So, after a time, they
discovered they could not hurt me, and went away. It was great fun."
"I hope they don't come here again to drink,--not while we're
here, anyhow," returned the girl, "for I'm not made of glass, nor
is Cap'n Bill, and if those bad beasts bit us, we'd get hurt."
Cap'n Bill was cutting from the trees some long stakes, making
them sharp at one end and leaving a crotch at the other end.
These were to bind the logs of his raft together. He had
fashioned several and was just finishing another when the Glass
Cat cried: "Look out! There's a Kalidah coming toward us."
Trot jumped up, greatly frightened, and looked at the terrible
animal as if fascinated by its fierce eyes, for the Kalidah was
looking at her, too, and its look wasn't at all friendly. But
Cap'n Bill called to her: "Wade into the river, Trot, up to your
knees--an' stay there!" and she obeyed him at once. The
sailor-man hobbled forward, the stake in one hand and his axe in
the other, and got between the girl and the beast, which sprang
upon him with a growl of defiance.
Cap'n Bill moved pretty slowly, sometimes, but now he was quick
as could be.
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