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Updated: June 26, 2025
But, when at last they reached the forest's end and the boundless reaches of papyrus marshes, pampas and tree islands lay before them Suma did not hesitate to slay whatever came within her reach. Warruk was always an interested spectator from some nearby point of concealment. It was at the edge of one of the marshes that the cub saw his first deer.
Inch by inch she clambered up the columnar trunk. Warruk whimpered and Myla cooed low and stroked his back to quiet him; then she peered up and down and to both sides before again settling herself for sleep while Suma's claws dug deeply into the bark as she clung in dread suspense lest the monkey should discover her.
The ant-eater and the cub discovered one another at about the same instant; but the former ignored the latter without a second thought feeling subconsciously that such an antagonist was not worthy of serious consideration. Warruk, however, felt differently about it. It was not necessary for him to attempt a surprise attack for the big, black bulk was waddling and swaying right towards him.
He circled the thick mass that loomed black against the star-flecked sky but saw not a living thing. This was trying for well he knew of the abundance so near, still out of reach. Furtive eyes, no doubt, were following his every movement, their owners eager to pursue their own affairs the moment danger had passed. Discouraged, Warruk sat down to rest.
And Warruk, unable to fathom the new calamity that had befallen him, clung to the half-devoured bird with his teeth and to the monkey with his claws as they skimmed through space until their tormentors gave up the chase and returned to their own affairs. The hours that followed the loss of her offspring were filled with anguish for Suma.
He learned that mastery in the wilderness depended largely upon a game of bluff especially when cornered, and on one occasion when a fox, far larger than he, advanced menacingly he charged straight at it with a deep snarl; the fox turned and ran away. So, emboldened by this encounter Warruk was not slow to make use of the new knowledge gained from experience and encouraged by instinct.
But all that is another story as likely as not to repeat itself in the life of 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.
This was soothing indeed to the terrified and exhausted Warruk and soon he stopped whining and lay helplessly gazing at his unfamiliar surroundings. It did not take Myla long to discover that the possession of her foster-child did not bring her the joy she had anticipated for he was most unlike her own unfortunate offspring.
Like the one he had just eaten, the bird had been mutilated by some ruthless hand; a part of its back had been torn away. Warruk started off with the prize in his mouth but before he had taken many steps a strange feeling came over him. A shudder passed over his powerful frame and he became violently ill.
He did not fill the void left in her heart by the inroad of the ruthless eagle; he did drive her to the point of distraction; but he was new and interesting just as a doll or a mirror or a rubber ball would have been. As for Warruk, he was far from having an enjoyable time. At first he was terrified at the great creature that clutched him so closely he could scarcely breathe.
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