at its
victim. In a flash the scale-covered coils would be thrown about the
cub, crushing him into pulp.

Warruk shot forward as if hurled from a catapult--not at the snake, but
over its head, soaring above it a distance of fully two feet. He struck
the side of the circular prison with a thud, rebounded instantly and
landed on the neck of the great serpent before it could turn to follow
his movements. The strategy had been successful. Writhe and shake itself
as it would, the reptile could not dislodge the jaguar; nor was it
possible to entwine him with the coils that groped and threshed about in
vain for an effective hold, so closely did he cling. His claws were
buried deep in the snake's flesh while his teeth had closed like the
jaws of a trap upon the slender neck just below the head.

Seconds passed slowly and minutes, seeming more like hours, dragged by
while the death struggle continued. Warruk knew that to lose his
foothold meant a speedy end for him; his claws dug deeper through the
tough hide and his jaws drew together with the slow, irresistible force
of a vise. At last it came, a dull, faint report. The great reptile's
head fell forward and the body lashed frantically; the spinal column
had been severed and that marked the beginning of the end.

A half hour later the long black and yellow body had writhed its last
and lay in a limp, knotted heap in one side of the prison. The cub was
crouched as far away as possible from the mound of shimmering flesh and
not for an instant did he remove his eyes from it. It was as if he half
expected the snake to come back to life to renew the combat.

When night came Warruk resumed his restless pacing around the wall of
his confining cell. The dead serpent did not trouble him now but he was
careful not to tread upon it as he made his rounds.

The air in the hollow stub was anything but invigorating. It was heavy
with the stench of decaying vegetation, and damp. It was not unnatural,
therefore, that the cub should stop to sniff enquiringly at a thin
stream of fresh air that gushed from somewhere near the floor and rushed
up the chimney-like stub. That phenomenon was worth investigating for
the air must enter through a passage communicating with the outer world;
and the cub was not long in finding it.

An opening near the base of the stub, caused by the rending of the side
when one of the giant trees crashed against it during the storm that
razed the windfall through the