“‘Ah,’ answered Vargu, ‘but I can speak to you even if I am a monkey. And, if you don’t believe it, just listen to this: Hello, Mister Leopard! Hello! Hello! Hello!’ And, with that, he went scampering to the very top of the tree. “For a moment Soft Foot made as if to spring into the tree. But he finally contented himself with blinking his eyes in a dazed sort of way, and then making off through the maze of the grass, shaking his head as he went. Yet, try as he would, he could not forget what had happened. He thought of it as he was going to sleep and he thought of it when he wakened. Then curiosity got the better of him and the next afternoon found him trotting along beneath the very same tree. And there, as before, sat the monkey called Vargu. “‘Hi there, Mister Leopard; glad to see you again,’ shouted the monkey from his place up above. ‘Better stop and visit a while. I know a mighty fine story.’ “‘I don’t want to hear it,’ snarled Soft Foot. ‘Besides, as I warned you yesterday, leopards and monkeys can’t speak to one another. Leopards talk to leopards and that’s enough.’ And away he went through the grass. “Now, that very same night, when all the leopards were gathered together, Great Spot, the biggest of them all, began to tell one of his stories. Some of the baby leopards were interested, but as for Soft Foot, he had heard the tale so many times that he knew it by heart. So, putting his nose between his paws, he lay with his thoughts far away. He was thinking of the monkey who lived in the tree. ‘He wanted to tell me a story,’ mused Soft Foot. ‘I wonder what it was about.’ “And so, though leopards never, never had anything to do with any animals except their very own kind, it somehow happened that the following evening found Soft Foot trotting along under the same tree again. “There sat the monkey but, to Soft Foot’s surprise, he spoke not a word. So the leopard moved on to the deep grass beyond. But, after a moment, he walked back again. And still the monkey uttered never a sound. For a third time he passed and then Soft Foot could stand the silence no longer. “‘Well,’ he blurted, ‘aren’t you going to say anything?’ [Illustration: “Then he picked up his left foot and began to use its toes for counters.” _Page 59._]