eaming
with pain and fright darted back towards the reeds. Suma heard the cry
of distress and charged out of the dense cover with a snarl, but the
ocelot had anticipated her coming and in a graceful leap to one side
disappeared in the papyrus.

After that Warruk was content to leave the larger creatures to his
mother; but the smaller ones such as the cavies and opossums he dealt
with mercilessly and swiftly; in fact, Suma urged him to such a course
and often watched from some nearby point of vantage while he conducted
the stalk and launched the attack. Then she walked up to him and
rewarded dexterity with deep purrs and penalized failure with cutting
indifference or unmistakable chidings.

Life in the low country for the two wanderers was simply a succession of
pleasant days and nights with just enough adventure to make it
interesting. They never lingered long in one place and by gradual stages
their journeying took them further and further away from the forested
foothills and nearer to the great arteries that poured their waters into
the system of the mighty Amazon.

Food became more abundant as the days passed and Warruk learned the
lessons of life with Suma, his mother, and instinct, as instructors. As
often as not, however, some particular bit of knowledge was acquired at
personal risk; and this latter was accentuated by the fact that the cub
showed a headstrong disposition to do things his own way, often
impatient of his mother's more cautious maneuvering.

The great grass-covered areas were delightful places. In some of them
the grass was ten feet tall and topped with white plumes that swayed and
quivered in the wind. Here the bobolinks were sojourning--visitors from
a far-off land who, after the wearying flight of thousands of miles over
sea and land were spending the balmy days chattering and feeding on the
abundant supply of seeds or, rising in swarms of thousands took short
flights so that their wings might remain fit for the long journey
northward when the call should come to return. With them, the
red-breasted meadowlarks of the pampas sang and frolicked as if
constituting themselves a welcoming committee to the strangers during
their annual visit. Their gaudy plumage contrasted strongly with the
sombre, spotted attire of the bobolinks.

Suma paid no attention to the birds but Warruk, trailing her like a
shadow, often paused to cast longing glances in their direction or to
strike one down if it flutter