f
vegetation. And the stupid _Agoutis_, overgrown guinea-pigs they were,
who could never profit by past experiences anyway, either squatted
comfortably in their burrows or stole out noiselessly to nibble the
tender shoots, as suited their fancy.

The hush that fell upon the jungle was appalling. It was the great,
breathless silence of fear and apprehension. But the suspense was of
short duration.

A sighing breeze sifted its way through the whimpering leaves; again the
deadly calm; then a dull roar, distant at first, but gaining in volume
with each passing heartbeat. With a crash that rent the tallest ceiba
from the topmost branches to the buttressed roots, Siluk arrived. The
trees bent and groaned before the furious onslaught of the wind that
enfiladed their ranks and tore off branches a foot through and hurled
them to the ground; a deluge of water beat down upon them from above;
and in the glare of the brilliant, blue-green lightning flashes, the
startled eyes of trembling wild things saw the weaker and more venerable
monarchs of the forest succumb to the unequal struggle and fall with a
roar that made itself heard above the drumfire peals of thunder.

But, terrible as the Storm-God was in all the majesty of his unleashed
fury, it was not he alone that the trembling denizens of the wilderness
feared. Rather, it was the thing he portended, the message he brought.
For, with this coming of Siluk, began the dismal season of seemingly
unending rains when the waters of the lowlands reached their flood stage
and drove into the higher, forested country that crafty, merciless
terror from which few were safe and which was held in awe and dreaded by
even the strongest among them.

_Suma_, the Jaguar, basking in the glaring sunlight, awoke with a start,
stretched her massive forelegs, yawned, then snapped halfheartedly at
the annoying insects that buzzed about her ears and stung her lips; and
lowered her head for another nap. But, sleep came slowly and then it
was for short periods of time only. Something stirred within her and
warned her of a coming danger--not from the other inhabitants of the
wilderness for among them there was none to dispute her sovereignty;
rather, she looked upon the wild folk as creatures that had been
provided to satisfy her hunger, gratify her whims when in a playful
mood, or upon which to vent her rage. Besides, the flat-topped rock she
had chosen for her daily resting place was well out from the b