Wulli began to weary of his task. Acting was not his specialty; furthermore he was growing tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes and nodded. The hyenas crowded up closer, thinking their turn was coming, whereupon the Rhinoceros was compelled to bestir himself with his moaning and groaning until they fell back to their proper places.
They were queer, uncanny brutes—these hyenas. Their stock of patience seemed inexhaustible. They could sit around and wait all night if necessary. The idea of attacking a full-grown living rhinoceros was contrary to their training. No hurry at all, but it behooved Wulli to keep things moving.
The Time Came When Wulli Failed to Respond
The hours passed. For the Rhinoceros, they were an eternity of tortuous effort to keep awake and play his part. Time and time again, his eyes closed, his head drooped and the hyenas moved up closer; and each time he came to with a start on sensing the nearness of his ghoulish visitors. Then his despairing cries took a fresh spurt and the hyenas backed off, only to return when he again became quiet.
But the time finally came when Wulli failed to respond. His admirers crowded forward, amazed at his wonderful hold on life. His cries were stilled so they hitched up closer, discreetly refraining from any unseemly haste. They could hear his hard breathing and knew him to be still alive although the end must be very near. For such a sick rhinoceros, he had lasted unusually long, they thought; not that they felt impatient; but even a second must not be wasted when once it was time to commence.
One of them—a coarse, unmannered individual without proper hyena training—reached out and tried his jaws on the Rhino’s rump. It was not a real bite—a mere touch of the teeth; but his fellows resented this taking an unfair advantage and growled angrily. Even these sounds failed to arouse Wulli. Things were looking dark for him. Even hyenas had limits. One and all crowded up closely with their noses touching those portions of his body on which they planned to begin operations—and still, he slept on.
Suddenly the hyenas pricked up their ears. The faint crashing of brush and thump of ponderous feet could be heard coming up the valley. All arose and slunk slowly away in the opposite direction for a score of paces and then sat down again. Their eyes accustomed to the darkness, made out a great, towering figure coming rapidly towards them.
The newcomer was the Mammoth. With his two friends gone about their business and himself wearied by his long wait, he had followed the Rhinoceros and come upon him and the hyenas in the nick of time.