Then I watched
and at last I saw the tall grasses moving at one point to a force
other than the force of the wind. See, they are spread there upon
either side of Numa's great body, and as he breathes--you see?
You see the little motion at either side that is not caused by the
wind--the motion that none of the other grasses have?"
The boy strained his eyes--better eyes than the ordinary boy
inherits--and at last he gave a little exclamation of discovery.
"Yes," he said, "I see. He lies there," and he pointed. "His head
is toward us. Is he watching us?"
"Numa is watching us," replied Akut, "but we are in little danger,
unless we approach too close, for he is lying upon his kill. His
belly is almost full, or we should hear him crunching the bones.
He is watching us in silence merely from curiosity. Presently he
will resume his feeding or he will rise and come down to the water
for a drink. As he neither fears or desires us he will not try to
hide his presence from us; but now is an excellent time to learn
to know Numa, for you must learn to know him well if you would live
long in the jungle.
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