Tell me that you will think no
more of it." "No, no; certainly not." "Then light this cigar and come round with me and see my little
menagerie." The whole afternoon was occupied by this inspection, which included all
the birds, beasts, and even reptiles which he had imported. Some were
free, some in cages, a few actually in the house. He spoke with
enthusiasm of his successes and his failures, his births and his
deaths, and he would cry out in his delight, like a schoolboy, when, as
we walked, some gaudy bird would flutter up from the grass, or some
curious beast slink into the cover. Finally he led me down a corridor
which extended from one wing of the house. At the end of this there
was a heavy door with a sliding shutter in it, and beside it there
projected from the wall an iron handle attached to a wheel and a drum. A line of stout bars extended across the passage. "I am about to show you the jewel of my collection," said he. "There is
only one other specimen in Europe, now that the Rotterdam cub is dead. It is a Brazilian cat." "But how does that differ from any other cat?" "You will soon see that," said he, laughing. "Will you kindly draw
that shutter and look through?" I did so, and found that I was gazing into a large, empty room, with
stone flags, and small, barred windows upon the farther wall. In the
centre of this room, lying in the middle of a golden patch of sunlight,
there was stretched a huge creature, as large as a tiger, but as black
and sleek as ebony. It was simply a very enormous and very well-kept
black cat, and it cuddled up and basked in that yellow pool of light
exactly as a cat would do. It was so graceful, so sinewy, and so
gently and smoothly diabolical, that I could not take my eyes from the
opening. "Isn't he splendid?" said my host, enthusiastically. "Glorious! I never saw such a noble creature." "Some people call it a black puma, but really it is not a puma at all. That fellow is nearly eleven feet from tail to tip. Four years ago he
was a little ball of black fluff, with two yellow eyes staring out of
it. He was sold me as a new-born cub up in the wild country at the
head-waters of the Rio Negro. They speared his mother to death after
she had killed a dozen of them." "They are ferocious, then?" "The most absolutely treacherous and bloodthirsty creatures upon earth. You talk about a Brazilian cat to an up-country Indian, and see him get
the jumps. They prefer humans to game. This fellow has never tasted
living blood yet, but when he does he will be a terror. At present he
won't stand anyone but me in his den. Even Baldwin, the groom, dare
not go near him. As to me, I am his mother and father in one." As he spoke he suddenly, to my astonishment, opened the door and
slipped in, closing it instantly behind him. At the sound of his voice
the huge, lithe creature rose, yawned and rubbed its round, black head
affectionately against his side, while he patted and fondled it. "Now, Tommy, into your cage!" said he. The monstrous cat walked over to one side of the room and coiled itself
up under a grating. Everard King came out, and taking the iron handle
which I have mentioned, he began to turn it. As he did so the line of
bars in the corridor began to pass through a slot in the wall and
closed up the front of this grating, so as to make an effective cage. When it was in position he opened the door once more and invited me
into the room, which was heavy with the pungent, musty smell peculiar
to the great carnivora. "That's how we work it," said he. "We give him the run of the room for
exercise, and then at night we put him in his cage. You can let him
out by turning the handle from the passage, or you can, as you have
seen, coop him up in the same way. No, no, you should not do that!" I had put my hand between the bars to pat the glossy, heaving flank. He pulled it back, with a serious face. "I assure you that he is not safe. Don't imagine that because I can
take liberties with him anyone else can. He is very exclusive in his
friends--aren't you, Tommy? Ah, he hears his lunch coming to him! Don't you, boy?" A step sounded in the stone-flagged passage, and the creature had
sprung to his feet, and was pacing up and down the narrow cage, his
yellow eyes gleaming, and his scarlet tongue rippling and quivering
over the white line of his jagged teeth. A groom entered with a coarse
joint upon a tray, and thrust it through the bars to him. He pounced
lightly upon it, carried it off to the corner, and there, holding it
between his paws, tore and wrenched at it, raising his bloody muzzle
every now and then to look at us. It was a malignant and yet
fascinating sight. "You can't wonder that I am fond of him, can you?" said my host, as we
left the room, "especially when you consider that I have had the
rearing of him. It was no joke bringing him over from the centre of
South America; but here he is safe and sound--and, as I have said, far
the most perfect specimen in Europe. The people at the Zoo are dying
to have him, but I really can't part with him. Now, I think that I have
inflicted my hobby upon you long enough, so we cannot do better than
follow Tommy's example, and go to our lunch." My South American relative was so engrossed by his grounds and their
curious occupants, that I hardly gave him credit at first for having
any interests outside them. That he had some, and pressing ones, was
soon borne in upon me by the number of telegrams which he received. They arrived at all hours, and were always opened by him with the
utmost eagerness and anxiety upon his face. Sometimes I imagined that
it must be the Turf, and sometimes the Stock Exchange, but certainly he
had some very urgent business going forwards which was not transacted
upon the Downs of Suffolk. During the six days of my visit he had never
fewer than three or four telegrams a day, and sometimes as many as
seven or eight. I had occupied these six days so well, that by the end of them I had
succeeded in getting upon the most cordial terms with my cousin. Every
night we had sat up late in the billiard-room, he telling me the most
extraordinary stories of his adventures in America--stories so
desperate and reckless, that I could hardly associate them with the
brown little, chubby man before me. In return, I ventured upon some of
my own reminiscences of London life, which interested him so much, that
he vowed he would come up to Grosvenor Mansions and stay with me. He
was anxious to see the faster side of city life, and certainly, though
I say it, he could not have chosen a more competent guide. It was not
until the last day of my visit that I ventured to approach that which
was on my mind. I told him frankly about my pecuniary difficulties and
my impending ruin, and I asked his advice--though I hoped for something
more solid. He listened attentively, puffing hard at his cigar. "But surely," said he, "you are the heir of our relative, Lord
Southerton?"