shifted his gaze, and looked down at
the lions.

"What do you want of me?" he demanded again, as if he had had no
answer before.

"The tribe has too few warriors left. I will take you back to the
tribe!" replied Grom with authority.

Mawg curled back his thick lips from his great yellow dog-teeth in a
snarling laugh of incredulity.

"You want to kill me!" said he, nodding his head.

Grom stared at him for a moment or two with a look of fatigued
contempt, then tore off a substantial strip of dried flesh from the
bundle hanging on the branch, and tossed it to him. The fellow
snatched it, and hid it behind him, being too hungry to refuse it,
but too savage to eat it under his captor's eye. Grom smiled
slowly, and fell to playing with a heavy strand of A-ya's hair
which had fallen over his arm. But to this caress the girl paid no
attention. She was puzzled and outraged at Grom's action in protecting
his rival. Her nostrils dilated, and a red spot glowed angrily under
each cheek-bone.

Suddenly from down the trail came a noise of cracking grass-stems. The
two lions got up from their meal, and turned their heads inquiringly
toward the sound. The next moment they went stalking off the opposite
way with an air of haughty indignation, ignoring all the bodies of the
slain pig-tapirs. When they had rounded the first turn in the trail
they leaped into the grass, and went bounding off in a straight line
toward a large patch of wood some miles distant. The wounded
megatherium was returning.

Perhaps stung into restlessness by the anguish of that rending thrust,
the monster came dragging herself back toward the tree, crawling on
the sides of her feet. Arriving at the scene of battle, she sniffed
once more at her mangled young one, and brayed piteously over it. Then
turning in an explosive fury upon the body of the rhinoceros, began to
tear it limb from limb as one might pull apart a roast pigeon. While
thus occupied, she chanced to turn her eyes upon the tree, and caught
sight of the three figures looking down upon her.

On the instant her rage was diverted to them. Braying like a steam
siren, she came under the tree, reared herself against it, flung her
giant arms about it, and strove to pull it down. The tree rocked as if
struck by a tornado; and Mawg, who had been too slow to notice what
was about to happen, gave a yell of horror as he barely saved himself
from falling. The girl laughed, whereupon he shot her a menacing