Tera was a little uneasy all through that night, as Tranta did not
return, but she took it very calmly. She had been growing indifferent
to him lately, and the cares of her growing family were taking up all
her attention.

As the days went on and Tranta did not appear, Tera forgot all about
her husband, and devoted all her time and attention to her cubs.

She waited another week or two, and then, after studying their size
and strength, she concluded that it was quite time to teach them how
to hunt and kill for themselves. So, to the cubs' great joy, they were
allowed that same evening to accompany their mother on a hunting
expedition.

Tera was a good mother, and took great pains in teaching them how to
walk, where to walk, and when to walk; how to draw in their fur in
times of danger; how to hide themselves in the long, jungle grass
until it was difficult to tell which was grass and which was tiger;
taught them, in fact, all the accomplishments necessary to make them
good Bengal tigers. Their own instincts told them the rest, and they
proved very apt pupils.

Softly and silently Terra's supple body wended through the tangled
undergrowth of the jungle, followed by the four cubs, who growled,
whimpered and gamboled about like so many kittens.

At last the cubs began to get tired. It was just when they were
thinking of refusing to go any farther that Tera told them--in tiger
language--that here was the end of their journey. Crouching softly