On the capital of one of the columns, twenty feet above the floor, a
splendid leopard was crouched. He still looked surly from the blow I
had dealt him.
"King Hiram," Antinea repeated. "Come here."
The beast relaxed like a spring released. He fawned at his mistress's
feet. I saw his red tongue licking her bare little ankles.
"Ask the gentleman's pardon," she said.
The leopard looked at me spitefully. The yellow skin of his muzzle
puckered about his black moustache.
"Fftt," he grumbled like a great cat.
"Go," Antinea ordered imperiously.
The beast crawled reluctantly toward me. He laid his head humbly
between his paws and waited.