The rainy season went by, the sun recovered his strength and rain and sunshine came and went by turns. Time passed, as it must and will pass.

 

The Two-Legs family were now living in a new house which was better than either the leafy hut on the island or the dwelling¹ up in the apple-tree.

 

It was a cave in the rocks, which Two-Legs had discovered on one of his rambles². It was cool in the warm weather and in the cold it was sheltered against the rain and it could be closed with a big stone at night or when danger threatened. Two-Legs had hung the walls with skins and carpeted the floor with moss³ and now felt comfortably at home with his family and the dog.

 

He had plenty to do, for the family had increased. He now had three children, who were doing excellently and eating like wolves. He had had to be careful since the night when he flung the bone at the lion’s head, for not only had he made an enemy of the king of beasts, but most of the other animals of the forest looked upon him with suspicion.

 

And they were well-advised, for Two-Legs had become a mighty⁴ hunter, in no way inferior to the lion himself.

 

In the back room of his cave, he kept two big spears and one little one, which his eldest⁵ son was already able to use very cleverly. They lay in wait craftily⁶ for their prey⁷, just as the lion and the other hunters of the forest did. The dog drove the game towards them and they threw their spears and killed it.

 

“He’s a better hunter than I,” said the lion, one evening, to his wife. “With his spear to-day he got a young deer that I had selected for myself.”

 

“Why didn’t you take her yourself?” asked the lioness.

 

“I was crawling up to her in the grass,” he replied. “But, before I could make my spring, Two-Legs had killed her. He sent his spear through her neck and she fell dead on the spot.”

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