Page:The Cave Girl - Edgar Rice Burroughs.pdf/96

 a vacuum. I shall really need you now,” he concluded, looking at the beautiful, black coat of Nagoola.

Despite his suffering, Waldo crawled to his lair, where he selected a couple of sharp-edged stones from his collection and returned to the side of Nagoola.

Leaving his tools there he went on down to the bottom of the ravine, where in a little crystal stream he bathed his wounds. Then he returned once more to his kill.

After half a day of the most arduous labor Waldo succeeded in removing the panther’s hide, which he dragged laboriously to his lair, where he fell exhausted, unable even to crawl within.

The next day Waldo worked upon the inner surface of the hide, removing every particle of flesh by scraping it with a sharp stone, so that there might be no danger of decomposition.

He was still very weak and sore, but he could not bear the thought of losing the pelt that had cost him so much to obtain.

When the last vestige of flesh had been scraped away he crawled into his lair, where he remained for a week, only emerging for food and water. At the end of that time his wounds were almost healed, and he had entirely recovered from his lameness and the shock of the adventure, so that it