Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 29, 2025
Completely overwhelmed by the first wave, Suma struggled frantically to regain her foothold and finding this impossible followed the path of least resistance and struck out boldly with the current until the water drained from her eyes and she could discern the bank which had been her objective.
Suma had seen it all; but in spite of every effort had been unable to reach the thief before she swung gracefully into the branches and made for the denser growth of the interior.
The river wound in and around at this point and at the larger bends were several villages one about five versts straight across the river called Yeveevskaya and another further in a direct line called Ust Suma.
And, when night came, tired and drowsy from overeating she forgot her usual caution and made herself comfortable on the nearest thick limb that offered her sleeping quarters, and which was close to the juicy figs so that she could resume her gorge early the next morning. Suma observed the foolish creature's action and unable to restrain her impatience started stealthily to climb up the tree.
In a moment the snake had been clawed and mauled into a mass of pulp, and leaving it where it lay Suma hastened to the side of the now wide awake Warruk. She pushed him over gently with her nose, licked his face and sides, grunted with satisfaction and then curled up beside him. When daylight came there was the swish of wings through the air followed by the sound of heavy bodies alighting.
Below, the occasional bellow of a crocodile hidden in the reedy bed of a marsh or the high-pitched wail of the great brown wolf added its note to the clamor of the multitude. Suma spent the nights only in travel. When the approach of day was heralded by the crimson glare in the eastern sky she sought shelter in one of the dark forest islands so liberally sprinkled over the pantenal country.
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.
The deer turned and vanished with a crackling of reeds and the splash of water; in a moment it was safe in the depths of the marsh. Suma knew better than to follow; she merely bestowed a look of disgust upon her young and moved away. That very afternoon Warruk's very existence was threatened.
But, the present was not an ordinary occasion, for soon Warruk, as the Indians on the Ichilo River called the Jaguar cub, was to make his appearance in the big world; and it was but for his comfort and safety that Suma provided.
They had short hair dyed black, white coarse linen chemises with large sleeves, embroidered zouaves, white skirts with front and back aprons lavishly embroidered, striped trousers, and stockings knitted on great diagonal patterns. One of them told Suma that their village was in possession of Essad Pacha, that all their husbands had fled, and were still fighting in the hills.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking