THE CREATURE GOD FORGOT 157 



Hence the groups of lacerations where his claws had 

 dug deep for a foot-hold. 



Astride the shoulders of the giraffe the lion 

 balanced for a second. Then with one powerful 

 upward sweep he caught the despairing creature's 

 long neck with the claws of one massive paw 

 and apparently hove it down until the vertebras 

 cracked. 



Such is murder in the wild spaces of the earth. 



If there lives a more defenseless animal than the 

 giraffe I should like to know about it. To be sure a 

 giraffe can run faster than an earthworm; it can kick 

 harder with its front feet than a caterpillar; and it can 

 see better than a mole that is blind. But the earth- 

 worm has its hole ; the caterpillar can roll up and play 

 dead under a leaf ; and the mole lives hidden from his 

 enemies. 



The giraffe abides on the open plains amidst lions 

 and leopards. To everyone of these carnivores its 

 flesh is an appetizing delicacy. The giraffe is 

 grotesquely conspicuous at all times. Its neck is 

 ridiculously out of proportion to its body, which 

 in turn is foreshortened to a stumpy and unbalanced 

 lump. Its legs are so stiff and ill-formed that it 

 must drink by spreading them apart until it takes a 

 violent effort to spring to attention in case of danger. 

 Its teetering gallop is thrown out of balance by the 

 weight of its long neck. It has no claws or teeth for 



