74 JUNGLE PEACE 



the sodden bark, and I succeeded in seizing the 

 stub. As I reached for the little creature, the 

 young opossum gave up and slipped into the 

 water, and a ripple showed where a watchful 

 fish had snapped it up. But I got hold of the 

 mother's tail, and despite a weak hiss and a 

 perfunctory showing of teeth, I lifted her and 

 waded ashore. The last view I had, showed 

 her crawling feebly but steadily along a branch 

 into the heart of a dense thicket. 



I climbed back to my outpost and dried my 

 clothes in the sun, meditating on the curious 

 psychology of a human which wanted opossums 

 and would unhesitatingly sacrifice a score of 

 opossums for a real scientific need, and yet 

 would put itself to much discomfort to save a 

 single one from going out to sea. Sentimental 

 weakness is an inexplicable thing, and I finally 

 made up my mind as I always do not to yield 

 again to its promptings. In fact, I half turned 

 to go in search of my specimen and then 

 didn't. 



The tide had reached full ebb and the sun 

 was low when I started back, and now I found 

 a new beach many feet farther out and down. 

 Still no shells, but a wonderful assortment of 



