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Show 47 ahead. For a long minute he held his breath and listened. His heart was pounding in his ears so loudly it seemed to drown out all else. At last, steeling himself, his belt knife held ready in front of him, Josh advanced step by step toward the tree. Holding Chinook tight by the collar, he reached the closest limb and peered in. The dog was straining toward something. At any moment Josh expected some great furry shape to come hurtling from the shadows to throw itself upon him. But he had to prove he was not afraid. And if it was just a porcupine. . . . At that instant a horrible frightening wail, sounding like a thousand banshees, erupted dirctly in front of Josh. The cry started low, thai rose to a pitch that reverberated and filled the night. With a shout Josh leaped high into the air, then stumbled back and fell into the dirt. As he did so, he lost the knife. The terrible cry continued, rising to the most raucous, threatening scream the boy had ever imagined. It echoed over the canyon below and sounded back at him from the cliffs beyond. Chinook had jumped backward also. Now he broke into a cascade of barking, but he was only half-hearted in his objections. Trembling, Josh rose on his elbows, expecting the monster to be on them in a moment. Then, as the wild braying stopped, Chinook ceased bis barking. In a moment he came and licked Josh's face. Half lying there, Josh stared at the tree. On second thought, the monster's cry did have a familiar sound. The breath went from him in a great sigh of relief as the tree rustled once more and a grey donkey stepped out, peered toward the boy with annoyance for a brief |
