PROWLER OF THE NIGHT 127 



reflected his massive, catlike head, he licked his 

 black muzzle and long white whiskers, much 

 after the manner of a big cat, which he really 

 was. Stopping occasionally to peer through the 

 soft light with his keen, luminous eyes, sitting 

 back on his haunches he licked his paws and 

 rubbed them across his spotted face just as a 

 house cat would do. 



Suddenly a ripened mango slipped from its 

 stalk and fell to the ground with a little thud, 

 breaking the heavy silence of the place. This 

 brought the big cat to his feet in a half-crouched 

 position, his senses all alert. Stealing silently 

 forward, he satisfied himself at length that it 

 was not a movement of some possible prey incau- 

 tiously disclosing its presence. The jaguar 

 passed slowly down the winding reaches of the 

 jungle river-bed, while frogs leaped hurriedly 

 for the pools at his approach; now and then a 

 landcrab would go scuttling off sideways to its 

 hole and perhaps his heavy paw would descend 

 on it. 



The moon had passed across the sky until the 

 slope of the bank lay in sable shadow, but the 

 luminous line of grass fringing its crest was 

 clearly defined. Very slowly a large, dark ob- 

 ject that seemed to drift phantom-like up to the 



