Wahb lay on his belly till his back was dry, then turned on his broad
back and squirmed about in a ponderous way till the broiling sun had
wholly dried him. He realized that he was really feeling very well now.
He did not say to himself, "I am troubled with that unpleasant disease
called rheumatism, and sulphur-bath treatment is the thing to cure it."
But what he did know was, "I have dreadful pains; I feel better when
I am in this stinking pool." So thenceforth he came back whenever the
pains began again, and each time he was cured.




PART III.


THE WANING

[Illustration]

I.

Years went by. Wahb grew no bigger,--there was no need for that,--but he
got whiter, crosser, and more dangerous. He really had an enormous range
now. Each spring, after the winter storms had removed his notice-boards,
he went around and renewed them. It was natural to do so, for, first of
all, the scarcity of food compelled him to travel all over the range.
There were lots of clay wallows at that season, and the itching of his
skin, as the winter coat began to shed, made the dressing of cool, wet
clay very pleasant, and the exquisite pain of a good scratching was one
of the finest pleasures he knew. So, whatever his motive, the result was