26 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
on Divine authority that the serpent is more crafty than any 
beast of the field? Laymen have insisted for years without 
number that the serpent can do this very thing, but men of 
science scoff at the very thought. They do not hesitate to 
admit that Old Leo (the lion) is the original ventriloquist, 
and that he is a psychologist of no mean ability. When he 
observes a deer grazing peacefully upon the tender grass and 
herbs of the tundra, he realizes that to offer chase is ill advised, 
since the deer would be sure to observe his approach while he 
was still afar off. He solves his food problem by employing 
such art, with the result that he is thereby enabled to throw 
the herd into confusion. Lowering his mouth to the very 
ground he makes a mighty roar. The effect is that the sound 
waves are scattered evenly in all directions. Each deer fancies 
that the roar came from the direction he was facing at the 
time, and as they dash to safety, one or more of them will be 
sure to approach his place of concealment. Provided the first 
effort failed to produce the results hoped for he has a good 
chance of improving upon matters by repeating the process 
until some member of the herd is driven within springing dis¬ 
tance. Thus we observe that he is about as adept at the art 
of ventriloquism as man, and employs such gift regularly as a 
means of taking his prey. Such is freely acknowledged by stu¬ 
dents of animal life. 
When a herd of wild zebra chance to graze near a lion’s lair, 
and he pursues them without success, he goes into a rage, or 
would have them believe that he does. He roars like the thun¬ 
der of a raging storm until the earth fairly quivers about him, 
but gradually he lowers his volume until it amounts to little 
more than a growl. The herd, seeing that no harm has come 
to them, and having distinctly heard, with their own ears, that 
he had entirely left the vicinity, they reason that it would now 
be safe to return and crop the grass about his lair, since it 
appeared to them to be greener there than elsewhere. Tomor¬ 
row, or during many weeks to come, they would reason entirely 
differently—just now they feel secure, since they have clearly 
heard him retreat into the deep jungle. This is exactly the 
thought he sought to establish in their minds. They do return, 
