cyclone
years before had levelled a wide swath through the heavy growth. Giant
trunks and branches, resisting decay, littered the floor of the lane and
formed a barrier impenetrable to those inhabitants of the jungle
confined to a life on the ground. Second growth sprouts had pushed their
way through the tangled, twisted debris and waved their plumed heads
above the mass of wreckage. Creepers and trumpet vines covered it with a
green cloak so that an endless mound of verdure dotted with clusters of
scarlet flowers greeted the eye in two directions. Gorgeous humming
birds, aflame with ruby and emerald light, flitted from one patch of
color to another, sipping the nectar from deep-throated corollas and
picking out the ants and other minute insects that too had been
attracted by the delicacies stored in the brilliant blossoms.

Suma knew the country well. Thrice before had she taken up her abode
there while the rains were falling. And now, springing nimbly from one
prostrate tree-trunk to another, threading her way through
verdure-covered tunnels, and pushing aside the sprouts that impeded her
progress she made her way to the old lair--a great cavity in the heart
of an uprooted cottonwood.

At the entrance she stopped short and sniffed the air enquiringly. Her
nose told her that the spiny rats had been there, probably that very
night, but they were beneath her serious attention and now that she had
arrived they would lose no time in seeking other quarters; so she
dismissed them from her mind without another thought. A stronger and
more disagreeable odor proclaimed the presence of an opossum; in fact,
its beady eyes could be seen dully glowing in the farthermost corner of
the cavity. How dared the impudent creature appropriate for its own use
and defile the place that Suma held sacred? Ordinarily she would pass it
in contempt, but such impertinence must not remain unpunished. With a
snarl of rage she dashed through the entrance and struck the wretched
creature a terrible blow with one claw-armed paw that tore it into
shreds and turning, with a second quick thrust tossed it out where it
fell among the trumpet-vines, a limp and lifeless mass.

After a thorough inspection of her old quarters the Jaguar was
apparently satisfied that they would serve their purpose another season,
and set about renovating them. This consisted of carefully digging up
and turning over the decayed bark and leaves that had sifted in through
the o