Curtis then repeated--in tones that could not be heard by the
audience--the Atlantean cabalistic words--"Karma--nardka--rapto--
nooman--K--arma--oola--piskooskte," and glided gracefully on to the
surface of the water. Every now and then he sank slowly down to the
bottom, where he strolled about, or sat, or lay down. The audience was simply fascinated. Nothing they had hitherto seen
tickled their fancy half as much. As an American, who was present, put
it--"To live under the water like a fish is immense--so hygienic and
economical." Though the time apportioned to this part of the entertainment was
half an hour, it was extended to over an hour, and even then the
audience was not satisfied. They would have gone on watching
Curtis--eating--drinking--jumping--skipping--singing and chasing gold
fish--under the water all night, and when he was at length permitted to
come out of the tank--exhausted and sulky--they gave him even heartier
applause than they had given Hamar. But the cup of their enjoyment was not yet full. The greatest treat of
all was in store for them. For the third and last part of the entertainment, a cage, containing a
large Bengal tiger, was wheeled on to the stage. "You look precious white," Curtis remarked, just as Kelson was about
to go on. "I guess you'd look the same," Kelson retorted, "if you had to hobnob
with a tiger. The Unknown always gives me the nasty jobs." "And in this case," Curtis said with a low, mocking laugh, "it also
loads you with consolations. The house is full of ladies who adore
you, and if you are eaten, just think of the sympathy welling up in
their beautiful eyes! If that isn't sufficient compensation for you,
I--" But the remainder of this encouraging speech was lost in a loud
roar. The Bengal tiger shook its bars--the audience screamed, and
Curtis flew. With a desperate attempt to look calm, Kelson, clutching the red laryx
stone in his left hand, walked on to the stage, whilst the tiger,
rearing on its hind legs tried to 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, just as human beings regulate and modify the intonations of
their voices. Indeed, so delicate are the olfactory organs of animals
that the faintest of these language smells makes an impression on
them, which impression is at once interpreted by the brain. If an
animal wishes to leave a message behind it, it merely impregnates some
article--a leaf or a root, or a clump of grass--or merely the ether
with a brain smell, and any other animal, happening to pass by the
spot, within a certain time (in favourable weather), will at once be
attracted by the smell, and be able to interpret it. That is the
reason one so often sees an animal suddenly stop at a spot and sniff
it--it is reading some message left there by some other animal. All
this, and more, Kelson explained to his audience, who were exceedingly
interested, many of them getting up to ask him questions. He also
reported to them the tiger's conversation, which consisted chiefly of
complaints against the management with regard to its food. "To be everlastingly fed on scraps of horse-flesh," it said, "when
there were dozens of plump young women sitting in the stalls, under
its very nose, was tantalizing to a degree. Would Mr. Kelson kindly
speak to whoever was responsible for such cruelty and negligence?" A bear and a crocodile having been tamed in the same manner, and their
remarks interpreted to the audience, the entertainment concluded. The next day the papers were full of it. The _Planet_, under the startling announcements--

    "RECOVERY OF THE LOST SENSES. MORE EXTRAORDINARY FEATS IN COCKSPUR STREET. LEON HAMAR BECOMES INVISIBLE AT WILL,"

--narrated all that had occurred. The _Monitor_--if anything more sensational--declared--

    "THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS DISCOVERED AT LAST! THE PROBLEM OF BREATHING UNDER WATER--SOLVED! DEMATERIALIZATION AT WILL ESTABLISHED!" And even the _Courier_--the steady, ever cautious old _Courier_,
England's premier paper, created a precedent by the use of a quite
conspicuously large type; vide the following--

    "THE AGE OF MIRACLES REVIVED! ACTUAL CASE OF SUBDUING AND CONVERSING WITH WILD ANIMALS. RECOVERY OF THE PROPERTIES OF INVISIBILITY; OF WALKING ON WATER,
    AND OF BREATHING UNDER WATER." As before, there were innumerable cases of imitation, many of them,
unhappily, resulting in the death of the imitator. At Dover, for
instance, a Congregationalist Minister convinced that he had the
requisite amount of faith, announced from the pulpit, that he intended
walking on the water, in the Harbour, after service.