ate.

Two minutes later, a late leopard, returning to his lair after a blank
night's hunt, saw the tail of the female genet, who was leading,
disappear into a hollow tree. The male had not time to get in as the
leopard sprang, so he shot up another tree close by, disturbing a mamba
cobra, whose color was green, and whose bite was death, as it lay asleep
among the twined vines. The legless terror fell to the ground and
streaked for its hole, and the following leopard only just managed to
bound out of its way as it did so.

Then, leaping light as thistle-down, coughing harshly, the leopard went
up the tree after the male genet, and appeared to have cut him off from
life and liberty for ever.

The genet climbed beautifully, and dodged round the tree-bole, and in and
out among the trails and the leaf-bunches of matted creepers, with
amazing speed; but the whole time the leopard's paw, all hooked claws
bared, was whip-whip-whipping the air, only just behind that lovely,
long, ringed tail of the genet, and more than once touched it.

Finally, hard driven, panting, at the end of his tether, it seemed, the
genet was forced out upon a branch, farther and farther, slowly and
more-slowly, the leopard creep, creep, creeping, almost flat, well spread
and craftily, his paw, well out in front, hooking at the luckless little
genet, till the twigs began to bend under the poor hunted creature, and
all hope seemed gone from him, for the ground was sixteen feet below, and
there was nothing between. And then--ah! but it was a fine effort!--just
when it seemed that he could go no farther, and that the next terrible
hooking round-arm stroke of the leopard must fish him into the
annihilating scrunch of the terrible jaws, whose foul, hot breath already
played upon him, the genet sprang.

It was a wonderful spring; the little beast had gathered every last ounce
of his strength for it, and he literally seemed to sail out upon the air.
Sixteen feet to the ground he bounded, and twenty-two feet out from the
bole of the tree he landed, and--well, what d'you think of that?

Quick was the leopard--to our eyes he seemed to come down almost on the
heels of the genet--but not quick enough, for he had first to gather
himself on an uncertain, swaying footing. Wherefore, by the time he got
to the ground, bounding like some great rubber ball, he had the pleasure
of seeing the male genet's tail vanishing also into the small hole in the
hollow tree.