“‘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?’
“Then he picked up his left foot and began to use its toes for counters.” Page [59].
“Now, at this precise moment the monkey called Vargu did a far more daring thing than he had done when he first spoke to Soft Foot. He made a great swing from the branch where he sat and landed plump under his visitor’s nose! With a start of surprise, the leopard crouched back and for a moment he made as if he were going to leap off through the grass. Had he done so, I’m sure I don’t know what might have come of this tale. Indeed, I’m afraid there might have been none to tell. For who knows but what, failing at this very time, Vargu might never have accomplished his plan. But, without so much as moving one inch from the point he had reached on the ground when he swung, he calmly sat down and at once began to count on his toes.
“‘One, two, three, four, five, six, seven’ (long breath) ‘eight, nine, ten—Dear me! I wonder if I’m going to have enough,’ exclaimed he to himself, just as if there wasn’t another animal for miles and miles around. Then he picked up his left foot and began to use its toes for counters all over again.