one in the morning
Her first act was to beckon me to follow her outside , and there she pointed to the explanation of our rescue from the bear -- a huge saber-tooth tiger , its fine coat and its flesh torn to ribbons , lying dead a few paces from our cave , and beside it , equally mangled , and disemboweled , was the carcass of a huge cave-bear . To have had one 's life saved by a saber-tooth tiger , and in the twentieth century into the bargain , was an experience that was to say the least unique ; but it had happened -- I had the proof of it before my eyes . So enormous are the great carnivora of Caspak that they must feed perpetually to support their giant thews , and the result is that they will eat the meat of any other creature and will attack anything that comes within their ken , no matter how formidable the quarry . From later observation -- I mention this as worthy the attention of paleontologists and naturalists -- I came to the conclusion that such creatures as the cave-bear , the cave-lion and the saber-tooth tiger , as well as the larger carnivorous reptiles make , ordinarily , two kills a day -- one in the morning and one after night . They immediately devour the entire carcass , after which they lie up and sleep for a few hours . Fortunately their numbers are comparatively few ; otherwise there would be no other life within Caspak . It is their very voracity that keeps their numbers down to a point which permits other forms of life to persist , for even in the season of love the great males often turn upon their own mates and devour them , while both males and females occasionally devour their young .