It went on for a good while, and then came the cry of a child, followed by a terrible shriek.

I sprang up and darted into the passage: from another door in it came the white leopardess with a new-born baby in her mouth, carrying it like a cub of her own.

I threw myself upon her, and compelled her to drop the infant, which fell on the stone slabs with a piteous wail.
At the cry appeared the muffled woman.

She stepped over us, the beast and myself, where we lay struggling in the narrow passage, took up the child, and carried it away.

Returning, she lifted me off the animal, opened the door, and pushed me gently out.