Banner tail 



Clutching that devilish scaly neck with 

 both his arms, he drove in his chisel teeth 

 and ground them in, down to the very- 

 bone, as Silvergray could not have done. 

 He worked and tugged and stabbed again, 

 and the Snake, sensing a new and stronger 

 foe, relaxed on Silvergray, snapped with 

 his hateful jaws, seized Bannertail's 

 strong shoulder just where he best could 

 stand it — where the skin is thick and 

 strong the Blacksnake drove in and 

 gripped. And Bannertail, as quick, quit 

 his first hold on the coil that was stran- 

 gling Nyek-nyek, and by good luck, or 

 maybe by better wisdom than his own, 

 drove, fighting fierce, into the demon's 

 throat, the weak spot in that scaly armor. 

 Deep sank the Squirrel's teeth, and pangs 

 of mortal agony went thrilling through 

 the reptile's length. But he was strong, 

 and a desperate fighter, too. The coils 

 unloosed on the senseless form of Nyek- 



[ 238] 



