The other two had jumped at Leo, but failed to get hold, though one of them tore away a large fragment from his tunic.  Foolishly enough, he hurled his spear at it but missed, for the steel passed just under its belly and buried itself deep in the ground.  The pair of them did not come on again at once.  Perhaps the sight of their dying companion made them pause.  At any rate, they stood at a little distance snarling, where, as our spears were gone, they were safe from us.

Now the Khan had ridden up and sat upon his horse glowering at us, and his face was like the face of a devil.  I had hoped that he might fear to attack, but the moment I saw his eyes, I knew that this would not be.  He was quite mad with hate, jealousy, and the long-drawn excitement of the hunt, and had come to kill or be killed.  Sliding from the saddle, he drew his short sword—­for either he had lost his spear or had brought none—­and made a hissing noise to the two dogs, pointing at me with the sword.  I saw them spring and I saw him rush at Leo, and after that who can tell exactly what happened?

My knife went home to the hilt in the body of one dog—­and it came to the ground and lay there—­for its hindquarters were paralysed, howling, snarling and biting at me.  But the other, the fiend called Master, got me by the right arm beneath the elbow, and I felt my bones crack in its mighty jaws, and the agony of it, or so I suppose, caused me to drop the knife, so that I was weaponless.  The brute dragged me from the rock and began to shake and worry me, although I kicked it in the stomach with all my strength.  I fell to my knees and, as it chanced, my left hand came upon a stone of about the size of a large orange, which I gripped.  I gained my feet again and pounded at its skull with the stone, but still it did not leave go, and this was well for me, for its next hold would have been on my throat.

We twisted and tumbled to and fro, man and dog together.  At one turn I thought that I saw Leo and the Khan rolling over and over each other upon the ground; at another, that he, the Khan, was sitting against a stone looking at me, and it came into my mind that he must have killed Leo and was watching while the dog worried me to death.

Then just as things began to grow black, something sprang forward and I saw the huge hound lifted from the earth.  Its jaws opened, my arm came free and fell against my side.  Yes! the brute was whirling round in the air.  Leo held it by its hind legs and with all his great strength whirled it round and round.

Thud!

He had dashed its head against the rock, and it fell and lay still, a huddled heap of black and red.  Oddly enough, I did not faint; I suppose that the pain and the shock to my nerves kept me awake, for I heard Leo say in a matter-of-fact voice between his gasps for breath—­“Well, that’s over, and I think that I have fulfilled the Shaman’s prophecy.  Let’s look and make sure.”