d,
and then left him to his fate, for a glance over my shoulder revealed
the awful beast almost upon me.

It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous
bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to cope with the agility of my
young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run
completely behind it before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit.

The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in
the branches of a tree a few paces from that in which Perry had at last
found a haven.

Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and
so did Perry. He was praying--raising his voice in thanksgiving at our
deliverance--and had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that
the thing couldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared up
beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reached those
fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched.

The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's scream of fright,
and he came near tumbling headlong into the gaping jaws beneath him, so
precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It
was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gain a higher branch in
safety.

And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror.
Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful paws he dragged down with
all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of
those mighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to bend
toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as the tree leaned
more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a
panic of terror. Higher and higher into the bending and swaying tree
he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining toward
the ground.

I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The
use that he was putting them to was precisely that for which nature had
intended them. The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed
that mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage.
The reason for its attacking us might easily be accounted for on the
supposition of an ugly disposition such as that which the fierce and
stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses. But these were later
reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on
Perry's behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from
the death that loomed so clos