"
The wise-one seemed to ponder my words carefully.
"Be it so, then," he answered. "If in three days you rid us of this
demon I will see that you are restored to your friends. But if you
should fail, and survive, you must nevertheless be put to death. We
have no room on the Islands of Engano for strangers."
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE SLAYING OF THE GREAT CROCODILE
I now bethought me of how I might best set about the task of
vanquishing the monster which held the Female Island in terror, and
which, from the description given me by the wise-ones, I judged to be a
crocodile. Nor in this was I mistaken, for, being taken by Sylvia to a
place of safety from which I could see the demon, I was confirmed in
the opinion I had formed by what I saw, although I had never seen a
crocodile of such amazing proportions before. It lived in a cave close
to a fertile plain, where goats belonging to the islanders were
pastured. Not far off was a stream at which it went to drink, and a
deep furrow in the sand marked the road it made to the water. During
the day it remained in its cave, but toward evening it would issue
forth and attack the goats, three or four of which it would kill, and
carry off to its lair.
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