ht the sound of
breaking branches; and he cried: 'Quick! quick! here comes the master of
the garden!' And the jackals sprang up and ran away in all directions,
leaving their tails behind them. And how was the panther to know which
was his enemy?

'They none of them had any tails,' he said sadly to the old man, 'and
I am tired of hunting them. I shall leave them alone and go and catch
something for supper.'

Of course the hedgehog had not been able to take part in any of these
adventures; but as soon as all danger was over, the jackal went to look
for his friend, whom he was lucky enough to find at home.

'Ah, there you are,' he said gaily. 'I have lost my tail since I saw you
last. And other people have lost theirs too; but that is no matter! I am
hungry, so come with me to the shepherd who is sitting over there, and
we will ask him to sell us one of his sheep.'

'Yes, that is a good plan,' answered the hedgehog. And he walked as
fast as his little legs would go to keep up with the jackal. When they
reached the shepherd the jackal pulled out his purse from under his
foreleg, and made his bargain.

'Only wait till to-morrow,' said the shepherd, 'and I will give you the
biggest sheep you ever saw. But he always feeds at some distance from
the rest of the flock, and it would take me a long time to catch him.'

'Well, it is very tiresome, but I suppose I must wait,' replied the
jackal. And he and the hedgehog looked about for a nice dry cave in
which to make themselves comfortable for the night. But, after they had
gone, the shepherd killed one of his sheep, and stripped off his skin,
which he sewed tightly round a greyhound he had with him, and put a cord
round its neck. Then he lay down and went to sleep.

Very, very early, before the sun was properly up, the jackal and the
hedgehog were pulling at the shepherd's cloak.

'Wake up,' they said, 'and give us that sheep. We have had nothing to
eat all night, and are very hungry.'

The shepherd yawned and rubbed his eyes. 'He is tied up to that tree;
go and take him.' So they went to the tree and unfastened the cord,
and turned to go back to the cave where they had slept, dragging the
greyhound after them. When they reached the cave the jackal said to the
hedgehog.

'Before I kill him let me see whether he is fat or thin.' And he stood
a little way back, so that he might the better examine the animal.
After looking at him, with his head on one side, for a minute or