Certainly, thought I to myself when she had done, I did a good deed in
sending that monster to whatever dim region it was destined to
inhabit, where I sincerely trust it found all the dead Kalubis and its
other victims ready to give it an appropriate welcome.
After crossing the god's garden, we came to the clearing of the Fallen
Tree, and found the brute's skin pegged out as we had left it, though
shrunken in size. Only it had evidently been visited by a horde of the
forest ants which, fortunately for Hans, had eaten away every particle
of flesh, while leaving the hide itself absolutely untouched, I
suppose because it was too tough for them. I never saw a neater job.
Moreover, these industrious little creatures had devoured the beast
itself. Nothing remained of it except the clean, white bones lying in
the exact position in which we had left the carcase. Atom by atom that
marching myriad army had eaten all and departed on its way into the
depths of the forest, leaving this sign of their passage.
How I wished that we could carry off the huge skeleton to add to my
collection of trophies, but this was impossible.
Pages:
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494