The three friends crossed a stream which flowed into the VÉzÈre from the west and continued up the border of the valley, over meadow and rock-land and through almost impenetrable thickets. Finally the Mammoth halted and gazed at the limestone cliffs above his head.

“This is the place,” he said. “If you look closely, you will see a dark hole in the rock.”

Pic looked and saw. His curiosity rose to a high pitch. “Wait here while I climb up,” he directed and then set his ax-handle between his teeth.

“Ha-ha, wa-ho!” laughed a voice from on high.

Hairi and Wulli jumped. Pic gazed along the face of the cliffs.

“What was that? It sounded like a man’s voice. Perhaps a man is in the cave.”

All three held still and listened, but the cry was not repeated.

Pic again made ready to ascend. He gripped his ax between his jaws and started off.

The approach to the cave was but a pile of broken rocks and easily scaled—particularly by one inured to ascending almost perpendicular walls; and so Pic made rapid headway to the top. As he neared the cave, a foul odor greeted his none too sensitive nostrils. The rocks were strewn with freshly-gnawed bones.

“The owner of that grotto must be a big meat-eater,” he thought as he examined the wreckage. “And such mighty jaws.” Some of the big limb-bones were bitten in two. One in particular, a bison thigh, was minus the lower end. It had been chewed off, as the tooth-marks plainly showed.

“Ha-ha,” the uncanny laugh rang out once more. Pic braced his feet and stood on the defensive. A hideous face leered down upon him from the cave-mouth. Another and yet others crowded forward from behind until a dozen or more big-eared heads were gathered awaiting his coming.

Pic lowered his ax and laughed back: “Ha-ha;” but he was wise and advanced no farther. He knew these creatures well enough and now felt ashamed because they had so startled him. The cave was a den of hyenas; cowards at heart except when at home as now where they were fully prepared to fight any and all intruders.

There was nothing left for Pic but to go back and rejoin his friends. This he proceeded to do without delay. When the Mammoth and Rhinoceros became advised of how matters stood, they were much disturbed.

“Why should a few hyenas frighten you?” Wulli snorted in disgust. “Only yesterday I walked close by a whole pack of them.”

“Were they in their cave?”

“No—out in the meadow eating a dead ox,” replied the Rhinoceros.

“That is different,” said Pic. “Now they are at home. You might go up yourself and drive them out if you can.”

Wulli glanced up the slope and cocked his head thoughtfully. Such a climb would more than tax his fullest powers. “Hyenas never stay at home nights,” the Mammoth now remarked. “If we wait here until dark, they will come out; then you”—looking at Pic—“can climb up and find the treasure.”

This sounded reasonable, so the three waited. The hours dragged slowly by and it seemed as though night would never come; but it did, of course. As the sun finally sank behind the cliffs, Pic and his companions saw dark figures emerge from the cave, one by one, and seat themselves on the rocks about the entrance. The brutes laughed and growled noisily but not a single one of them showed any inclination to descend.

“They will not come down while we remain here,” said Pic as his comrades began to stamp their feet and show other signs of impatience. “They do not need to see; they smell us. Hyenas have sharper noses than any other animals I know of.”

“Particularly for dead things,” said the Mammoth.

“And sick ones, too,” the Rhinoceros added. “Once when I had a sore on my hind leg, I thought they never would stop following me around; nor did they until I was well again. I have seen droves of them trailing after sick animals that they could have killed without trouble, had they courage and sense enough to do it. One cannot have a tooth-ache but these beasts will soon know of it.”

“If you were only sick now, you might persuade the lot of them to come down and follow you,” said the Mammoth. “How is your health at this moment?”

“Good,” Wulli was obliged to admit. Hairi despaired.

“He might only pretend to be sick,” Pic suggested. “Perhaps the hyenas would not know the difference.”

“I am willing to try anything,” said the Rhinoceros. “What shall I do and how shall I do it?”

In a few moments, Pic mapped out a plan of strategy as follows: He and Hairi would withdraw and hide somewhere within earshot while the Rhinoceros remained where he was. At a pre-arranged signal—the caw of a crow—Wulli was to feign mortal illness. The details and manner of so doing would be left to him. However it was important that he drag himself down the valley and draw the hyenas after him. In the meantime, Pic would steal back, enter the empty cave and secure the treasure. It sounded simple. All three conspirators were confident of success. Wulli, the star performer was the most impatient to begin.

“Be sure to act as though you were terribly ill,” were Pic’s final instructions. “The sicker you seem, the faster will they follow. Groan, squeal, make all the noise you can; the louder the better. Now if we are all agreeable, let us begin.”

Pic and Hairi thereupon marched off in the darkness making all of the noise they could, so that the hyenas would know of their departure. The Rhinoceros was left behind. After waiting for several minutes,—which seemed to him, hours—the night silence was broken by a distant cry—the caw of a crow. At the sound, Wulli emitted a piercing wail and followed it with loud, deep groans. In a moment, the rocks above him bustled with activity—snarls, growls and the clatter of clawed feet. The hyenas were descending the slope. Pic’s clever scheme was bringing quick returns.

As he saw the dark figures coming towards him, Wulli set himself in motion; staggering, reeling, stumbling along the foot of the cliffs and ever continuing to vent his bodily anguish with piteous groans and squeals.

A mass of dark figures streamed down the slope to the valley and followed after him. Their ears told them that a fat rhinoceros could be had for the taking—a terribly sick rhinoceros or they were very much mistaken. Having no doubts about the matter and not suspecting any double-dealing, they trailed leisurely after him like a flock of sheep. They were in no particular hurry. Judging from the cries they heard, the Rhinoceros would be in proper condition for them within a reasonably short time.

For some distance, the forlorn procession continued in this manner. Only Wulli’s despairing cries broke the stillness of the night. “They surely must be far enough from that cave now,” he said to himself. “Oo-wee; it is about time to stop. I wonder how long I am supposed to entertain these brutes.”

He selected a spot at the base of the cliffs where he could set his back to the rock and have foes to watch on three sides only; then flopped down heavily upon his haunches and groaned. The hyenas squatted in a semi-circle about him. Apparently the artful Wulli now observed them for the first time. “Will any of you help me,” he wailed. “Oo-wee! I am so sick! Cannot you see?”

“Are you too sick to fight?” inquired a sympathetic voice.

“Not quite,” replied the Rhinoceros cautiously. “I can still poke with my horn a bit; but I fear I am going to die. My insides hurt terribly. They have not held food for a week. Please stay with me,” he whined piteously.

A chorus of rude “Ha-has” greeted this touching appeal. “Trust us to stay,” growled one of the brutes nearest him. “We will be with you to the end; then you can be with us.”

At this merry quip, all ha-haed again.

Wulli began to weary of his task. Acting was not his specialty; furthermore he was growing tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes and nodded. The hyenas crowded up closer, thinking their turn was coming, whereupon the Rhinoceros was compelled to bestir himself with his moaning and groaning until they fell back to their proper places.

They were queer, uncanny brutes—these hyenas. Their stock of patience seemed inexhaustible. They could sit around and wait all night if necessary. The idea of attacking a full-grown living rhinoceros was contrary to their training. No hurry at all, but it behooved Wulli to keep things moving.

The Time Came When Wulli Failed to Respond