e level of its gaunt muscular shoulders.

"It would have been a fearful thing to look at, even had we not known
what it was; but we did know, and that rendered the sight of it still
more terrifying. It was the `cougar!'

"Now, for the first time, since coming upon the spot, we felt fear. We
knew that the peccary, savage as it was, could not climb the tree; and
hitherto we had deemed ourselves secure. We were now no longer so. We
knew that the cougar could ascend a tree with the agility of a squirrel,
and was as much at home among the branches as upon the ground itself. I
knew all this; and I turned to my companion, and whispered him to remain
motionless and silent.

"The cougar came on with stealthy tread. His eyes, as we could see,
were set upon the unconscious peccary; and his legs were strained down
as he moved--so that one would have fancied he was crawling upon his
belly. His long tail, stretched away behind him, was gently waving from
side to side--exactly after the manner of a cat when stealing through
the stubble upon the basking partridge.

"All this time the peccary was greedily devouring the snake, wholly
unconscious of the danger that was gathering over her. The ground, for
some distance around her, was clear of weeds and brushwood; but a large
tree stood near; and its long, horizontal branches stretched out,
casting their shade upon the spot she occupied. On reaching the margin
of the weeds, that had hitherto partially concealed him, the cougar
suddenly stopped, and appeared to deliberate. He knew that, unless he
could spring suddenly and unawares upon the back of his victim, he would
have to encounter those terrible tusks, the effects of which he saw
exhibited at that moment on the carcass of the great reptile. He was
still too distant to reach the peccary with a single spring; and he
appeared to be considering how he might get a little nearer without
being discovered.

"All at once, his eyes rested upon the over-stretching branches--a
sudden change took place in his attitude; and, turning slowly and
silently, he crawled back among the weeds. We could see that he was
making a _detour_ to get upon the other side of the tree from that
occupied by the peccary. Presently we saw him approach the trunk, and
the next moment spring up more like a streak of red light than a living
animal. We could hear the rattle of his claws on the loose bark, as he
passed upward; and the peccary, too, seemed to