d her newly
adopted little one. It was raining, as usual, and not until the day was
well advanced did she venture from the protection afforded by the
roof-like palm-leaves overhead. Even then she did not leave from choice.
Grim necessity drove her from her snug retreat--the necessity of
procuring food. And as for Warruk, he was so hungry he could think of
nothing else. He forgot his great fear, his resentment toward his
captor, even his longing for his mother; what he wanted more than
anything else in the world was something to eat. Never had he been so
famished.

Myla knew where a clump of wild figs were bending under their burden of
ripe fruit and she hastened to the spot. The wild fig was a terrible
thing. It started as a slender creeper feeling its way toward the light
above the vast expanse of forest roof, clinging lightly to the trunk of
some tall, sturdy tree. As it climbed, stealthily, like a viper stealing
upon its victim, it sent out slender tendrils that completely encircled
its support; and when its crown reached the bright sunlight high above
the ground the slender stem quickly thickened to massive proportions and
the tendrils widened into bands like steel that tightened and strangled
the life out of the helpless tree. Then the fig blossomed and brought
forth its small, red fruit.

Myla was fond of the juicy berries; so were the other members of her
tribe and the bird hosts including even some of the flycatchers.
Reaching the feeding place, the monkey climbed nimbly into the
branches, venturing as far as she dared; then she reached out with one
hand and drew the springy tips of the limbs toward her, picking the
luscious morsels with her mouth.

Warruk watched her eat and knew what she was doing. When he whimpered
suggestively she pulled down a branch very low and waited for him to
eat. But the food was unknown to him so he ignored it. Myla seemed
offended at his refusal and proceeded to devour the berries without
ceremony.

An hour later the monkey's sharp eyes detected the nest of a toucan made
in the hollow of a thick branch. An opening much like the doorway to a
woodpecker's abode led into a spacious cavity on the bottom of which
reposed two fat, ugly fledgelings. As yet their bodies were naked
excepting only for dark rows of pin feathers bursting through their
sheathes; and their bills were very short instead of long and thick like
those of their elders.

When the monkey, after peering intently i