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Two-Legs struck her on the forehead with the stone and she fell to the ground. Then he strangled her with his hands, caught her by the fleece and dragged her to the tree where he had made his home.

He cut a hole in her hide with the sharp stone and began to pull it off with his finger-nails. His wife came down and helped him. They used their teeth also, to finish the work more quickly, and, presently, they stopped and looked at each other with beaming eyes:

“How delicious!” he said.

“Wonderful!” said she. “Let us hurry now and give the boy the fleece. Then we will go on eating.”

Two-Legs drank the blood of the sheep and bit into the meat:

“I feel stronger than I ever did before,” he said. “Let the lion come now, then he’ll have me to deal with.”

They wrapped the fleece round the child, who at once went comfortably to sleep. Then they dragged the rest of the sheep up into the tree and sat down to eat. Every bite they took made them feel braver and stronger. They gave no more thought to cold or rain, but sat and talked of the future as they had never talked before: