f Warruk for it seemed
that trouble with a peccary herd fell to the lot of every Jaguar and was
part of his education.

The clump of chonta trees grew a good five miles from the windfall. Suma
had covered half the distance when a sharp odor in the air caused her to
stop and, standing like an exquisitely chiselled statue, with tensed
muscles and alert poise, to drink deeply the scent-laden air. The vision
of a peccary dinner left her instantly and her pink tongue stole out
gently until it touched her moist, black nose in anticipation of a far
more satisfying gorge on venison.

A moment later the Jaguar resumed her journey, but in a different
direction. She had swerved at right angles to her former course and was
hot on the trail of the deer.

Like a shadow Suma seemed to flow over the ground, looking neither to
right nor left, the massive paws falling with the lightness of leaves
dropping from the trees. A frightened agouti scampered across her path
and stopped, frozen with fear, and a green ribbon-like snake drooping in
festoons from a low-growing branch hastily drew up its coils as the big
cat passed below.

Again Suma paused to sniff the air, then advanced; but this time in a
careless, leisurely manner. In a moment she came upon the deer standing
in an open little glade among the dark tree trunks. If the creature was
startled by the appearance of the Jaguar, it gave no indication of the
fact. It snorted and stamped its forefeet while Suma sat down on the wet
leaves and surveyed her intended victim in the most unconcerned manner.
For a moment the two stared at one another. Then, without warning, the
brocket turned and darted away.

Suma did not follow. Instead she arose and began to search the
neighborhood, for the other creature's actions plainly betrayed the fact
that she had a fawn hidden nearby. Why exhaust herself in a fruitless
chase after the fleeting mother whose speed was so much greater than her
own and who had dashed away simply to deceive her foe and in the hope of
drawing her from the spot where her offspring was concealed? The fawn,
far more desirable than its elder, could be had for the mere finding.

But the fawn had already learned one of the most important lessons of
life and this bit of knowledge had saved him from an untimely end no
fewer than seven times during his ten days on earth.

Now, the fawn was prettily spotted, and most persons who delve into such
matters and try to reconcile cause