noon
He was thin , he was famished , and he sat with his left front paw lifted . Venning , who had a fellow-feeling for one in distress , being himself worn out , took the paw , discovered a nasty cut on the pad , washed it out with warm water , treated it with carbolic , bound it up , and gave the animal the pot to dean , which he did , polishing it out with his long red tongue . The boy and the jackal stretched themselves on a kaross to the sun , while Mr. Hume and Compton went away off to make sure about the Okapi ; for , as they said , they were in no mind to lose the boat , after all their exertions , just because they were a little tired . In the drowsy noon the tired boy slept , and through the afternoon , opening his eyes for a moment occasionally as the voices of the women rose to a higher pitch in a mournful dirge they were singing over the missing , and at intervals the jackal would raise his sharp muzzle and sniff the air . There was some note in the dirge that disturbed the boy , and there was some taint in the air that made the jackal uneasy . Once it stood up as if to explore , but the sight of its bandaged foot brought a pucker to his brows , and it curled itself up again after an intent look into the face of his human companion . For the rest of the day the dirge went on , rising and sinking like the murmur of the sea in its flow and ebb on a still day .