Warruk might as well have spared himself the exertion for the
ant-eater's hide was as effective as armor-plate against such an
assault. The great, shaggy animal shook himself vigorously in an
attempt to dislodge the small assailant, but the cub clung tenaciously,
growling, clawing and biting the while. Then the ant-eater reared
himself straight upright and fanned the air with his murderously armed
forefeet; his long, round tongue played out of his minute, toothless
mouth like a snake's. Still the Jaguar retained his footing. The
ant-eater then dropped on all fours, leisurely ambled to the nearest
tree and, scraping his back on the low branches soon brushed the cub off
when he started unconcernedly away. No sooner did Warruk regain his feet
than he again sprang at his quarry, only to be again dislodged as
before. A third time the performance was repeated but now the ant-eater
lost his temper. When his tormentor struck the ground he charged him
savagely, striking with wicked design and galloping back and forth after
his nimble assailant until at last the cub was forced to take refuge in
the tree where his pursuer did not bother to follow. Instead, the queer
creature shuffled to a nearby ants' nest--one of a group of slender,
brown monoliths fifteen feet high that dotted the grassy plain--and broke
away a part of the base of the structure with his great claws. When the
break in the wall of the insects' domicile admitted a flood of daylight
into the heretofore darkened interior, the ants rushed out in a solid
stream to investigate the cause of the disturbance; and the ant-eater's
whip-like tongue promptly gathered them up by the thousands.
Warruk watched the proceedings from his perch in the tree. He could tell
by the actions of the large creature that it was eating and at the
reminder of food he became frantic. He scrambled hastily to the ground
just as the big beast ambled away and lost no time in poking his head
into the cavity in the ants' nest in the hope of finding some remnant of
the other's meal. But, if he thrust his head into the opening hurriedly
he withdrew it in still greater haste. He had indeed found remnants of
the feast, just as he had hoped. A carpet of ants covered his nose and
face, clinging with a vise-like grip, their poisonous mandibles buried
deep in his tender skin. The pain they inflicted was so intense that he
screamed, rolled over and over, and rubbed his face in the soft grass;
then, in a fit of rage he raced after the ant-eater which had been
responsible for this new calamity, had deliberately tricked him no doubt
in return for the annoyance he had caused him.