MARTIN RATTLER. 931

back and caught it again, and Martin now saw that
the jaguar was actually playing with the alligator as
a cat plays with a mouse before she kills it! During
one of the cessations of the combat, if we may call it
by that name, the alligator almost gained the water,
and in the short struggle that ensued both animals
rolled down the bank and fell into the lake. The
tables were now turned. The jaguar made for the
shore; but before it could reach it the alligator
wheeled round, opened its tremendous jaws and caught
its enemy by the middle. There was one loud splash
in the water, as the alligator’s powerful tail dashed it
into foam, and one awful roar of agony, which was
cut suddenly short and stifled as the monster dived to
the bottom with its prey; then all was silent as the
grave, and a few ripples on the surface were all that
remained to tell of the battle that had been fought
there.

Martin remained motionless on the tree top, brood-
ing over the fight which he had just witnessed, until
the deepening shadows warned him that it was time
to seek repose. Turning on his side he laid his head
on his pillow, while a soft breeze swayed the tree
gently to and fro and rocked him sound asleep.

Thus, day after day, and week after week, did

Martin Rattler wander alone through the great forests,