ck and forth after
his nimble assailant until at last the cub was forced to take refuge in
the tree where his pursuer did not bother to follow. Instead, the queer
creature shuffled to a nearby ants' nest--one of a group of slender,
brown monoliths fifteen feet high that dotted the grassy plain--and broke
away a part of the base of the structure with his great claws. When the
break in the wall of the insects' domicile admitted a flood of daylight
into the heretofore darkened interior, the ants rushed out in a solid
stream to investigate the cause of the disturbance; and the ant-eater's
whip-like tongue promptly gathered them up by the thousands.

Warruk watched the proceedings from his perch in the tree. He could tell
by the actions of the large creature that it was eating and at the
reminder of food he became frantic. He scrambled hastily to the ground
just as the big beast ambled away and lost no time in poking his head
into the cavity in the ants' nest in the hope of finding some remnant of
the other's meal. But, if he thrust his head into the opening hurriedly
he withdrew it in still greater haste. He had indeed found remnants of
the feast, just as he had hoped. A carpet of ants covered his nose and
face, clinging with a vise-like grip, their poisonous mandibles buried
deep in his tender skin. The pain they inflicted was so intense that he
screamed, rolled over and over, and rubbed his face in the soft grass;
then, in a fit of rage he raced after the ant-eater which had been
responsible for this new calamity, had deliberately tricked him no doubt
in return for the annoyance he had caused him.

He caught up with the shaggy brute just as it was climbing, clumsily, a
thick tree on the outskirts of one of the forest islands. In a crotch of
the tree was a mass of sticks several feet across, and numbers of small,
green parrots were clambering nervously over its rough exterior while
others fluttered about in excitement screeching at the top of their
voices. The birds sensed the danger to their nest and were vainly trying
to avert the inevitable.

The ant-eater paid no attention to their clamor; he calmly established
himself comfortably on a nearby branch and tore away at the nest,
sending a shower of sticks and rubbish rattling to the ground. Inside
the structure were little hollows, each containing three or four round,
white eggs. The latter were the treasures the ruthless creature sought
and after crushing the shells it