n a state of great
excitement.

"Now I am weary of that pool," he said to himself, "and if I am seen
in it the Great People will surely shoot at me with arrows and kill me.
What shall I do, then? I cannot stay in this place of stinks with the
dead devil and the bones of those whom he has devoured, until I die of
hunger. Yet this water must come from somewhere, therefore it seems best
that I should follow it awhile, searching for the spot where it enters
the cave. It will be dark walking, but the walls and the floor are
smooth, so that I shall not hurt myself, and if I find nothing I can
return again and strive to escape from the pool by night."

Having decided upon the adventure, Otter began to carry it out with
characteristic promptness, the more readily, indeed, because his long
immersion the water had chilled him, and he felt a weariness creeping
over him as a result of the terrible struggle and emotions that he had
passed through.

Coiling the hide ripe about his middle, which was sadly cut by its
chafing, he started with an uncertain gait, for he was still very weak.
A few steps brought him to that rock on which he had discovered the
head of the reptile, and he paused to examine it. Climbing the sloping
stone--no easy task, for it was smooth as ice--he came to the table-like
top. On its edge lay the body of that priest who had shared his fall
from the head of the colossus.

Then he inspected the surface of the rock, and for the first time
understood how old that monster must have been which he had conquered
in single combat. For there, where its body had lain from generation to
generation, and perhaps from century to century, the hard material was
worn away to the depth of two feet or more, while at the top of the
sloping stone was a still deeper niche, wherein its head reposed as it
lay keeping its sleepless watch on the waters of the pool.

Around this depression, and strewn about the floor of the cave itself,
were the remains of many victims, a considerable number of whom had not
been devoured. In every case, however, the larger bones were broken, and
from this circumstance Otter judged that, although it was the custom of
this dreadful reptile to crush the life out of all who were thrown to it
with a bite of its fangs, yet, like that of other animals, its appetite
was limited, and it was only occasionally that it consumed what it had
killed.

The sight of these remains was so unpleasant and suggestive tha