THE EARTH'S BOUNTY, 



aged to slip his heavy body on to the floor. He 

 seemed utterly exhausted his wild eyes and 

 half -open mouth made me move very cau- 

 tiously. I reached for a dish of bread and 

 milk which had been brought in for the cat, 

 and pushed it close to his nose. He made an 

 effort to grab at it, but instead of eating fell 

 back moaning. 



After a little while, I screwed up my courage 

 to drop a small piece of the moist bread into 

 his mouth, and as I stroked his head to try and 

 coax him to eat, my hand came in contact with 

 what I thought was a thick string around his 

 throat, which was evidently strangling him. 

 Getting it off was a dreadful business, for his 

 throat had swollen, and instead of a rope, it 

 proved to be the lash of a rawhide whip. The 

 pressure necessary to cut it, and the gash I 

 could not help making in his skin, must have 

 been agonizing, yet the first thing the poor beast 

 did was to try and lick my hand. When I had 

 time to notice details, I was horrified to find that 

 his shoulders and breast were soaked with blood, 



352 



