d memories. He was home
again--home in the land of Suma and of plenty. And as the early mental
pictures crowded into his brain he whined joyously and turned unerringly
in the direction of the windfall. It was there the real home had been,
in the cavity in the great cottonwood; he would seek its warmth and
protection while the rain roared and the storm raged outside.

There it was at last, the high ridge of interlocking tree trunks and
branches just as the storm had uprooted the forest giants years before.
As time passed and the lower layers of the debris succumbed to the
influences of decomposition, the mass settled, making the barrier more
impassable than ever. The mantle of creepers covering it grew thicker
and more even, smoothing the rough outlines and concealing the
treacherous nature of the matter underneath.

Warruk hailed the familiar landmarks with delight. He raced along the
edge of the windfall, his excitement growing as he neared his goal.
Suddenly he stopped; almost directly overhead was the monkey-bridge
where Myla, the monkey mother had crossed from and back to the hill
country and at the far end of which Suma, his own mother had rescued
him. He hastened past. And not long after he felt that he could not be
far from the place of his birth.

Locating the exact spot presented some difficulties for he had never
gone from the place in the normal way; the monkey was to blame for that.
But before long his nose caught the scent of Suma and following it he
warily picked his way over the tangled ridge straight to the entrance to
the cavity in the cottonwood.

He stood in awe at the portal, undecided as to just what to do, for, in
the opening hung the gauze-like curtain that obstructed his view of the
interior. As he gazed at the veil he detected motion; then it dissolved
itself into sections that moved independently of one another. Finally he
could make out individual specks that whirled and danced with faintly
buzzing wings and long, thread-like, dangling legs. The craneflies were
keeping their yearly vigil, veiling the inner chamber from the profane
glances of the outer world.

An instant later a monstrous form charged out of the darkened interior
scattering the madly gyrating insects like chaff before a wind. It was
Suma, the Jaguar, but she acknowledged no relationship between herself
and Warruk, her cub of last year. In him she saw only an intruder in her
abode and a possible source of danger to her new