch, and saying that you were ready to take
charge of the whelps in his stead?"

"It is," said I, answering both questions together.

"You shall do so to-morrow, then," replied he, solemnly; "take care that
you can do something as well as boast!" and with this he motioned me to
leave the cabin.

I at once repaired to the steerage to report my interview to the men,
who were all more friendly with me than with the "Moor." Many were the
counsels I received about how I should conduct myself the next morning;
some asserting that, as it was my first time, I could not be too gentle
with the animals, avoiding the slightest risk of hurting them, and even
suffering their rough play without any effort to check it. Others, on
the contrary, advised me at once to seek the mastery over the beasts,
and by two or three severe lessons to teach them caution, if not
respect. This counsel, I own, chimed in with my own notions, and also
better accorded with what, after my late vauntings, I felt to be my
duty.

It was altogether a very anxious night with me, not exactly through
fear, because I knew, as the men were always ready with their arms
loaded, life could not be perilled, and I did not dread the infliction
of a mere sprain or fracture; but I felt it was an ordeal wherein my
fame was at stake. Were I to acquit myself well, there would be an
end forever of those insulting airs of superiority the Moorish boy had
assumed towards me. Whereas if I failed, I must consent to bear his
taunts and sarcasms without a murmur.

In one point only the advice of all the crew agreed, which was, that the
female cub, much larger and more ferocious than the male, should more
particularly demand my watchfulness. "If she scratch you, boy, mind that
you desist," said an old Danish sailor, who had been long on the African
coast. This caution was re-echoed by all; and, resolving to follow its
dictates, I "turned in" to my hammock, to dream of combats and battles
till morning.

I was early astir,--waking with a sudden start. I had been dreaming of a
lion-hunt, and fancied I heard the deep-mouthed roaring of the beasts in
a jungle; and, true enough, a low, monotonous howl came from the place
where the animals lay, for it was now the fourth morning of their being
confined without having been once at liberty.