“I wonder if he will eat these. He seems, like a hog, to eat everything.”
But the fire continued to become less, and all were surprised that it was fastidious about its food, and would eat nothing but wood.
More wood was, accordingly, brought, and soon the monster had reached its full size again.
“It does not pay to keep this animal,” said Oko; “it takes all our time to carry food to him. Loose him that, like the urus, he may wander through the forest and feed himself.”
“He will eat the whole forest and us too, if he gets loose,” replied Fire-tamer.
Several approached so near that they got burned, so that many doubted the utility of the beast on account of its danger. One who got a whiff of smoke in the face thought he was being attacked, and discharged a dart at the monster.
“I am afraid to sleep at night with this brute in the camp,” said one; “he will eat us all before morning.”
“When he appeared last night in the sky,” observed another, referring to the Aurora, “he did not harm us.”
The people, however, were divided, some wanting to get rid of him, and others to keep him. When it got warm the beast became unpopular, which was about the middle of the day; but as it cooled off toward night, he was more in favor.