“He may be vexed as well,” the Mammoth replied gravely. “Wulli is odd about some things; a bit too serious-minded. He might take offense.”
“Then we must make him change his ways. We will be gone but a short time. He can easily find us if he tries.”
Hairi yielded reluctantly, for a prank at his friend’s expense filled him with misgiving. The Ape Boy tip-toed to the edge of the terrace, then suddenly turned and came back.
“He might think we have fallen from the Rock, when he awakens. This will teach him better.”
So saying, he picked up a chunk of rotten wood—short and hollow through the center. This he jammed over the tip of Wulli’s horn firmly and yet so quietly that the sleeper merely groaned but did not open his eyes. He then hurried away with the Mammoth and both descended into the valley. They talked and tramped about, looking at this and that but taking no heed of passing time and the twilight fast gathering about them. Finally the Ape Boy turned and looked up at Moustier now dim and hazy above him in the dusk.
“It is growing late,” he said anxiously; “too late for us to find our way up in the dark. What shall we do?”
“I fear that we must stay where we are,” the Mammoth replied. “I know that I could never climb up there in the dark.”
“What if the Cave Lion returns?”
“Wulli can manage him alone, although I would not wish to have it so; but how are we to mend matters?”
Nothing more could be done so the pair proceeded to make themselves comfortable for the night. The Ape Boy snuggled up against the Mammoth’s warm coat and was soon asleep, which latter example his companion was not slow to follow.