A FASCINATING WILD BEAST 221 



Consequently Little Wanderobo Dog was con- 

 fronted by the necessity of adopting a place to sleep 

 where he would be safe from those sharp arrows of 

 the north wind that swept across the high stretches 

 of the plateau. So he ingratiated himself into my 

 tent with many friendly wags of his tail and a coun- 

 tenance of such benign faith in human nature that 

 he was allowed to remain. At many times in the 

 night I was awakened and I knew that Little Wan- 

 derobo Dog was dreaming about some wicked 

 swamp ogre that was trying to kick him. 



At first he was not a silent sleeper, but later on 

 these awful nightmares came with less frequency 

 and I presume his dreams took on a more beatific 

 character. As a watch-dog I don't believe he had 

 great value, because of his readiness to make friends 

 with anything and anybody. If a leopard had come 

 into the tent he would have said, "Excuse me, but 

 I think you are in the wrong place," but he would 

 never have barked or conducted himself in an un- 

 gentlemanly way. 



One could never tell what was likely to come into 

 one's tent at night, even with armed askaris patrol- 

 ling the camp all night long. One cold night, before 

 Little Wanderobo Dog had come to live with us, I 

 was awakened by a curious rustle of the tent flaps. 

 I listened and then watched the tent flap for some 

 moments, thinking that the wind might have been 

 responsible. But there was no wind and it seemed 

 beyond doubt that some animal had entered. 



For a long time I listened, but could hear noth- 



