{"product_id":"2940013684324","title":"Swift and Sure","description":"The level rays of the early sun were struggling with the mist that\u003cbr\u003elingered upon a broad full river, like a sluggard loth to quit his bed.\u003cbr\u003eAs yet the contest was unequal, for the banks of the stream were covered\u003cbr\u003ewith trees and shrubs, crowding upon one another as if in competition for\u003cbr\u003eelbow-room, through whose thick ravelled foliage the sunbeams could not\u003cbr\u003eclear a way. Here and there, however, the dense screen was parted by\u003cbr\u003elittle alleys or open spaces carpeted with grass or moss, and through\u003cbr\u003ethese a golden radiance shone, dispersing the mist, and throwing a\u003cbr\u003eglistening pathway across the river.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt one such glade, withdrawn a little from the brink, stood a jaguar,\u003cbr\u003ewhich, from moment to moment, lifted its head and gave utterance to a\u003cbr\u003eroar. It faced the stream: its tail lashed its flanks, to the annoyance\u003cbr\u003eof countless flies which would fain have found a temporary lodgment in\u003cbr\u003eits sleek and glossy coat. It roared, and roared again, with curious\u003cbr\u003epersistence, for the mere pleasure of roaring, an observer might have\u003cbr\u003ethought. And yet such a person, had he been worthy of the name observer,\u003cbr\u003ewould have detected a reason for this strange behaviour. Had he watched\u003cbr\u003ethe surface of the water opposite to where the jaguar stood, he would\u003cbr\u003ehave marked a gradual assembling of greenish-yellow objects, scaly and\u003cbr\u003ehard; and, set in each, two glassy leering eyes. They were in fact the\u003cbr\u003esnouts of alligators, or caymans as they are known in Venezuela.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoment by moment the assemblage increased, the hideous creatures gaping\u003cbr\u003eat the jaguar like an enraptured audience at a popular baritone. The\u003cbr\u003equadruped, indeed, was executing his solo for their amusement, though\u003cbr\u003ehardly for their benefit. One could have fancied, as the audience grew,\u003cbr\u003ethat he derived encouragement from their presence, and exerted himself\u003cbr\u003ewith ever greater abandon. The performance, however, came to an end\u003cbr\u003esurprisingly abrupt. Suddenly the roarer turned his head up-stream and\u003cbr\u003eset off with lolloping gait along a winding track that led among the\u003cbr\u003etrees. The observer, following him, would have seen him force his way\u003cbr\u003ethrough the undergrowth, now leaping a fallen trunk that lay across his\u003cbr\u003epath, now pressing his body through a tangle that might have seemed\u003cbr\u003eimpenetrable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeanwhile the caymans also had turned upstream, and swam after the\u003cbr\u003ejaguar, like an idle crowd following at the heels of a street singer. But\u003cbr\u003ethough their movements were rapid, they had to stem the current, and the\u003cbr\u003eobject of their solicitation drew away from them. Nor did he stop to\u003cbr\u003epractise his vocal powers again. Steadily he pursued his way until he had\u003cbr\u003eleft them a mile or more behind. Then, compelled to strike off to the\u003cbr\u003eleft by a peculiarly dense mass of thorn, he quitted the brink of the\u003cbr\u003estream for a few yards. Coming upon it again through a glade, he looked\u003cbr\u003ewarily about him, advancing with slow and stealthy tread. It was at this\u003cbr\u003espot that he purposed to cross the river. All at once he stopped short,\u003cbr\u003eand sinking to the ground, lay motionless, scarcely distinguishable from\u003cbr\u003ethe jungle around him, so closely did his colouring harmonize with it. In\u003cbr\u003ea few moments, with the silent undulating movement of a cat stalking a\u003cbr\u003ebird, he crept forward. No caymans were near; having attracted them by\u003cbr\u003ehis vocalization he had left them in the lurch, and was content. But on a\u003cbr\u003ebranch of a tree overhanging the river he had spied the form of a\u003cbr\u003edark-skinned man stretched at full length. The hunted was now the hunter.\u003cbr\u003eThe reptiles had lost their victim; he in his turn was intent on seizing\u003cbr\u003ehis prey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man lay close upon the branch, his eyes fixed upon some object on the\u003cbr\u003efarther bank, a little distance up-stream. The tree being rooted in the\u003cbr\u003ebase of the bank, which here rose a few yards above the river, the jaguar\u003cbr\u003ewas somewhat higher than the man, stretched all unsuspecting upon a lower\u003cbr\u003ebough. Noiselessly, without so much as a rustle, the animal glided down\u003cbr\u003ethe face of the bank, and coming to the tree, began to climb up the\u003cbr\u003eslanting trunk behind his destined victim. No ear could have detected his\u003cbr\u003efurtive movements; the man's attention was absorbed by the object of his\u003cbr\u003egaze; yet, when the beast was only a few feet from him, some instinct\u003cbr\u003ewarned him of impending danger. He turned his head, and beheld the savage\u003cbr\u003ecreature crouching for a spring. Quick as thought, the man rolled himself\u003cbr\u003eround the branch, and dropped with a heavy splash into the river. The\u003cbr\u003ejaguar was already launched in air when the man let go his hold, but\u003cbr\u003einstead of striking his prey, he lighted on the vacant branch. The force\u003cbr\u003eof his spring was too great to be checked by the grip of his claws upon\u003cbr\u003ethe bark.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070199349488,"sku":"2940013684324","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013684324_p0.jpg?v=1763583925","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013684324","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}