st and throat with the claws of her back paws,
which somehow had savoured of hitting below the belt.

Then they would show him the place where the great tawny beast lay
dead--she was quite dead; you could go and touch her, they had seen to
that--and you could see by the churned-up state of the sand how she had
beaten off attack after attack. And they had leapt again and again to
pull her down, until the great fangs had met in the side of her neck
and worried and gripped until the end.

Whose fangs?--Oh! well, of course ladies have to come first.

And they raced across the desert as the dawn broke, to tell Him of the
great victory they had won for Him; and then, within twenty yards of
the tent they stopped dead, threw up their fine heads, eyes red and
glaring, ruffs standing, and sniffed the mingled scents which came to
them on the wind.

They sniffed the ground at their feet and growled and, belly to the
ground, crept a few yards to their right. The lioness had passed that
way! Would their great victory he not such a big surprise for Him
after all? Had He seen the beast already? And that other scent--a
mixed scent of humans, the humans that were not of the desert! Humans
meant noise. Where were they? Why was there such a strange feeling,
such a strange quietness about the place? Did He sleep so soundly that
He did not hear and whistle them?

They stood quite still, still as though carved, out of stone, looking
at the light which showed dim in the coming dawn, and which, when they
hunted across the desert, had always been to them as a beacon of
happiness.

Then they growled, the deep, unforgiving growl of hate. Somebody was
standing looking at them from inside the tent, and that somebody was
not Him, nor in any way like Him.

Their great faithful hearts, leapt in a strange fear for their master,
and the hair on their backs rose stiff and straight as they moved
slowly forward, side by side.

Up to the entrance they went, growling softly all the while; then with
barks and yelps of joy they leapt inside.

They had seen Him asleep; their hearts were at rest. How could He hear
or whistle them if He lay asleep?

One on each side, tails wagging, eyes gleaming, they stood with
fore-feet upon the couch and bent to sniff Him who was so dear to them.
So they stood for just one uncomprehending moment; then dropped, to the
ground, shivering, as Touaa gave a little whine. Then they walked
slowly round the couc