“I am thy servant and friend for all time.”
“It is well,” answered the Serpent. “Lead the way.”
Accordingly Goat led Serpent to the scene of the combat, and the latter coiled itself in position, as Goat had advised, on the leafy top of a young bush.
Presently Lion came, with a long line of servile animals, bearing one hundred bunches of bananas; and, after dismissing them, he turned to the Goat, and said:
“Well, Goatee, where is your friend who is stronger than I am? I feel curious to see him.”
“Are you Lion?” asked a sibilant voice from the top of a bush.
“Yes, I am; and who are you that do not know me?”
“I am Serpent, friend Lion, and short of sight and slow of movement. Advance nearer to me, for I see you not.”
Lion uttered a loud roaring laugh, and went confidently near the Serpent—who had raised his crest and arched his neck—so near that his breath seemed to blow the slender form to a tremulous movement.