at her, back and forth, mulling the situation over and trying to come to a good, fair decision. Finally the lieutenant, who deserved every one of the medals he wore but who’d been taught a thing or two about good sense by his own mama, shook his head and said he thought he’d go back to town and have another pint of beer. He walked off down the road muttering under his breath about women and their silly notions.
Then everybody looked at the sea captain, wondering what he would do. Finally he took off his coat so that it wouldn’t get mussed, straightened his collar so that he would look at his best in spite of not being dressed properly, and said, “I’ll do it.” And he climbed down to the entrance to the lions’ den. There were some who said that he had more courage than brains, and there were some who said he’d just had too much to drink. In any case, he disappeared inside the den, and there wasn’t anybody who thought he’d ever come back out again.
They strained to see, but it was dark inside the den. They could hear the lions grumbling among themselves. And then the sea captain emerged, looking slightly rumpled, with the fan in his hand.
Well, when the lady saw him coming, she said, “Here I am,” and prepared to throw herself into his arms.
The sea captain just looked her in the eye and said, “If you want your fan, you can get it yourself,” and threw it back to the lions.
Then he walked back to town and stood the lieutenant the price of a beer, after which each of them went his own way. I don’t know if the lady ever got her fan back.
When he had a chance to speak to me privately, Jimmy said, “Isn’t it lucky we’re out here for a good reason?”
In the morning, with the fires out, the lights high and the heli-pacs protected by a bubble tent, we set out casting for tracks behind the leashed dogs. We followed behind in anticipation.
As we walked, I picked up hand-sized rocks and practiced throwing. Att and Jimmy offered criticism.
“Not like that,” Jimmy said. “Like this.” He threw. It looked smooth and more effective, but I didn’t see what was different about it.
“I don’t know quite what you’re doing wrong,” Att said, “but you twitch your whole body when you throw.”
“I think I see,” Jimmy said. “You keep your forearm stiff and throw with your shoulder. You ought to be using your wrist and your forearm more. Snap them forward.”
Venie edged over toward us and said, “Being all sweet and helpless again, Mia?”
I picked up another rock and threw it.
“That’s better,” Jimmy said.
I turned to Venie and was about to make a sharp comment when the dogs began to yelp. It wasn’t their ordinary yapping. It was a more musical note as though they felt they had something to sing about.
“Come on over here,” Mr. Pizarro said, and we gathered around.
Mr. Marechal was kneeling by a pug-mark that was a full four inches across and more than that long. He pointed to it.
“There we are,” he said. “Look at the grains of sand in the track. It’s not more than two hours old. Probably less,” he added as he tested the breeze.
Mr. Pizarro brought the dogs forward and unsnapped their leashes. They sniffed and quivered over the tracks. It was an exciting moment as they poised and then sprang forward, bugling as they went. Now that they were at their business, the noise they made was more businesslike. We set out, trotting after them, up and down the sand hills. I was glad that I was wearing sandals that emptied of sand as fast as they filled.
It is amazing what differences in terrain and vegetation can be produced by slight variances in breeze, temperature, and above all moisture. We ran through gullies between sand shoulders, through scrub and around it when we could, going farther from the grassland all the time. The tiger, in all probability, came down to the grassland to hunt, and then returned to the scrub where it had its lair.
There were times when we lost sight of the dogs and kept on their track only by following their sound. Once the dogs lost their scent and had to cast back to find it. Running became an effort. Finally, the dogs’ voices lifted and it was clear that they had caught sight of the tiger.