om his hand; and the monster, blowing blood and
foam from mouth and nostrils, fell with a crash among the litter of
great branches which she had pulled down.

Grom drew a deep breath of relief, and commended the girl for her
timely and effective stroke at that terrible tongue. Then he set
himself coolly to the task of completing their shelter for the night.
As he wove leafy branches into the floor of the platform to make it
soft, she contemplated his work with satisfaction. Presently he
remarked:

"I'm glad we are rid of that Mawg."

"You should have killed him!" said the girl curtly.

"But why?" demanded Grom, in some surprise. In his eyes the fellow was
a valuable piece of property belonging to the tribe, a fighting
asset.

"He wants _me_!" answered the girl, meeting his eyes resentfully.

Grom let his eyes roam all over her--face, hair and form--and such a
look of passionate admiration glowed in their steady depths that her
anger faded, her own eyes dropped, and her breast gave a happy,
incomprehensible flutter. She had never seen such a look in any man's
face before, or even dreamed of such a look as possible.

"Of course, he wants you," said Grom, wondering, as he spoke, at the
ring of his own voice. "You are the fairest thing, and the most
desirable, on earth. All men whose eyes come to rest on you must want
you. But none shall have you, ever, for you are mine, and none shall
tear you from me."

And at that the girl forgot her anger, and forgave him for having
neglected to kill Mawg.

That night sleep was impossible for them, though their lofty shelter
was comfortable and secure. A vast orange moon, near the full,
illuminated the spacious landscape; and beneath the tree came all the
giant night-prowlers, gathering to the unparallelled banquet which the
day had spread for them. Only the two black lions, perhaps already
glutted, did not come. Wolves, a small pack of self-disciplined wild
dogs, a troop of hyenas, and several enormous leopards, howled,
snarled and wrangled in knots over the widely scattered carcases, each
group watching its neighbors with suspicion and deadly animosity.

A gigantic red bear came lumbering up, and all the lesser prowlers
scattered discreetly but resentfully before him. He strode straight to
the chief place, under the rent, dishevelled tree, and fell to tearing
at the mountainous corpse of the megatherium. He was undisturbed till
two saber-tooths arrived, their tawny coats