And then the day broke.
And Leopard said, “While we go to the snares, who shall remain to take care of this house?” They agreed, “Let Etoli stay at the camp.” House-Rat assented, “All right.” So the others went away together.
The camp had been made near a small stream. At that same hour, Leopard’s nephew came to the camp, according to his uncle’s directions. He had in his hands a plate and a drum. He came near to the house cautiously. With the plate he twice swept the surface of the water, as if bailing out a canoe. Rat heard the swish of the water, and called out, “Who is splashing water there? Who is dabbling in this water?” The nephew responded, “It is I, a friend.” And Rat said, “Well, then come.”
The nephew came to the house. After a little conversation, he said to Rat, “I have here a drum, and, while I beat it, you dance for me.” Rat was pleased, and said, “Very well.” So, the nephew beat the drum, and Rat danced. After a while, the nephew said to Rat, “Go you, out into the front, and dance there, while I beat the drum here.” As Rat went out, the nephew snatched the dried meat and ran away with it, suddenly disappearing around a corner of the house. He came to the town, and placed the meat in his own house.
Rat waited a while in the front, and, not hearing the drum came back into the house, and called out, “Chum! where are you?” He looked about, and his eyes falling on the drying-frame, he saw that the dried meat was not there. He began to mourn, “Ah! Leopard will kill me to day, because of the loss of his meat.”
While he was thus speaking, the company of trappers, together with Leopard, came back from their morning’s work. Leopard told Rat all that had occurred to them in the forest at their traps and snares; and then said, “Now, tell me what you have been doing, and the happenings of this camp.” Rat told him, “Some one has come and taken away the dried meat, but I did not see who it was.” Leopard said, “You are full of falsehood. Yourself have eaten it while we were away in the forest.” So, Leopard gave him a heavy flogging. Then they put on the drying-frame the animal they had trapped that day.
The next day they went again to the forest; and Wild-Rat was left in charge of the camp. The nephew came, as on the day before, with his plate and drum, and did in the same way at the water. And he deceived the Wild-Rat with his drumming, in the same way as he had done to House-Rat.
When Leopard and the others came back from the forest, Wild-Rat told him of the loss of the meat; and said that he had seen no one, and did not know who took it. Leopard said to him, “You, Ko, have eaten the meat, just as your relative Etoli ate his yesterday.”
Thus Leopard and his company went each day to the traps. On the third day, Porcupine was caught; on the fourth Gazelle; on the fifth, Ox; on the sixth, Elephant. Beast after beast was caught, killed and dried; and, day by day, the meat of all was stolen. The last to be thus caught and stolen was Tortoise.
The nephew in Leopard’s town, looked with satisfaction on the pile of dried meat that had been collected in his own house. He said to himself, “My uncle told me to gather them; and I have done so. But, I will not put them in Uncle’s house.”