The rustling grew louder, and, instead of the gentle, swaying motion caused by the breeze, the grass suddenly parted and bent in opposite directions, and from the middle there softly stepped out a full grown tiger.  For a few seconds he stood perfectly still.  His four, velvet paws were planted firmly on the ground; his pliable tail was waving slowly to and fro, and his bright yellow eyes glanced quickly and sharply in all directions.  He was a splendid fellow and quite young.  His light, tawny-yellow body was exquisitely marked with dark, velvety stripes—­some double, some single—­but each stripe even and regular.  His legs, down to his soft velvety-looking paws, were marked in the same way, and his long tail had rings of the same dark color all the way down.  The under parts of his body, his throat and chest, and the long hair which grew in little tufts on either side of his face were of soft, creamy-white.  His large, round head, with its small, upstanding ears, was marked much in the same way; while his fine whiskers gave him the appearance of a huge cat, and so in a way he was, for he belonged to the cat tribe and had all the instincts of the race.

It was beginning to grow dusk, but Tranta was early to-night.  This was the reason that his eyes had a somewhat peculiar look just then, for he did not care very much for light.  It made the pupils of his eyes contract from their usual vertical slits into small, round spots, and when this was the case he could not see very well.

As Tranta stood there, every sense on the alert, there was another rustle close by, but of this he took no notice.  The grass waved as before, and no human eye would have been able to discover anything but grass, but in another moment a second striped, tawny body came forth, somewhat smaller than Tranta, but marked in the same way, and moving with the same lithe, noiseless steps.  This was Tera—­Tranta’s wife—­ and she was one of the fiercest tigresses for miles round.

Not far off, hidden cunningly in the jungle grass, were four fine cubs, who looked like big, playful kittens.  This was the first time Tera had left them, and she was unusually cautious and careful.

Tranta stopped listening as soon as his wife appeared, and began to move softly and stealthily off; his furry body scarcely showing against the jungle grass and making no sound whatever.  The truth was Tranta had an idea that the beaters were out, and he was looking for a couple of nice korinda [Footnote:  The korinda is a bushy shrub with large, drooping branches, covered with thick leaves.  Tigers so habitually use this bush that hunters invariably look out for it when tiger hunting.—­Author] bushes, where he and his wife could hide for the time being; but on account of the cubs he did not want them to be too far away from or too close to his lair, and Tera followed him at a little distance in an undecided mood, for she was troubled.  Her first thought was for her little ones, and with the cunning of the tiger she wished to lead the beaters away from her cubs.  So it was that, with stealthy, but hesitating steps, she followed Tranta, who had come out earlier than usual, in order to provide against to-morrow’s danger.  But on the way to find the korinda bush, something happened that turned Tranta’s attention.