AS TO DOGS 



could be, sniff around the tent. They were 

 not afraid of him at first, but after he had 

 really bitten them, they retreated from his ter- 

 ritory and watched him with their heads tipped 

 to one side. He sat at our tent pegs, and see- 

 ing life seriously was brave enough to tackle it. 

 His hour had arrived and he was there with all 

 his four feet — and those feet were the only 

 things that were holding him back. They 

 looked like a composite picture of all the babies' 

 feet in the world. They were heavy and cum- 

 bersome, but he had not lost faith in them. It 

 was strange, but you could actually see him 

 grow. We laughed when we saw, an hour af t- 

 einvards, that his tail was an inch longer, held 

 higher up and showing more independence. 

 The last thing that night he was walking 

 among the stallions and mares with an impor- 

 tant air that nearly threw his shoulder-blades 

 out of socket. During the night I heard him 

 several times; his growl was coarser and he 

 made several tours to see that everything was 

 all right. 



At six in the morning he came to me, as 

 much as to say: "These donkeys and sheep and 

 camels think that, because they have known me 



[ 143 ] 



