'If this is a joke -' she said testily,'- I'm not amused.'When he didn't rise to her remark she tried a sweetertactic. 'Swann, my sweet, I'd like to go now, if you don'tmind.'

The growl came again. She didn't want to turn andseek out its source, but equally she didn't want to besprung upon from behind.

Cautiously she looked round. The wings were in dark-ness. The clutter of properties kept her from workingout the precise location of the beast. She could hear itstill, however: its tread, its growl. Step by step, sheretreated towards the apron of the stage. The closedcurtains sealed her off from the auditorium, but shehoped she might scramble under them before the tigerreached her.

As she backed against the heavy fabric, one of theshadows in the wings forsook its ambiguity, and theanimal appeared. It was not beautiful, as she hadthought it when behind bars. It was vast and lethal andhungry. She went down on her haunches and reachedfor the hem of the curtain. The fabric was heavilyweighted, and she had more difficulty lifting it thanshe'd expected, but she had managed to slide halfwayunder the drape when, head and hands pressed to theboards, she sensed the thump of the tiger's advance.An instant later she felt the splash of its breath on herbare back, and screamed as it hooked its talons into herbody and hauled her from the sight of safety towardsits steaming jaws.

Even then, she refused to give up her life. She kickedat it, and tore out its fur in handfuls, and delivered a hailof punches to its snout. But her resistance was negligiblein the face of such authority; her assault, for all itsferocity, did not slow the beast a jot. It ripped open herbody with one casual clout. Mercifully, with that firstwound her senses gave up all claim to verisimilitude,and took instead to preposterous invention. It seemedto her that she heard applause from somewhere, and