26 HOW CURIOSITIES ARE CAPTURED. 



However, they were too infantile to cause much harm, and soon ceased their 

 struggles. 



When one of the cat kind is obliged to carry its young an unusual distance, it 

 frequently sets it down for a few minutes on the way. I suppose this is not for the 

 purpose of resting the mother, but to relieve the little one from the discomfort of 

 being transported for a long time by the neck. How much better the arrangement 

 if the parent would carry its young on her back, like the hippopotamus, but it is 

 not for me to find fault with the wonderful provisions of nature. 



The youths grasped the little leopards, and strode off rapidly in the direction of 

 camp. But it was not long before the kittens began to squirm with discomfort and 

 the boys set them on the ground. 



" My gracious ! " exclaimed Bob, " that youngster is heavier than I thought j my 

 fingers and arm ache." 



" So do mine ; let's try another plan, for it seems to me their necks must feel 

 uncomfortable." 



So they shoved their prizes under their right arms, just as I have no doubt you 

 have done when trying to carry a large watermelon, which, I believe, is the most 

 awkward thing in the world to transport in that fashion. 



Of course each held his rifle in his left hand, so as to leave his other free to 

 manage his prize, and they soon found it was needed. 



The young leopards ought to have been grateful for the change, but, somehow 

 or other, it did not seem natural, and they twisted about with a vigor that was 

 astonishing. 



" Look out ! there goes your chap ! " called Bob, with a laugh, to his cousin, as 

 he noticed the youngster wriggling his way forward. 



Hardly were the words uttered when the uneasy captive plumped to the ground 

 like a huge doughnut at the feet of Dick Brownell, despite his frantic efforts to 

 check the fall. 



" Confound him ! why don't he know when he is well off and keep still ? " mut- 

 tered Dick, stooping down to recapture the fellow. 



Bob Marshall broke into merry laughter. 



"If I couldn't manage a baby leopard I'd give up all pretension of being a 

 hunter OAGH 1" 



Bob was so interested in the dilemma of his companion that he failed to give 

 proper attention to his own prize, which, instead of working to the front, shoved back- 

 ward with such deftness that it slipped from the lad's grasp before he suspected it. 



^ith a seeming knowledge of the state of the case, the young brute had no 

 sooner landed than it leaped upward and buried its sharp teeth in the leg of Bob 

 Marshall, above his boot. The lad, with a howl of dismay, sprang several feet in 

 air, kicking his limb forward as if to free himself from some venomous serpent that 

 had fastened its fangs in his flesh. 



"Why can't you behave yourself?" he demanded, angrily catching up his tor- 

 mentor and raising his hand to give it a cuff. 



