rrow. "When Dyta comes again," he was
saying, "let us hunt out the lair of one of the great cats. I need a new
loin cloth and I will cut one from the hide of Jalok or Tarlok--after I
have slain him."

Tharn hid his smile by sinking his gleaming teeth into the meat in his
hands. "And how will you go about killing Tarlok?" he said casually.

Trakor was surprised at the question. "The same way you slew Sadu the
day we met. I will spring upon him from a tree and drive my knife into
his heart."

"You will spring into his teeth!" Tharn said grimly. "Let this be your
most important lesson: Seek no fight with the great cats. A life time in
the jungle is not training enough to pick a quarrel with any of them.
There will be times when one of them will stalk you down and trap you;
then, if you are lucky, you instead of Tarlok or Jalok or Sadu will come
out alive."

"But you have slain them!" Trakor argued.

"True. But never have I sought them out for that purpose. Each time we
fought it was because I had no choice, and always the margin between
victor and vanquished was so narrow it easily might have gone the other
way."

"I am not afraid!"

"Fear has nothing to do with it. A true warrior does not doubt his
bravery; only a coward feels he must prove to himself that he is brave.
Survival in the jungle depends on knowing and respecting its denizens;
he who struts along the trails looking for trouble finds himself filling
trouble's belly!"

And so Trakor changed the subject and they talked of other matters. But
deep within the boy burned the determination to hunt down one of the
great cats at the first opportunity. Tharn, knowing this--his own
development had gone through the same stage--said no more on the
subject.

* * * * *

While they talked Tharn watched his companion, marveling at the change
these past two weeks had made in him. Trakor was every inch a true
jungle dweller. He sat with his back comfortably against the tree bole,
his shock of black hair falling almost to his shoulders in back and
rudely hacked off above his eyes. His swelling chest and broad shoulders
were burned almost black by the sun, the skin as clear and unblemished
as a woman's. The thin waist, narrow supple hips and long straight legs
were the hallmarks of a true warrior, and his sharp alert eyes and
handsome clean-cut features were evidence of nobility and intelligence.
Fate had placed worthy clay into Tharn's