LIONS AND TIGERS. 229 



hearts and panting breath. The actors are holding their 

 audience spellbound in suspense ! 



Gradually the combatants approach, and, with a bound, 

 engage in a terrible struggle. At the first shock the 

 weakest bite the dust. Drunk with blood, the rest vent 

 their rage upon the nearest foe or friend. To see them 

 tear and bite, one would imagine they were revenging the 

 murder of a friend or dearly loved mate. They seize one 

 another by the throat ; every muscle strains as they rend 

 each other in pieces. It is frightful I It is one continued 

 roar, lit up, like a thunder-cloud, by the piercing cries of 

 the wounded and the mad shouts of encouragement from 

 the people. The dead bodies strew the arena, crimsoned 

 with blood and whitened with froth, while dying glances 

 are cast toward the pitiless benches, where every Roman 

 has selected his favorite to praise if he dies well, to curse 

 him if he does not. 



The applause dies away, and a rapt and concentrated at- 

 tention shows itself on every cruel face. But twenty lions 

 remain ! Suddenly from all quarters comes the cry, — 



"The elephants! Bring in the elephants I " 



Once more the sound of grating doors is heard, and the 

 new champions enter the lists, swinging their trunks, and 

 with angry eyes scanning the lower benches. Which 

 will conquer in this final strife ? The elephants crush In- 

 their simple weight ; the lions depend on their quicker 

 movements and sharp fangs. You hear the cracking of 

 broken bones, the spurting of blood, the sickening death- 



