heavy shells was audible some
distance away in a muffled conglomeration of sounds. They moved rather
rapidly for such cumbersome creatures and made quickly for the highest
points in the sandy wastes where with much effort a hole was scooped and
the eggs deposited; then the excavation was neatly filled. The turtles
hurried back to the water to remain in the depths of the muddy river
until the following year.

Warruk looked in amazement at the seething mass of life.

"_Ca-urgh, ca-urgh, ca-urgh, urgh, urgh, urgh_," a gruff, coughing roar
pierced the still night air from near the deep channel and Warruk's
muscles tensed as he listened to the sound. It was the voice of one of
his kind. An instant later his own voice rang loud and sharp in answer
to the challenge and he started across the crumbling sand toward the
water. In the distance a dark form loomed up, motionless as a statue and
Warruk too stopped the moment he beheld the stranger. Then the latter
raised his head skyward and again the roar, savage, spiteful and
bespeaking rage shattered the air. What right had this newcomer to
intrude on his hunting-ground?

Warruk noted the smaller size of the resentful one; also that his coat
was, of course, spotted. He listened patiently until the roar had ended.
Then, with a mighty bellow he strode slowly toward his challenger.

The latter stood his ground for a moment. But suddenly he perceived the
color of the intruder and that one look was all that was required.
Without taking a second he dashed to the river, plunged into the water
and swam for the other side. Members of his tribe, of his own spotted
color he feared not and was ready to battle with at any time. But, when
the apparition of a _black_ individual appeared he retreated
frantically, relinquishing his choice feeding-ground without a show of
resentment or any desire to question the newcomer's status.

So it had been always. The other jaguars shunned Warruk because they
feared him. And being thus made an outcast intensified the black one's
naturally savage and truculent disposition.

Warruk hurled a bellow of ridicule after the fugitive and then turned
his attention to the food bedecking the sand.

One blow on the head was sufficient to end the earthly career of the
largest turtle but the bony armor encasing the body was not so easy to
dispose of; it required a number of powerful strokes of the great, armed
paws to crush the plates or break them apart and thus m