IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



barking ceased. The face of Rogala became anxious, 

 and he said to nie in a low voice : " Perhaps Andekko 

 has been pounced upon by a snake, which is now 

 coiled round him, and has squeezed him to death.** 



" That may be so,** I replied. " Let us hurry.'* So 

 we went, careless of the noise we made. We had 

 only our dear Andekko in our minds, and we wanted 

 to save his life, and, if too late, wreak our vengeance 

 upon his destroyer. 



" Dear Andekko,*' I said to myself, " I think a 

 great deal of you, for you have been such a faithful 

 dog, and have rescued us so often from starvation. 

 I will surely kill the animal that has killed or even 

 hurt you.** 



As we approached the spot, I thought I heard a 

 peculiar noise. I listened. There was no mistake 

 about it. Andekko was alive, and seemed to be busy 

 choking some animal or other. 



Rogala and I advanced towards the spot, and came 

 to a dark place in the forest, where a number of big 

 trees had fallen upon each other. Under all was a 

 dark recess, a sort of den, and the dog was there. 

 We shouted " Andekko, Andekko,** and he came 

 out with a small leopard in his mouth. We were 

 before a leopard*s den ; both the father and mother 

 of the cubs had gone in search of prey for them. 



134 



